Several of us attended an event put on by the Kansas City JDRF chapter - typically called a "family retreat" (I went to a similar event in Omaha the weekend before). We heard from people like Dayton Coles, JDRF International Board Member; Patrick Clay, Pharm.D. (who is currently running a T1 clinical trial in KC); and Nan Borchardt, RD, LD, CDE (a veteran T1 herself). I picked up a few new things to try from Nan, like ensuring that your first few bites of breakfast are protein, not carbs (she says this helps to minimize the post-meal spike), making sure that you never give yourself two days in a row off from exercise (working on it!), and that those cardio workouts need to be at least 35 minutes long to burn enough calories for it to be worth it (already making that my new rule!).
There was so much more to the weekend than what I'll share here, but I can say that it was just the pick-me-up I needed. (And that this year's Friends For Life conference can't come soon enough - I'll see many of these people again, there!) Hearing other people's beeps, checking their Dexcom graphs while they sleep to determine if I needed to wake them up, witnessing (and then cheering) someone else putting a new sensor in their arm, comparing meters, defending other people's low blood sugar admissions... it's a nice feeling when all of that is "normal".
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| The drive home. You people are good for my soul AND my pancreas! |
Checking other people's DexCom graphs while they sleep. Can I bring you home with me?
ReplyDeleteI wished my graph looked like yours after leaving. My diabetes seems to not like being alone.
Can't wait to see you again soon! <3
sara, what's up with the one shoe? ;)
Deletekim, AWESOME post. thanks for the smiles.
What a wonderful weekend you had! I appreciate you sharing because it brought me joy just reading about it! And I love the helpful tips you shared from the conference: protein breakfast, 35 minute minimum workout and never 2 days off from exercise!! Good blood sugars are just icing on the cake (not literally of course for a T1). Thanks for a heartwarming story. Would any of you ever consider coming up to Minneapolis!??!?!?! : )
ReplyDeleteYou checked the graphs I heard the beeps. <3 <3 <3~ sorry the last butt cheek was a little gassy.
ReplyDeleteI read the title of your post and was afraid it was about when PWD's show up in the DOC with a tone of dire desperation - then after an outpouring of advice and moral support, they're never heard from again (happens on tudiabetes.org all the time). That is so unsettling to not know what happened. I'm glad your story was one of a more positive tone.
ReplyDeletePWDs in the wild ... it never gets old. :)
ReplyDeleteAwesomesauce!
ReplyDeleteI thought that you were going to write about when online friends go offline, i.e. when people who blog suddenly don't, and you're left wondering, "What's Going On???" And wondering how you feel so connected to people you know sometimes only one-sidedly, or sometimes semi-two-sidedly. That's an interesting post in itself. But, glad you got to make real live contact. We're doing less and less of that these days, it seems.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you all got to get together, hang out, catch up and bond!!! And I really really REALLY hope I am able to go to Friends for Life again this year. *sigh*
ReplyDeletethe weekend definitely was soothing for my soul. it was so WONDERFUL to see everyone, and i appreciate you all coming to the JDRF retreat.
ReplyDeletei've pretty much dropped the online part- you guys are my friends, plain and simple. :)