Smile for the Camera…and Raise Money for JDRF!

I received an email earlier this week from Natalie Woods, a photographer (see, those are her photos!), a fellow Victorian and a fellow type 1 diabetic.  To raise money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Natalie is running a great campaign through her photography business, When Shutters Click.  I made the acquaintance of Natalie through Juvenation, JDRF’s social networking site for young adults.  Since then, we have connected through the usual catalogue of social media outlets: twitter, email, facebook…smoke signal, carrier pigeon, etcetera, etcetera.  Needless to say, when Natalie emailed me asking if I would promote her fundraising initiatives for the upcoming Victoria 2010 TELUS Walk to Cure Diabetes I said, “Sure thing!”  So, in Natalie’s own words, here’s what she’s up to:

“I am donating 50% of any portrait session booked by May 31st via When Shutters Click. My portrait sessions start at $75 which includes: client proofing, minor retouching, two 8×10 prints and a CD of images. The price goes up from there depending on the session (family, head shot, couple, wedding, etc.).  I’m also collecting online donations via http://jdrfca.donordrive.com/participant/nwoods.”

If you’re in the Victoria area, drop by Natalie’s website and get ready to smile for the camera for a great cause!

World Diabetes Day ’09 In Photographs

I wonder if, back in 1898, Mr. J.B. Brooks knew that the bag loops on his revolutionary saddle would be sporting WDD advocacy signage?

Dressing up the Long Haul Trucker on a chilly WDD morning.

You mean hula hooping in a cycling cap isn’t cool?

Blue circles, represent!

Our trusty steeds, ready to roll.

Riding over Victoria’s Johnson Street Bridge (a.k.a. The Blue Bridge).  This well-known, civic structure was lit in blue during the 2008 WDD Blue Monument Challenge.

Your friendly, neighbourhood World Diabetes Day Ride organizers.  The Olympic Mountains behind us were absolutely stunning (this photo does not do them justice, even a little bit).

Some of the bicycles pose for a shot at the Legislative Buildings, Victoria, British Columbia.

To see more photos from World Diabetes Day in Victoria, check out the My Favourite Number Facebook fan page.

World Diabetes Day – It’s Here!

Hello blogosphere and the D-OC (diabetes online community)!  I hope you’re all having a wonderful World Diabetes Day, spreading awareness and educating others about this disease.  Our ride this morning was successful (and we kicked it off by showcasing our mad blue hula hooping skills — more on that to come, including photos!).  The WDD signs and flags on our bikes definitely turned some heads and the ride is going to be featured on tonight’s 6 o’clock news on Victoria’s local A channel!  I’m not sure if the segment will be made available online but I will definitely try to get my hands on it for your viewing pleasure.

That’s about all I’ve got for today.  I’m off to read some Big Blue Test results!

Some Educational Viewing

Throughout the month of October, participants submitted videos to the Making Sense of Diabetes project, highlighting ways in which diabetes impacts each of our five senses (touch, smell, sight, taste and hearing).  Today, I am excited to be able to share with you this inspiring compilation video, showcasing winning footage for each of the five senses, brought to us by the Diabetes Hands Foundation.

As the global diabetes community prepares for World Diabetes Day (for all you Victorians out there, don’t forget about our WDD Bike Ride!), please watch, enjoy and be inspired by this video.

All of the Making Sense of Diabetes submissions can be watched at TuDiabetes.  When you have a chance, I highly recommend giving them a gander.

Reinventing Ourselves: Diabetes and Public Perception

I’m not sure why the public perception of diabetes seems to be so wildly inaccurate.  So often, I am met with statements like: “Oh, you have an insulin pump. So that manages your diabetes for you?” or “Did you eat a lot of sugar when you were a kid?”

No and no.

I don’t expect that every person I meet should have a perfectly clear and accurate understanding of what living with diabetes is like.  I realize that this is completely unreasonable and a wee-bit self centred.  I do, however, think that a reinvention of the public perception of diabetes is definitely in order.  Myths need to be busted and the general public needs to realize that, while we may be plagued with constant finger poking, carb counting and insulin dosing, our lives don’t have to be compromised, or defined, by this disease.

Last week, Kerri Sparling (of SixUntilMe.com) wrote a heartfelt post about diabetes guilt, stating that diabetes, “always seems to come with some added bonus of “You did this to yourself.” It sounds harsh, but I hear it all the time.”  I want the world to be rid of this unfounded blame and, instead, to see all the incredible and inspiring things of which we, as a community, are capable…

• There are the cyclists on Team Type 1 and Team Type 2, showing the world that, with proper management and the use of the latest in diabetes technology, diabetes need not hold us back from reaching our goals and potential.

• There’s Chloe Steepe and her Connected in Motion team, who are “breathing fresh air into diabetes education” through a face-to-face, hands-on and outdoorsy approach to diabetes education.

• There’s all my fellow D-bloggers, writing and vlogging about their day-to-day experiences, educating their non-diabetic readers about life with diabetes and facilitating international, patient-to-patient dialogue about our frustrations, successes, insights and worries.

• There’s George Canyon, Canadian country music artist who, this past summer, flew his own plane across the country on a Canada-wide tour (free to all people with type 1 diabetes), focused on inspiring individuals with type 1 to pursue their life goals.

• Heck, there’s even Nick Jonas — Grammy nominated, mega-pop star and poster-boy for the Bayer Contour meter — singing about his diagnosis and testifying at the JDRF Children’s Congress about the need for further funding for diabetes research.

And there are, oh, so many, many, many more!

This is my world.  These are my inspirations.  And today, on DBlog Day, my hat goes off to each and every member of the type 1 diabetes club. We may be faced with challenges (and we might sometimes run late because of low blood sugar), but we are capable and creative and we are strong.

Here’s to reinventing public perception.  Here’s to changing the way diabetes is viewed by the world at large.

World Diabetes Day Ride – Victoria, BC

Inspired by a similar event taking place in Seattle, Daniel and I have organized a community, diabetes awareness bike ride for World Diabetes Day (November 14th, 2009).  Started in 1991, World Diabetes Day is the primary global awareness campaign for diabetes.  Here in Victoria, British Columbia, we’ll be marking this day by grabbing our bicycles and getting active!

This ride is not about speed or endurance; all levels of cycling experience are welcome!  This ride is about creating community and raising awareness about the number of people touched by this disease.  We are affixing World Diabetes Day signs and banners to our bicycles and we’re decorating our rides in blue, the official colour of World Diabetes Day.

For those of you on Southern Vancouver Island, we hope you are able to join us on the ride.  For those of you farther away, we hope you will help us spread the word about World Diabetes Day…and maybe even consider organizing a ride of your own.

The Details: World Diabetes Day Ride – Victoria, BC

When: November 14, 2009. 9:30 – 11:00 am.
Where: Meet at the pavilion south of the Selkirk Trestle Bridge on the Galloping Goose.
Time: Gather at 9:30 am. Ride starts at 10 am.
Route: A 10 km loop around the downtown core, ending at Centennial Square.
Other: Cyclists are encouraged to get creative and decorate their bicycles (and bodies) in blue, the official colour of World Diabetes Day.

In other World Diabetes Day Victoria news, from 5 – 6 pm on November 14th, Victorians will be participating in the World Diabetes Day Blue Light Monument Challenge.  Details can be found at this web site.

Extra! Extra!

I wanted to share a few noteworthy things with you today. So, that’s exactly what I’m going to do:

The Big Blue Test on World Diabetes Day (November 14th)

Inspired by the success of July’s 14KPWD Test-In (Remember? I had a reading of 8.8mmol/L.), the folks at TuDiabetes have organized the Big Blue Test, taking place on November 14th (otherwise known as World Diabetes Day).  Participation is easy.  Just follow the five simple steps outlined below:

1. Test your blood sugar.
2. Run, jog, walk the dog or do anything you’d normally do as part of your exercise routine for 14 minutes.
3. Test your blood sugar again.
4. If you are a member of TuDiabetes click on the home page banner and share your readings and what exercise you did between them. If you have a camera, you can also add a photo of your reading(s) or you exercising.
5. If you have a Twitter account, post your readings on Twitter (use the #bigblue hashtag) and link back to: http://bigbluetest.org.

For more information, visit the Big Blue Test web site.

Connected in Motion Winter Slipstream 2010

Registration is now open for Connected in Motion’s second annual Winter Slipstream event, taking place January 29-31, 2010 at YMCA Wanakita, Haliburton Highlands, Ontario. You can learn more (and watch a great video from last year’s event) here.  If you want to know more about CIM and its founder, Chloe Steepe, check out the interview she did for MFN back in April.  Also, Connected in Motion has a new Facebook fan page.  If you support having fun and being active with diabetes, check it out and become a fan!

Friends for Life Canada 2010

In August 2010, Children With Diabetes will be hosting the first ever Friends for Life Canada Conference right here in beautiful British Columbia!  And I’m excited!  So excited, in fact, that I’m going to use a third exclamation point!  The event is taking place August 27-29 at the Renaissance Vancouver Hotel Harbourside, in Vancouver, and I’m definitely going to be there.  For more information, visit the Friends for Life Canada web site.

Test-In Check-In

Tuesday Test-In

Today is the day of the TuDiabetes and EsTuDiabetes Test-In!  What does this mean?  Well, at 4pm Eastern Time (that’ll be 1pm for me and the rest of the west coast), 14 000 people from around the world will be testing their blood sugar AT THE SAME TIME.   The thousands of test results will then be posted online.  The idea is to raise awareness about diabetes and the importance of regularly checking your blood sugar…and to have a little fun.  Since I’m all about raising awareness about diabetes, I’ll be back in about four hours with my Tuesday Test-In reading.  I invite all of my blood glucose-testing readers to join me.  If you don’t have diabetes, pass the information on to someone who does.  Let’s make this big!

How to participate?

• Post your reading on the thread at TuDiabetes
• Post your reading on Twitter using the #14PWD hashtag and link back to http://14kPWD.org.
• Post your reading on your facebook account and link back to http://14kPWD.org.

See you at 1pm!

Congratulations, TT1!

Sorry for the lack of blog posts this week.  Mid-week found me on one of the Gulf Islands, sans internet, soaking up the rain and sunshine (ahh, the Pacific Northwest).

However, I am now back in the city, have a working internet connection and am ready to blog!  Since Saturday, I’ve been following Team Type 1‘s progress in the cycling Race Across America.  Having found myself with a working internet connection and access to the Team Type 1 blog, I am pleased and excited to announce that Team Type 1 is this year’s champion in the 8-person division of the Race Across America!  Having kept the lead since the 150 mile mark, Team Type 1 arrived in Annapolis, Maryland around 2:30am this morning EST.  In addition to their first place win, this year’s Team Type 1 also set a new 8-person record, completing this gruelling 3021 mile (4861 km) race in only five days, nine hours and five minutes!  When Daniel and I moved across the country last year, it took us seven days to drive that distance.  Way to go, Team Type 1!  And thank you for being such an inspiration.

photo by: Karen Scheerer source: http://teamtype12007.blogspot.com/