Hello and welcome to Diabetes By The Numbers. I'm Stephen Shaw. I have no medical training. Do not consider anything communicated here as medical, legal, or financial advice.
Always seek out a certified or licensed professional before making any changes that might affect your health. Hello everyone. Welcome again to Diabetes By The Numbers, where my guest today is Karen Graffio. Today's episode of Diabetes By The Numbers is part of Diabetes Podcast Week, February 6th through 10th, 2017.
Diabetes Podcast Week features 11 super diabetes podcasters and video bloggers and centers once again on the Sparrow Rose Save A Child campaign. So before we get started, let me remind you. This is the season of Paying It Forward, the season of Hope, the season of Life. The Sparrow Rose Save A Child campaign is back.
If you're listening to my voice right now, you're probably one of the lucky people who have access to the life-giving insulin that keeps our blood glucose from sky rocketing, causing sickness and complications. You may pay a lot for it, but you have access to it. In fact, you may have already supply your refrigerator at home right now. This morning I counted six vials of this life-sustaining medicine in my fridge.
But you know, there are a lot of kids who do not have access to insulin, let alone a refrigerator. And for them, a diabetes diagnosis could be a death sentence. That's where you and I come in. Partnering for Diabetes Change and the International Diabetes Federation have teamed up once again to help raise money for the IDF's Life or Child program through Sparrow Rose Save A Child.
Really what they're doing is helping to save the lives of children with diabetes in over 50 countries around the world who would be facing an extremely bleak future if you or I didn't act now. The idea is simple. Have a special one in your life? Would you send roses to that person on Valentine's Day?
Going on the premise that one rose would cost about five dollars if instead you donated that five dollars that cost one rose to the IDF's Life or Child program, you could help them purchase insulin for child in a developing country for an entire month. It's that easy to see how your donation can make a difference. Five dollars saves the life of one child for one month. But why stop there?
By that math, the cost of one dozen roses could help a child live for an entire year. So please go to lifefor child USA dot org forward slash Sparrow Rose right after this podcast and sign up to be a lifesaver today. There's even a way you can set up a regular donation via your bank card. Imagine looking at your bank statement each month and saying to yourself okay power bill all alone.
Oh look at that. There's why I saved the life of a child this month. I mean how freakin powerful is that? And hey can you do one more thing?
Can you let the world know about it? I mean why should you and I be the only ones out there saving lives? Let's help others get in on the action too. Be sure to share the Sparrow Rose campaign everywhere you have a social media footprint and at work and at school too.
Share the giving link lifefor child USA dot org forward slash Sparrow Rose. Five bucks one child one month of life. That's a very measurable way to put a value on how you can make a huge difference. A life's sustaining difference right now today and I thank you.
And now we move on to Karen Graffio. Yeah I'm so glad you're here today. Karen is a terrific writer at the blog Bittersweet Diabetes and she's creator of Diabetes Blog Week which will happen again in May this year. Yes Karen.
Yes. I believe so. Okay good ignore my Dexcom going off right now. Okay Karen is also very involved with Diabetes Sisters leading their virtual pods group pod stands for part of Diabetes Sisters and she's also needy and the recent rollout of Diabetes Sisters voices which we'll be talking about today.
Karen thanks for joining me. Thanks so much for having me. Happy to have you. Now let's get to our opening round question.
As you know this is just a little lifebreaker. Karen you're going to have 20 seconds to answer this question. Are you ready? I hope so.
I hope so too. Okay so you are on the team of facilitators at the Diabetes On Conference this year. How do you feel about that and what are you most looking forward to? I feel a equal mix of extremely excited and extremely nervous because it's my first time as a facilitator.
But what I'm looking forward most is making all the attendees experience as great as the ones I've had at past on conferences. If I can do any little bit to help that then I'll be happy. Super and I know you will. I really do.
I know that you will. All right before we talk about diabetes sisters voices can you just kind of give people a quick synopsis of diabetes sisters and its goals? Sure so diabetes sisters is a organization for women who have diabetes and their main where their main programs is their pods program which you had mentioned for diabetes sisters. What parts are their online peer support groups that happen all over the country.
I'm sorry not online. Offline peer support groups live in person support groups where the women need every month and you know for support and discussions. I lead as you mentioned the virtual one so that's for women who don't have a pods near them. We get together once a month on a video chat program and have our support meeting just like the in person ones.
I have to say as a guy I'm kind of jealous about that but it's a good kind of jealous. Is there going to be a weekend for women conferences here? There is going to be one this year in October I believe. All right and now we move on to diabetes sisters voices.
This is a really interesting collaboration between diabetes sisters. The Johns Hopkins University and my city of Baltimore. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Trustnet MD and the diabetes sisters stakeholder advisory board of women and diabetes advocates. What's the mission here?
Our mission is to create an interactive online community for women with all types of diabetes. We get together in forums and ask questions and share our experiences. The twist is that the conversations we're having are going to drive research because the things we're talking about will be looked at so our unmet need that our unanswered questions are identified. Awesome.
One of the unique things about this project is the ability for women from all over to get involved in important research and it's really easy. So tell people how they can do that. If you're in the United States, a woman from all over the United States is the catch, we're not international. Go to diabetes sisters voices.org.
You register then you need to answer a few simple screen questions and sign a consent form that you understand this is part research project and you're in. Will a preview and you can join us? Terrific. Are you looking for anyone specifically for this research or are you just looking for a diverse group of women living with diabetes?
We'd like a diverse group of women as possible because we want all kinds of voices. We want all kinds of perspectives. Every single voice matters and counts and to really understand the problems that women are having, we need to hear from all kinds of women. You have to be 18 years or older and have some type of diabetes including pre-IBD gestational type 1 type 2, LADA.
All right. Yeah. That's one of the great things about diabetes sisters is very welcoming, very inclusive. So I understand that you're getting a grant from PCORI or Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute.
Can you tell me more about that and what their involvement may or may not be? Yes. Yes. We're very excited.
We are being funded through an engagement grant that we were given by PCORI and that's helping us be able to do what we're doing. Terrific. Is there a deadline for participation? Do women need to sign up before a certain date?
The project is ongoing through about May, but obviously the sooner you sign up, the more time you have to make connections and join the conversations. But there is no immediate cutoff date. Our project will go to May. Terrific.
I like that. So what's the final goal here? What are your intentions with the final data once this is all said and done? Once the project is over and the data has been analyzed and connected, a paper will be published with the top 10 questions that women have about diabetes.
It's going to show where we have unmet needs and unanswered questions and this will help researchers and other different groups understand the kind of things women need to give them better outcomes with their life with diabetes. Great. Well, I certainly wish you luck. I think it's going to be really terrific.
I really get the feeling that diabetes sisters voices is going to provide seminal information that should help in the treatment and care of women living with diabetes everywhere. Karen Graffiel, thank you for joining me on the podcast today. Thank you so much for having me. And I'm looking forward to diabetes blog week again.
If you're a woman living with diabetes, you can sign up to be part of diabetes sisters voices and participate in groundbreaking research. They get started. Go to diabetes sisters voices dot org. Karen Graffiel writes about diabetes on her personal blog, bittersweet diabetes, bittersweet diabetes dot com.
And once again, to donate to the International Diabetes Federation's Life 4 Child program through SVA Child, go to lifeourchildusa.org forward slash Ferro Rose. According to women's health dot gov, more than 13 million women in the United States are living with diabetes about one in 10 women over the age of 20. That's diabetes by the numbers. I'm Stephen Shaw.