TCOYD Newsletter, Vol. 31, 2009

My wife, Ingrid, is a podiatrist specializing in diabetes; my mother, Joyce, has been a school teacher for over 30 years; my sister, Susan, is an investigative reporter for the New York Post; and my brother, Barry, is a clinical psychiatrist. While they work in varied fields, they are all superb educators, contributing to society’s knowledge base in different ways.

In my address to a large group of diabetes professionals from around the world, I told them my personal and professional story with diabetes. I developed diabetes when I was 15 years old. I lost 20 pounds and had the classic symptoms of excessive thirst, urination and tiredness. I remember being yelled at by the other kids at the drinking fountain because I took so long to quench my thirst. My teachers reprimanded me for falling asleep during class when I could barely keep my eyes open. As I think back on those days, they highlight the importance of educating the public about diabetes and wiping out ignorance and intolerance.

I completed my professional diabetes training at the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston and it is there I learned that getting PWD (people/person with diabetes) to put diabetes high on their priority list is a key component for long-term success. As a young faculty member at UCSD and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, I spent a lot of time and energy trying to educate healthcare professionals on how to take better care of their patients with diabetes. It was slow going. Diabetes care was not improving fast enough at the community level and I started taking these crucial messages directly to those who are most affected by this condition, the people with diabetes.

Since the beginning of TCOYD in 1995, we have been pushing three main themes and they have never lost their importance or magnitude:
1. You have the main responsibility for taking control of your diabetes.
2. You are your own best advocate.
3. Be smart and be persistent.
Simply stating these themes is one thing, but getting folks to take ownership of their health is another… that was, and continues to be, the challenge. At that very first conference, I recognized how thirsty PWD were for information about their condition and that much more needed to be done.

I have always believed that presenting real information infused with humor is a key component to information retention and contributes to our overall success in making positive changes. Another vital strategy is to directly address the emotional barriers of diabetes, which opens our minds to absorbing information by acknowledging and addressing the commonality and normality of feeling guilty, fearful, anxious, frustrated and depressed about our own diabetes or about the diabetes of a loved one. I have also come to appreciate that the type 3 diabetic (any person who lives with, or cares about, someone with diabetes) plays a critical role in the ultimate success of the PWD and,must be educated, too.

The key message here is that we must understand that every one of us plays a significant role in diabetes education, whether we are a person with diabetes, a type 3 diabetic, a health care professional or a member of the general public. Why? Because we must arm ourselves with the latest up-to-date information, be sensitive to the many emotional issues involved with diabetes management and be able to share our knowledge in an effective and individualized manner. We are all educators in our own way. We have the responsibility, to ourselves and others, to keep learning about living healthy, happy

The theme of this newsletter is ‘back to basics’ and it features some of the best articles we’ve featured in past issues on topics such as carbs, physical activity, meditation, your skin, eyes and stomach. Enjoy!

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