Divabetic Mysteries podcast,Tomorrow Is Not On The Menu is packed with loads of diabetes information, and self-care tips wrapped up in a cozy mystery radio drama.
Brief Synopsis: The happy healthcare host, Mr. Divabetic, lands his to-die-for job as a caterer for the nation’s hottest health guru, Wendy Wattage’s Wellness Retreat on the Jersey Shore. Everything seems low pressure and low calorie until the body of the nasty food critic, Marilyn Macaroni, is found stabbed to death with one of Max’s new chef knives. Now he’s the prime suspect in a big, fat murder investigation!
Can he and his team of friends, diabetes educators, and his nosey Italian mother, Mama Rose Marie, find the killer before the police arrive? Or will he be trading his fruit suit for coveralls with stripes?
Weight loss murder never tasted so good.
Starring Mr. Divabetic, Best-Selling Author Tonya Kappes, Mama Rose Marie, Patricia Addie-Gentle RN, CDCES, Maryann Horst Nicolay MEd, NTDR, Kathie Dolgin aka ‘High Voltage,’ Seveda Williams, Dave Jones, Catherine Schuller, and Lorraine Brooks. Produced by Leisa Chester Weir. Special thanks to Wendy Radford.
Divabetic Mystery Podcast’s goals are: Encourage people with diabetes to problem-solve issues related to their self-care, like their favorite TV detectives (i.e., write things down, search for clues and share information with your healthcare collaborators and ask questions). Manage diabetes as a team rather than go it alone. Make learning about diabetes fun and interesting.
Sometimes the mirror reflects issues in diabetes self-care.
Did you know that diabetes may cause hair thinning and hair loss?
People with diabetes are more likely to have a condition called alopecia areata.
Alopecia areata is a common autoimmune skin disease, causing hair loss on the scalp, face and sometimes on other areas of the body.
With alopecia, the immune system attacks the hair follicles, causing hair loss on the head and on other parts of the body. People with type 1 diabetes are more likely than people without this condition to develop alopecia areata.
Diabetes itself can lead to hair loss reports Healthline. The stress of living with a chronic illness may also cause hair loss, or the medicines you take to treat your diabetes. Some people with diabetes also have thyroid disease, which can contribute to hair loss.
Some people with diabetes can slow or stop hair loss by maintaining tighter blood sugar levels and managing stress.
Missed opportunities in movies and books for raising awareness for diabetes really annoy me. The only thing worse in my opinion is perpetuating a diabetes misconception which happens to be the case in The New York Times bestselling author Mary Kay Andrew’s novel, ‘Spring Fever’.
The author describes the book as “… delicious new escapist novel about small towns, old flames, and deep secrets” on her website.
Sadly, I feel she drops the ball on educating people about diabetes in ‘Spring Fever’ like she did previously in her novel, ‘The Weekenders’.
Although diabetes doesn’t play a prominent role in ‘Spring Fever’, she still manages to play down the significance of diabetes. The line in question: “… And I lose my health care, Annajane. I have sugar diabetes….” Really? ‘Sugar Diabetes’!!!! It’s 2017 not 1957. Okay, somepeople may still use phrases like ‘a touch of sugar’ to describe diabetes but is it really necessary to use these types of references in books and fan the flames of ignorance?I don’t think so. After twelve years of working as a diabetes advocate I have come to realize that one of the biggest mistakes someone with diabetes and their loved ones can make is to think that this disease is not serious.
I know personally that diabetes really can destroy your life, wreck havoc on your relationships and steal your dignity.I experienced it first hand when my former boss, Luther Vandross suffered a stroke related to type 2 diabetes in 2003. At the time I had no idea that diabetes could be so devestating. The fact that Luther could not perform some of the most basic life functions after his stroke without assistance was heartbreaking. The fact that diabetes silenced his voice is unforgettable. But the fact that a growing number of Luther fans are experiencing diabetes health-related complications such as stroke, amputation, blindness and kidney failure is unforgivable.
Diabetes is a serious matter. When a Best-Selling Author with more than eleven New York Times, USA Today and Publisher’s Weekly bestsellers published in German, Italian, Polish, Slovenian, Hungarian, Dutch, Czech and Japanese chooses to perpetuate ignorance about diabetes and diabetes self-care in her books I get upset. It seems to me that she managed to do enough medical research during the writing process to learn that certain medications can affect the effectiveness of birth control, didn’t she? So why can’t she do the same for diabetes?
On the flip side I appreciate how “Spring Fever’ helps readers gain a deeper understanding one of the ‘taboo’ topics related to health. Specifically, erectile dysfunction and the toll it can take on your relationship(s).
It’s interesting to note that researchers analyzed 6.2 million health insurance claims for men who received an ED diagnosis, and discovered that only 25 percent filled a prescription for treatment during the 12-month study period. Whatever the reason for avoiding treatment, the consequence is undisputed: “Sexual health is an important aspect of the quality of a man’s life—and men live longer when they are sexually active,” says Dr. McVary. “This is a medical disease that warrants treatment.”
On July’s Diabetes Late Nite podcast I discussed this topic with Janis Rozsler MSFT, RD, LD/N, CDE, FAND who is a Marriage and Family Therapist as well as a Fellow of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
Janis Rozler is also the author oftwo wonderful books, ’Sex And Diabetes’ (ADA, 2007), and ‘The Secrets and Loving with Diabetes’ (Surrey Books, 2004). You can hear my interview by clicking on THE LINK.
I would gladly welcome the author, Mary Kay Andrews as a guest on an upcoming Diabetes Late Nite podcast to explain why she chooses to misinform her readers about diabetes. (Divabetic.org)
This past weekend, Saturday Night Live’s cast mate, Colin Jost angered the diabetes community with his joke about McDonalds and diabetes in “Weekend Update.”
During the segment Colin said “McDonalds has announced it will be offering two new versions of the Big Mac – one for each type of diabetes.”
Colin’s joke bothers me because he unjustly presumes that diabetes is someone’s fault; if you eat too many Big Macs then you’re sure to get diabetes. Look, the general public already perceives diabetes as not a big deal, that it’s something that can be completely managed by lifestyle choices, or that individuals are at blame for causing their disease so we don’t need anymore help!
I have spent the past eleven years as a compassionate diabetes advocate at Divabetic (divabetic.org) and in less than 1 minute of air time Colin Jost managed to obliterate our good work.
His joke isn’t just hurtful, it’s also very harmful. Even the strongest person can be worn down by a negative stigma association with diabetes making it harder to take care of yourself and your diabetes health.
People with diabetes are often tasked not just with the burden of managing their diabetes but also educating the people around them about the condition. That can take an emotional toll. So can the sense of shame that comes from others’ misconceptions, or a person’s own feelings of guilt.
New research reports that people with type 1 experience more stigma than people with type 2. and parents of children with type 1 diabetes reported the most stigma of all, and stigma tended to increase with more intense or visible management.
The media can certainly play a role in changing these perceptions and help the general public’s lack of knowledge and/or understanding of diabetes and what causes it. At the very least news stories about diabetes could start by differentiating between type 1 or type 2 diabetes.
There’s no doubt that obesity related to a diet rich in fast foods is a major contributor to type 2 diabetes. Genetics also plays a role. But blood sugar can creep up with age, even in skinny people.
But by sharing more about the disease, the media can help people learn how to prevent the steep rise in its incidence.
For the record there are currently four major types of diabetes: type 1, type 2, gestational diabetes and pre-diabetes. And scientists have identified several other diabetes subtypes beyond types 1 and 2. The most common of these is called latent autoimmune diabetes in adults (LADA), and it accounts for roughly 10 percent of people with diabetes, making it probably more widespread than type 1.
Diabetes is a complex disorder involving abnormal sugar metabolism. Doctors know that genetics plays a role in who gets the disease and who doesn’t get the disease but that this is just part of the picture. Diabetes is a problem of genetics and environment.
Even without a solid family history of diabetes, bad habits like not getting enough exercise or not eating properly can contribute just as much too getting diabetes as can your genes. There has been a vast increase in inactivity and the eating of processed, high sugar foods in society so that even people without a family history of diabetes can get the disease.
READ: One mother of child living with type 2 diabetes’ reaction to SNL’s joke: https://beyondtype1.org/snl-pisses-off-t1d-mama/
Learning to accept yourself for who you are is the most important step to self-love. Stop comparing yourself to others and learn to embrace the person you are.
You have beautiful qualities, both physical and emotional, that draw people to you. You don’t need to look or talk or act like anyone else. We all offer the world something different. That’s what makes it so beautiful.
Lest our team of experts show you how to embrace Valentine’s Day without feeling like you’re compromising your diabetes self-care. Don’t let diabetes dim your Dazzle!
This podcast is part of Diabetes Podcast Week in support of the ‘Spare A Rose, Save A Child’ campaign. Please join us! #Dpodcastweek
