TCOYD Newsletter, Vol. 29, 2009

It is half way through the year and a perfect opportunity to fill you in on what is happening at TCOYD. I have a renewed energy with the start of the summer season, grateful for the opportunity to reflect on the successes and challenges of the first half of the year, and to anticipate the life changing programs TCOYD has in store for the remainder of the year.

Outstanding Educator of the Year Award
Looking back, this year’s American Diabetes Association (ADA) Annual Scientific Sessions in New Orleans were busy and exciting for TCOYD, and it was a very special time for me. I am the 32nd person, and the first physician, to receive the Outstanding Educator in Diabetes Award from the ADA. I am honored to receive this award as a reflection of what all of us at TCOYD have accomplished, and am empowered to continue our efforts in educating and motivating people with diabetes and their loved ones to live healthy and productive lives. The support of my family, our TCOYD team, and individuals like you who are committed to Taking Control of Your Diabetes have been tremendous.

3rd Annual Diabetes Forum
To benefit TCOYD’s patient education programs, we co-hosted the 3rd annual fund-raising forum during the ADA conference with our dear friends Kelly and John Close of Close Concerns. The Forum brought together a highly esteemed panel of diabetes experts who addressed a packed room of professionals from the pharmaceutical industry, investment world, medical news media and others. The panel led a riveting discussion on the future of diabetes therapies, research and development in new medications, technologies, and efforts to find cures for type 1 and type 2 diabetes. We appreciate all those who came to support TCOYD at this engaging event.

Spring Conferences
We’ve just wrapped up the spring conference season with our Sacramento event for Native Americans. This program had everyone in rapt attention at the compassionate, soft-spoken wise words of folks like Daryl Tonamah and Dr. Evan Adams (Native American health expert superstars, and laughing their way through the comic relief of Vanessa Short Bull. The seventh generation drummers and Emmy award winning flutist Mary Youngblood were also very moving as they opened the program that morning.

Indianapolis felt like a TCOYD family reunion. Bill King, Kriss Halpern, Ian Blumer, Nicole Johnson, and our tremendous Indy co-directors and faculty worked tirelessly to make the conference a success. In Raleigh we returned to dear old friends for our eighth conference in North Carolina where Duke and UNC are on the same team when it comes to diabetes education—proving once again that TCOYD works miracles! We also met some great new friends through DiabetesSisters.org who cohosted a reception after the conference for women with diabetes.

To highlight the impact of our 10th annual conference in Honolulu, here is a comment from one of our Honolulu attendees: “All of the information, products, training and lunch for $20! Thank you TCOYD. Several conventions have cancelled their trips to Hawaii due to the economy. However, TCOYD still came—and to two islands! Thank you so much for caring about us. God bless your organization!”

Backing up further in 2009, we arrived in Georgia in late February to a warm welcome from the residents of Augusta. Their spirit and hope for TCOYD’s future return to their city utterly made up for the blizzard we got stuck in on the way home. Finally, or firstly, throngs of Texans came out for our blockbuster Amarillo conference that kicked off the year.

We can’t thank our co-directors, faculty, volunteers, donors and sponsors enough for making all of these programs so positive, informative, and motivational for thousands of people with diabetes and their families.

CME
We have enjoyed continued success in our renowned continuing medical education (CME) program for health care providers called, “Cutting Edge Strategies for Diabetes Care: Making the Connection”. We’ll continue to bring new energy and information to these unique programs that give medical professionals a real understanding of what it is like to live with diabetes day-to-day.

Also on the CME front, I found my inner radio personality hosting a series of programs on Sirius-XM Satellite Radio called “Diabetes Discourse.” These are online for free, so check out tcoyd.org if you are interested.

TCOYD Series Television
We are currently developing a TCOYD TV episode featuring how American veterans, young and old, are experiencing living with diabetes. The episode includes interviews with  veterans with diabetes and VA Medical Center care providers, highlighting the unique stories of those serving our country. Keep in mind, every one of the 34 episodes are online at tcoyd.org and youtube.com. Stay tuned as we move into the fourth season this fall.

Brand New Website
Speaking of tcoyd.org, we are proud to be launching a fresh new online environment that will put all the cyber-resources that TCOYD and our partners have to offer at people’s fingertips. Streamlining conference registration, donations, our TCOYD store, articles, videos, and much more, the new website is bound to help you find what you are looking for faster.

Local Programs in San Diego
Don’t miss the “Type 1 Night” MiniSeries ahead of us at UCSD on July 28th. Local TCOYDers came out in droves this spring for “Diabetes Goes Techno”, “Type 2 Night”, and a standing-room-only Latino conference held in North San Diego County at Tri-City Medical Center in May. Working with our local partners, TCOYD and our dedicated volunteer medical faculty have really stepped up TCOYD’s educational programs held in English and Spanish throughout the county.

In other news, TCOYD is pleased to collaborate this year with Ben Vereen, Tony Award-winning actor and Broadway star, on a national campaign called “Take the Stage for Diabetes Awareness.” We are also hoping to have Ben join us for a keynote address at the San Diego program this October. We’ll keep you posted.

As we look ahead, we are energized by building agendas for four powerful conferences this fall, each with a blockbuster attendance history: Milwaukee, September 19; Santa Clara, October 10; San Diego, October 24; and Albuquerque, November 21. With every conference, TV show, question answered on TCOYD’s ever-ringing phones, quarterly publication, Mini Series lecture, and CME program— we are truly honored to provide tools and resources for so many families and individuals across the country.

Just remember, you have the main responsibility for taking control of your diabetes; you are your own best advocate; be smart and be persistent. Take control of your diabetes. You owe it to yourself, and to your family.

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