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06-04-06 |
Living Life as a Diabetic Newsletter |
Issue# 10
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Kimberly Advent
Editor
Ashley's Diabetes
Information Center
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Welcome to our Tenth Newsletter.
I am sure that many of you have been wondering why you have not received a Newsletter since January. I have received a few letters from concerned readers wondering what was going on. I appologize for the big gap between Newsletters. At the beginning of January my husband Jess was diagnosed with base of Tongue Cancer. As you can guess our Family has been through a lot since then. I can't even explain to you how horrible it has been. I am very happy to tell you that after months of Chemo & radiation that his cancer is in remission. He has many months of recovery left but, things are looking a lot brighter for our family.
I am so happy that I finally have the time & heart to put back into my Newsletter.
Thank you so much for your support!! You all mean so much to me.
Big hugs
Kimberly
I am looking for guest writers. If you are interested in writing a guest column for this Newsletter please contact Kimberly. Let me know what you would like to write about it. Columns must be about 600 words & related to Diabetes. I reserve the right to refuse any article if I don't think it is relevent to the Newsletter.
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This Newsletter is by subscription only! Welcome to your next issue of
"Living your life as a Diabetic NEWSLETTER". You are receiving this newsletter because you subscribed to it or
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- Feature
Article - Living Healthy with Diabetes by Kimberly Advent
- A word from our Sponsor
- Guest Article: Positive Thinking
- Guest Guides for Theme Parks
- News on Stem Cell Research
- Sugar Free Recipes
- Kid's Corner
- Travel Tips for Diabetics
- Subscribe/Unsubscribe
information
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| FEATURE ARTICLE, Living Healthy with Diabetes by Kimberly Advent |
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I actually wrote this article Five years ago for another website. Was just looking over some of my older articles & thought I should share it here with all of you.
Living Healthy with Diabetes
Diabetes affects around 16 million Americans and about 800,000 new cases are diagnosed each year. Diabetes attacks men, women, children and the elderly. It spares no race.
Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure, blindness in Adults and amputations. It is a major risk factor for heart disease, stroke, and birth defects and it shortens life expectancy by up to 15 years. So you can see what I am up against. It is up to me to make sure that none of these things ever happen to my daughter. My daughter Ashley has Diabetes Type 1. She will be 10 years old March 15th. Ashley has been a diabetic for 5 years.
Five years ago I was totally overwhelmed by all that information. I felt helpless and depressed. I was sure this was a death sentence for my daughter. This was because of my total ignorance of Diabetes. A person can live a full life with Diabetes. It just takes some extra care. A good diet plays an important part in a Diabetics life. They need to put together a meal plan with their doctor & dietitian. My daughter has several meals a day. She has breakfast, a snack, lunch, a snack, dinner & another snack. She has these meals at the same time every day. This is important. It helps keep her body on a schedule and her blood sugar regulated. Skipping meals and snacks may lead to large swings in blood sugar readings. To keep blood sugar levels near normal a Diabetic must balance the food they eat with the insulin the body gets from injections and with physical activities. Blood sugar monitoring gives you the information you need to help with this balancing. Near normal blood sugar readings will help you feel better. Normal is between 70 and 120. They will also reduce your chances of complications.
Lets talk about how a Diabetic needs to eat. Everyone needs to eat nutritious foods. Our good health depends on eating a variety of foods that contain the right amount of Carbohydrate, Protein, Fat, Vitamins, Minerals, Fiber and Water. Carbohydrate, Protein and Fat are found in the food that you eat. They supply your body with energy. Your body needs insulin to use this energy. Insulin is made in the pancreas. If you have Diabetes, either your pancreas is no longer producing insulin or your body can’t use the insulin it is making. So your blood sugar levels are not normal.
Starch and Sugar in foods are Carbohydrates. You can find starch in breads, pasta, cereal, potatoes, beans, peas and lentils. Natural sugars are in fruits, milk and vegetables. There are added sugars in desserts, candy, jam and syrup. All of these Carbohydrates can affect your blood sugar. When you eat Carbohydrates they turn into glucose and travel in your bloodstream. Insulin helps the glucose enter the beta cells in your pancreas where it can be turned into energy and stored. Eating the same amount of Carbohydrate daily at meals and snacks can help you control your blood sugar levels. Protein is in meats, poultry, fish, milk and other dairy products, eggs, beans, peas and lentils. Starches and vegetables have small amounts of protein. The body uses protein for growth, maintenance and energy. Your body needs insulin to use the protein you eat.
Fat is in margarine, butter, oils, salad dressings, nuts, seeds, milk, cheese, meat, fish, poultry, snack food, ice-cream and desserts. There are three different types of fat. Monounsaturated, polyunsaturated and saturated. Everyone should eat less saturated fats found in meats, dairy products, coconut, palm or palm kernel oil, and hardened shortening.
Saturated fats can raise your blood levels of cholesterol. The fats that are best are the monounsaturated fats found in canola oil, olive oil, nuts, and avocado. The polyunsaturated fats found in corn oil, soybean oil, or sunflower oil are good too. After you eat fat it travels through your bloodstream. You need insulin to store fat in the cells of your body. Fats are used for energy.
So you can see what a big role insulin plays in your body. Good diet is very important for a Diabetic. Excersize is also very important. A Diabetic can live a healthy full life if they do three things. Eat healthy, Excersize, and inject the right amount of insulin. It takes dedication and hard work. But in the end it is totally worth it because it is your life.
If you have some great tips to help others reach their healthier living goals please send them to me at kimberlydadvent@aol.com and I will share them here.
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MUST SEE 
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| Guest Article: Positive Thinking by Kimberly Advent
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Guest Article: Positive Thinking by Kimberly Advent
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Normally I would put a guest article here. Since I don't have any at this time I decided to write a little bit about Positive thinking. If you would like to write a Guest Article Email it to Me.
With everything I have been through the last several months I have reflected on how important positive thinking really is. I have always prided myself in my positive attitude. There are so many bumps in life that can really get you down.
When Ashley was diagnosed with Diabetes at the age of 5 years old I was devestated. I could have become overwhelmed in sorrow. I can remember feeling sorry for myself. I think everyone says, "Why Me?" at some point in their life. It would have been very easy to sit down & just give up. But, I didn't. I thought, "Okay we have a major challenge here. What can I do to make it better?" So I started reading everything I could & took control of Ashley's Diabetes. I also kept a very positive attitude.
I started my diabetes website to help educate others & to give Ashley a resource.
In January my husband Jess was diagnosed with Base of Tongue Cancer. When he was first diagnosed he was very sick. It was rated stage 4 all the way across the board. My husband told me that he was going to die. That we would have to come to terms with it. My first response was, "They are doing wonderful things with cancer now. There is always a chance." Through out Jess' fight with cancer I wore a bracelett that read HOPE. That was my positive thinking. I went to work every day & was so thankful that I had that job. Jess had to close down his business when he was diagnosed. He was much too sick to work. So I felt very lucky that I had a good job. When I was at work I concentrated on my job & worked hard. So many people would ask me how I could do that without falling apart. I could do it because I have a good attitude. I had to keep positive that the treatments Jess was suffering through would work. That he was not going through Chemo & radiation for nothing. When Jess' Hematologist said he had never lost a patient to this cancer I trusted that he would not lose Jess. I looked forward to better times & didn't dwell on how horrible it was at the time.
I know that there are so many people out there that are going through similar experiences. My advice to you is to never give up. Keep a positive attitude. Life is too short to waste on feeling sorry for yourself. Dig deep into yourself & find that extra bit of energy. You owe it to yourself to have faith in yourself.
Being diagnosed with diabetes is not a death sentence. You can still live a happy healthy life. You will just have to educate yourself about your disease (whatever it is) & then make a plan on how you will take care of your health. Stay positive. Don't let all the negative garbage bring you down. Surround yourself with positive energy (and positive people). I have faith that you can make it through this tough time & I am here to help you.
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| Education:
Informative Links |
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This Newsletter I will be sharing some links to Theme Parks information for people with disabilities.
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May 21st, 2006
From The Irish Sunday Times
By Roisin Gorman
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Monday May 22nd, 2006 - Stroke victim Ian McBride says he is living
proof that controversial stem cell therapy works.
The stroke victim went back to work recently, a move he could never
have considered until he spent 12,500 pounds on the banned treatment
last year.
He had to travel to the Ukraine to have the building block from human
hemopoietic stem cells injected into his paralyzed body - the first
person in Ulster to receive the treatment.
Now he?s back at work in the City Hospital in Belfast, about to
publish his first book, and determined to walk again.
For two years the 50 year old depended on carers and partner
Margaret to carry out the simplest tasks.
Ian admits he often wished he hadn?t survived the stroke which
claimed his mobility and his independence.
For stroke victims the only treatment is physiotherapy to help
regain lost movement, but when Ian discovered stem cell therapy
could offer him some hope of recovery, he set his mind on getting
the treatment.
He ploughed his life savings and money raised by well-wishers into
the trip to Kiev, which was featured in a BBC documentary last year.
And after just a few months he says he?s already a changed man. It?s
not a miracle cure, but there are things happening to me, says Ian.
My left arm, fingers and leg were rigid. I couldn?t relax the
muscles at all, when I was on the plane to Kiev last year I was like
a stone statue.
Now I can relax those muscles, I can stand up, I can interlock my
fingers, fold my arms. I can sleep on either side, which I couldn?t
do before, and I can toilet myself. I?m doing a diploma in
computers, and now I have the stamina to complete that.
Separately they may not seem like huge improvements, but taken
together they have made my day to day living much more bearable, he
says.
Ian was a committed trade unionist during his 12 years as a porter
in The City. But his life changed forever two years ago when he
returned home after a shift, and collapsed on his bedroom floor with
a massive stroke. He spent a month in intensive care after surgery
to stop the bleed in his brain and to remove the damaged areas. He
then spent several months in The RVH and Forster Green before being
sent home to a life of round the clock care.
The north Belfast man says the only glimmer of hope he had was stem
cell therapy. After months of research on the internet and advice
from local doctors he arranged the five day trip to the Stem Cell
Therapy International (www.scticorp.com) affiliate clinic in Kiev
last year, where he received injections of the human hemopoietic
stem cells.
The chief executive of SCTI, Calvin Cao, was honest with me. He said
if I thought I was going to get up and run about that would be a
miracle. But he explained that it was an alternative medical
treatment, and it would not do me any harm if it didn?t work, says
Ian.
The use of stem cells has been hailed as the cure of the future, for
conditions from MS to strokes, because the hemopoietic stem cells
can help rebuild damaged areas of the body. It?s banned in Europe
and the US because of ethical objections to using human stem cells
on human patients, but Ian says that wasn?t a concern for him.
I spoke to wee old ladies who thought I was grabbing a baby out of a
pram, he says. Most of the stem cells are created in labs from IVF.
If there is an excess of embryos they are binned. No one has a
problem about millions of embryos being incinerated every week, but
would deny therapy using those cells to people sitting in
wheelchairs like me.
The Irish Medicines Board recently moved to stop a Swiss company,
Advanced Cell Therapeutics, offering stem cell therapy through a
Cork-based doctor. ACT has now announced it will treat patients
from Ireland and the UK on a ferry which it will anchor in
international waters.
Surely it would be better to have a proper clinic or research
facility which can be scrutinized and regulated, rather than having
people on a ferry, or buying stem cell solutions on the internet?
says Ian.
He?s just about to publish a book called, Into The Abyss Called the
NHS, detailing his illness and treatment, which he hopes will expose
the lack of services for stroke and brain injury patients.
The provision of services in relation to the number of people
affected is dreadful. If you have cancer or a heart attack there is
a lot of provision out there. Even now, I have stem cells in the
damaged area of my brain and body which are blank. I need intensive
physiotherapy to teach them what they should be doing, but I can?t
get it, he says.
For his mental well being Ian believes his return to work is the
best thing that could have happened to him, and he?s paid full
credit to the City Hospital for finding him a post. He recently
started 12 weeks training on the telephone exchange, and will
eventually move to phones and reception in the hospital?s new cancer
centre.
The big advantage for me of coming back here is that I?m Ian the
employee, not Ian the disabled man, says Ian.
After more that two years at home I never thought I would work
again, and when I came back from Kiev I was dismal. But things
changed for me.
It has been a big encouragement for me, and I hope it will encourage
other people who have had strokes, ? he says.
Human Resources manager Kate Craig says: We looked all around the
Hospital for a position for Ian because we were very keen to find
him a job. The telephone exchange is wheelchair friendly, as are a
number of areas, but we thought this would be particularly good for
Ian. We are happy to have him,she says.
For more information contact:
Sunday World Reporter:
roisin.gorman@nth.sundayworld.com
or
Peter K. Sidorenko, COO:
Stem Cell Therapy International, Inc.
peter@scticorp.com
Stem Cell updates come from The Stem Cell Information Newsletter run by Steve Meyer.
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Apple-Cheddar Popovers
butter-flavored cooking spray
1 tart apple, such as Pippin, Granny Smith, or Fuji, peeled, cored, and chopped
1/3 cup shredded 2% sharp cheddar cheese
2 large eggs
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup low fat (1%) milk
1 tablespoon reduced-fat margarine, melted
Preheat oven to 450F. Lightly coat 8 popover cups with cooking spray. Place 1 tablespoon
each of the apple and cheese at the bottom of each popover cup. In a food processor or
blender, combine eggs, flour, and salt. Process until well blended. With the machine running,
add milk and margarine through the feed tube. Process until smooth. Fill the cups two-thirds
full with the batter. Bake for 15 minutes, reduce oven temperature to 350F, and continue to
bake for another 20 minutes until popovers are puffed and golden brown. Let cool at least
15 minutes, then remove from pan. Makes 8 servings.
Per serving: 111 calories (28% calories from fat), 5 g protein, 4 g total fat (1.4 g saturated fat),
15 g carbohydrates, 1 g dietary fiber, 58 mg cholesterol, 160 mg sodium
Diabetic exchanges: 1 carbohydrate (bread/starch), 1/2 fat
Recipe brought to you by E-Cookbooks library
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