You Can Do This…We Can Do This…Together

Kim Vlasnick has a blog titled "Texting My Pancreas", in which she writes about her life with Type 1 diabetes. (Kim Vlasnick/Texting My Pancreas)

We hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day and a good start to the summer.  Today, there is something that we want all of you to know about, and it’s our hope that you send this to someone you know who will benefit from this.

Kim Vlasnik is a wife and a PWD who lives in Nebraska.  Kim writes a blog titled “Texting My Pancreas.”  She is one of the many phenomenal diabetes rockstars in the DOC (Diabetes Online Community).  Kim is active in the work to find a cure for diabetes and encouraging fellow PWDs that they can live long and healthy lives. 

Yesterday, Kim, along with her friends in the DOC, kicked off a project called “You Can Do This.”  Living with diabetes is hard, but when you factor in the emotional, mental, and physical stress in living with a chronic disease that over 23 million Americans have every day, we burn out, feel isolated, and depressed.  In fact, various studies have confirmed that PWDs battle with depression due to the burden they face. 

Telling a PWD “It’ll be okay” sounds nice and rosy.  Being blunt, it’s not enough. 

This is where Kim’s project comes in.  “You Can Do This” is a movement in the DOC to have PWDs to tell their stories about living with diabetes. 

The good.  The bad.  The really bad.  The hope.  The dreams. 

No one should go at this alone.  This is what makes the DOC a unique and special community that is growing at every click of the mouse. 

As a local chapter under a national organization, we see that it’s not just advocating, fundraising, and doing all of the things that a chapter should do.  We need to connect to those who need someone on their side, through good times and bad.  Our primary responsibility is to give the people we serve and our volunteers the opportunity to tell their stories and reach out to others, be it down the street, across town, or around the world. 

Diabetes is not a dirty word or a taboo subject. 

All of us are affected by diabetes. 

We support Kim’s project and we invite you to join us in helping her, along with George, the Scotts, Kerri, and many others, in sounding the battle cry to be there for someone with diabetes. 

You Can Do This. 

We Can Do This.

We Will Do This Together.

Ford and Medtronic combine on a new project

Imaging driving around in your car and you hear a beep. That could be your car telling you that are going low!

On Thursday, Ford and Medtronic teamed up to provide voice-controlled devices to help monitor blood glucose while you are driving.

This is so sweet!

Ford has developed a system in their new Sync cars to be able connect to Medtronic’s glucose monitoring devices via your Bluetooth and share glucose levels and trends through  audio and a video display in the dashboard. The system will provide alerts if  levels are too low. Low glucose levels can cause people with diabetes to lose  consciousness, and there have been cases in which car crashes were blamed on  such an occurrence.

“Diabetes in particular is a chronic disease where frequent monitoring of  blood glucose levels throughout the day is critical,” James Dallas, senior vice president at Medtronic, said in the statement. “We can help patients actively manage their health via access to  real-time data on phones, hand-held devices or even in their cars.”

What do you think about what Ford and Medtronic is doing?  Will this help PWDs in knowing their blood glucose numbers while driving, rather than fumbling around with a glucometer and having a hypoglycemic episode and ending up in an accident?

Let us know!

Checking blood sugars could be simple as a beep or a voice from the dashboard. Winning!

Tour de Cure Hits Central Iowa!

This is the 20th year for Tour de Cure, but our inaugural ride here in Central Iowa!

Ahhh, spring.  Flowers, warm weather, the Easter bunny, and bike riding.

Did I mention bike riding?  Oh yes I did!  On June 11th, American Diabetes Association of Iowa will hold their inaugural Central Iowa Tour de Cure!  We will start our ride from Des Moines’ Water Works Park and travel down the Great Western Trail and back.  There are several levels of rides to take part in, breakfast and lunch, a wellness expo, and of course since we’re riding on the GW trail, probably a stop at the Cumming Tap on the way to St. Charles and back!

We would love for you to join us and raise awareness about diabetes and our mission to stop diabetes and support the many Iowans who have been touched by diabetes!