Fall Newsletter 2009
Content
NEO-AADE Newsletter
By Jill Richards-Divita, President
Fall 2009
Fall General Membership Meeting A Great Success:
Our Fall general membership meeting was held on Thursday, Oct 8th at the Cleveland Clinic Family Health Center in Strongsville. Our own NEO-AADE member, Peggy Doyle, RD, LD, CDE, gave a very informative presentation entitled: ―Considerations for the Diabetic Patient with Celiac Disease‖. When NEO-AADE was looking into possible ―hot topics‖ for future meetings, we took notice of the American Association of Diabetes Educator’s (AADE) September Live Webinar entitled ―Moving through the GI Tract‖. When we inquired of possible notable speakers on the topic of Celiac Disease, Peggy’s name came up several times. We were excited that the so-called ―notable expert‖ was one of our very own members. Thank you Peggy. We all gained a lot of valuable information and will use this for our patients who have both Diabetes and Celiac Disease. Peggy forwarded references and bibliographies used for her presentation to make available to those who attended the meeting and for any one else who would find the resources on Celiac Disease/Gluten Free resources helpful. The information is located in the attachment included with this email titled ―CeliacDiseasandgluten-freeinfo‖ and is also available on our website.
December General Membership/Annual Meeting: Save the Date !!!
We are excited to have Dr. Laurie Sadler as our speaker for our December General Membership/Annual Meeting. Dr. Sadler is a medical doctor who is certified in Internal Medicine with special interests in diabetes, preventive cardiology and lipid disorders. She is the Medical Director at the Joslin Diabetes Center, an affiliate of St Vincent Charity Hospital, as well as Principle Investigator (PI) for several diabetes and dyslipidemia research trials and was the PI for the St. V's ACCORD study site. She is an assistant professor for the School of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University and made the list of Cleveland Magazine’s Best Doc’s in the March 2008 issue. Her presentation focuses on cardiovascular risk reduction in diabetes. She will highlight results of several recent research studies and will speak on lipid management. We will have our ―Installation of 2010 Officers‖ Ceremony at this meeting and also will be ―raffling off‖ a basket filled with goodies to benefit the Debra Mordaunt Scholarship Fund at this meeting so bring some extra cash. More information to follow in future emails and on our website.
“Cardiiovascullar Riisk Reductiion iin Diiabetes” “Card ovascu ar R sk Reduct on n D abetes”
Presented By: Laurie Sadler, MD Date: Thursday December 10 Location: Creekside Restaurant 8803 Brecksville Rd Brecksville, OH 44141
NEO-AADE Sponsorship of AADE Live Webinars:
President-Elect/Program Chair, Renee Ellert has had the dual responsibility of both planning (finding locations, finding speakers, and choosing topics) for our general membership meetings and finding facilities willing to hold AADEs Live Webinars. NEO-AADE has sponsored 3 of AADEs Live Webinars so far this year with great success in turnout. The most recent AADE seminar sponsored by NEO-AADE took place on Wednesday November 4 at the Diabetes Association of Greater Cleveland 3602 South Green Rd in Beachwood. ―When eating becomes a Problem, Body Image and Diabetes.‖ We’d like to thank DAGC for hosting the event. We’d also like to thank those NEO-AADE members who helped secure meeting rooms to host the previous AADE webinars at their facilities this year: Roberta Sass, Mollie Secor, and Andrea Dunn for coordinating the January 7 ―Carbohydrate Counting‖ Webinar at the downtown campus of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation (CCF). Renee Ellert’s coordination of the May 6 ―Teaching Tips‖ Webinar at the CCF Family Health Center Beachwood and Mary Ellen Grady for coordinating the ―Medications Update‖ Webinar held at the CCF Fairview-Diabetes and Wellness Center, July 8. We are planning to continue to sponsor these webinars several times per year. Again these would take place during those months when our general membership meetings are not held and we’d like to sponsor one webinar held during the summer. We will notify members, by email and on our website, all future NEO-AADE sponsored Webinars. NEO-AA DE m em be rs can at t end fo r fr ee and t he cost for non m em bers i s cu rrent l y $ 5 . 0 0 .
Staying Green:
Since we are no longer paying postage to mail newsletters and communications, we will be paying a monthly fee for an improved website. Please bear with us as we are utilizing our volunteer efforts to ―spruce up‖ our website. Accomplishing the task of improving our website has been a much more time consuming endeavor than we initially thought. I would like to thank Renee Ellert, Rose Anne Anthony and Webmaster Matt Sebastian for assisting us with this task. We will keep members updated on when the ―Spruced Up‖ version of our Website will ―go live‖ and encourage members to view our website to check out it’s ―New Look”.
WEBSITE:
www.neoaade.org www.neoaade.net www.neoaade.com
Correspondence Update:
All future correspondence will be in the form of emails. We have been asking members to give us their email addresses at the past several meetings. Keeping us informed of changes in your contact information is very important. If you have a change in your email address, please contact our Corresponding Secretary, Cathy Tobey at [email protected] or 216 228-8243. If you would still like to receive mailed information, or you do not have internet access call Cathy. Cathy has done a great job getting all the important correspondence to members and we want to make sure members continue to receive information from NEO-AADE. Look in your inbox for important emails coming later this month: December General Membership/Annual Meeting 2010 Ballot of Officers via Survey Monkey Changes / Amendments to NEO-AADE Bylaws 2009
Nominations of Officers:
Jan Anselmo, past president and member of the nominating committee, has been hard at work finding a great slate of officers for 2010. She has found noteworthy candidates for each office position and for the membership chair, and nominating committee positions. As it turns out we do not have any contested offices for this election. At the October meeting, active members voted on a paper ballot. We need to ratify the previous vote due to an error made in the election procedure. Our bylaws state that we need to present the slate of officers ―in writing‖ prior to the vote which was not done properly. Therefore, the ―Slate of Officers‖ information in this newsletter serves as ―written communication‖ as is required by the bylaws. We will be sending out the NEO-AADE 2010 SLATE OF OFFICERS/BALLOT via email to all current active members (including those who voted at the October general membership meeting) using ―Survey Monkey‖, an electronic means of conducting surveys/elections. Please check your emails soon for the Survey Monkey link and submit your ballot. Below is the slate of officers for NEO-AADE in 2010. Swearing in of the officers will be held during our December general membership meeting.
2010
President
Slate of Officers for NEO-AADE for 2010
Renee Ellert, RN, MSN, NP-C, CDE * Cleveland Clinic Beachwood Family Health Center * President-Elect from previous year automatically becomes President the following year. Helen Richwine, RN, CDE (Current Recording Secretary) Barberton Citizen’s Hospital Cathy Tobey RN, BSN (Current Corresponding Secretary running again) Cleveland Clinic Foundation Lakewood Family Health Center Sharon Watts, RN, CNP, CDE Louis Stokes Veterans Administration Rose Anne Anthony, RD, LD, CDE (Current Treasurer running for another year) St. Vincent Charity Hospital Dawn Noe, RD, LD, CDE St Vincent Charity Hospital * this position is an appointed position in our bylaws
President Elect Corresponding Secretary Recording Secretary Treasurer
Membership Committee Chair*
Nominating Committee Members for 2010
Andrea Dunn, RD, LD, CDE Maryellen Grady, RN, BSN, CDE Cleveland Clinic Westlake Fairview Hospital Health Center Family Health Center Jill Richards-Divita, RD, CDE * Accu-Chek Spirit Insulin Pumps * Immediate Past President automatically serves as a member of the Nominating Committee
Membership Update:
NEO-AADE is proud to be among the larger size AADE chapters in the country. At any given time throughout this year our membership has ranged between ≈ 55-75 members. Our membership has included members from 14 counties in Ohio including; Ashtabula, Columbiana, Cuyahoga, Erie, Geauga, Medina, Huron, Lake, Ottawa, Portage, Summit, Stark, Trumbull and Wayne. Any organization is only as diverse and dynamic as its members and our membership is comprised of several different health care professions including registered nurses, nurse practitioners, registered dietitians, physicians and pharmacists. We currently have more than 25 Registered Dietitians, more than 35 Registered Nurses, 3 Nurse Practitioners, 1 nurse with a PhD and 3 Registered Pharmacists and more than 50 of these health care professionals are also CDEs. Special thanks go out to 2009 Membership Chair-Judy Zangmeister who has done an excellent job as Membership Chair this year. E-mail Judy if you have any membership questions: [email protected]
American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE) 2009 Research Executive Summary
I participated in a conference call for local AADE chapter leaders on the results from the two AADE on-line surveys recently conducted (June – August 2009). Some of the key findings I found pertinent to our chapter include: --Members chose: face to face events, appropriate topics, good speakers and convenient locations as attributes of an ideal session Our general membership meetings are all face to face, usually within a 1-1 ½ half hour drive or less for most members and we pride ourselves in the networking and unique comradery that takes place among our members, friends, previous and current co-workers at our meetings. --Most members (65%) stated professional education and staying current/up to date with diabetes issues as the primary reason for attendance at meetings. Our Program Chair/President Elect often finds notable speakers on current and timely Diabetes topics. --Cost is not a deciding factor for involvement in their local chapter. Controllable items such as location & topic ranked higher as did “ability to make meetings due to work schedules for involvement”. We often have at least 2 of the 4 general membership meetings free of charge and most dinner meetings have been graciously sponsored by pharma/medical device companies and the dinner meetings are often free or at a low cost. Hopefully this helps gives one less reason a member chooses not to come to a meeting. --Although websites are utilized by roughly 30% of members, some chapters do not have a website. The calendar is one of the top reasons members visit the website with legislation & advocacy having fewer web visits. Twelve % of members reported they never visited the website of their local chapter. NEO-AADE is currently updating and creating a ―New Look‖ to our website. Meeting information/calendar info has always been on the site. Summary: AADE felt as a whole, the research revealed: AADE members are focused on professional education and access to knowledge and value local delivery. --We also learned that AADE members stated they were willing to become more ―active‖ in their local chapter but not necessarily by holding an office position. NEO-AADE currently has several committees within Neo-AADE including: Legislation Committee, Membership Committee, Programming Committee, and Website Committees. If you would like to become a member of any of these committees, please let me know at our next general membership meeting in December or by email at [email protected].
On The Legislative Front:
Mary Chism RN, CDE, our Chapter Legislative Coordinator (CLC), and Treasurer Rose Anne Anthony RD, CDE, a legislative committee member, joined over 75 other AADE members who travelled to Washington DC to attend the 2009 AADE Public Policy Forum on June 15th and 16th. It was the first time AADE had a public policy forum independent of an AADE annual meeting taking place in Washington DC. This particular public policy forum consisted of informational sessions on Healthcare Reform, HR 2425: The Medicare DSMT Act of 2009, HR 1402: Catalyst to Better Diabetes Care Act and trainings on how to effectively communicate these issues with Congress. Mary and Rose Anne had an opportunity to make appointments with their legislators from Ohio. Since most Congressmen/Senators are not in their Washington DC offices during the summer, Mary and Rose Anne met with the legislative aides of their legislators to educate them on the importance of HR 2425 which would give CDEs the opportunity to gain provider status for diabetes education under Medicare. Three additional congressmen signed on as co-sponsors to the H.R. 2425 legislation immediately following the forum.
Update on (H.R. 2245) Diabetes Self Management Training Act of 2009:
The CDE provision from the Diabetes Self Management Training Act of 2009 (H.R 2245) was adopted as an amendment to the current Health Care Reform bill known as the Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962). After months of committee hearings, town halls, and rigorous debate, (H.R. 3962) The Affordable Health Care for America Act was passed by the House of Representatives. It is believed the CDE language will stay in the Senate version of the Affordable Health Care for America Act since designation of CDEs as providers of Diabetes Self Management Training for Medicare is non-controversial and cost neutral.
AADEs DSMT e-petition:
If you have not yet signed AADEs e-petition for (HR 2425) please do so and encourage others to do the same. There are 4040 e-signatures to date and AADE plans on keeping the petition up for a year to use as needed to show legislators how much support there is for DSMT legislation.
Tell congress you support increasing access to diabetes education. Sign the e-petition today!!! Click on the link below. www.diabeteseducator.org/supportCDElegislation
Advocacy e- newsletter
AADE announced that the e-Advocacy, Advice and Announcements newsletter is up and running on the AADE website. This newsletter is a wonderful way to keep updated on the AADES legislative activities click on the link listed below to access the e-advocacy newsletters for September and October http://www.diabeteseducator.org/PolicyAdvocacy/2009.09/articles.html http://www.diabeteseducator.org/PolicyAdvocacy/2009.10/articles.html Additional resources:
AADEs advocacy specialist James Specker is available to help answer questions at any time on the phone or by email. He can be reached at (312) 601-4873.His email is [email protected] the general advocacy email is [email protected]. Information about all current Federal legislation is available at Thomas (Library of Congress): http://thomas.loc.gov/home/abt_thom.html
Ohio Continues as 1 of 4 States Without a Diabetes Cost Reduction Act (DCRA)
Ohio, Alabama, Idaho and North Dakota remain without the benefits of a Diabetes Cost Reduction Act (DCRA). The DCRA seeks to ensure that Ohioans with diabetes are guaranteed coverage for diabetes education, Equipment and supplies in state regulated health plans. One major milestone for this legislation is that in June of 2009, the DCRA was passed by the House Health Committee, This was the first time this occurred in more than a decade. This was a huge step for the DCRA. The DCRA still needs to pass the full House of Representatives and then the procedures for passage of the bill in the senate will be similar. Click on the link below to send a letter to your legislator: Take Action Now! You can receive updates on the DCRA in Ohio by email by becoming a diabetes advocate for the American Diabetes Association (ADA). You may sign up as an advocate at the link below: http://advocacy.diabetes.org Thank you to all those who are already advocates and those who are becoming advocates!!!!
Got News ??? Please Share ….
Our membership is full of highly talented, remarkable people who surely have plenty of news, whether professional or personal to share with our members. If you have special announcements, ie: weddings/special anniversaries; births (children, grand-children); note-worthy accomplishments, certifications, higher degrees, awards, career advancements/jobs you or a family member may have received. Although we are professional colleagues, we also are ―friends‖ and want to share in each others’ good news, and accomplishments. Please email me your ―newsworthy‖ information so I can include it in future e-newsletters and post it on our website. Please remember the e-newsletter will go out to all members on our email roster and will also be posted on our newly designed website. My email is [email protected].. Feel free to submit ―mini-bio’s‖ of yourself or just a paragraph or two of interesting tid-bits about yourself. Look at the website often for our ―News Worth Sharing‖ and ―Members Spotlight:‖ sections. We want our website and newsletters to reflect all of our members … Don’t be shy ….
Condolences:
We would like to send our condolences to NEO-AADE member Hollie Asanowicz-O’Malley, diabetes educator at Southwest General Hospital for the loss of her father who passed away recently. Also condolences go out to NEOAADE member Terry Grano, diabetes educator at Lake Hospital Systems, on the recent passing of her brother.
JOB OPPORTUNITIES:
Rebecca Sauvey had great job opportunities to announce at our last meeting. Between now and July 2010, Cleveland Clinic Foundation (CCF) will be looking to fill 6 CDE positions—4 inpatient and 2 outpatient. Current positions are posted on their website as they are accepting applications now. The others will be posted throughout the year with all 6 to be on board by July. Cleveland Clinic Human Resources web site:
http://www.clevelandclinic-jobs.com/job/CLEVELAND-Diabetes-Educator-CCHS-Employees-Only-Job-OH-44101/626702/
career opportunities
Cleveland Clinic Nursing ―By Category‖ Managerial/Professional Managerial/Professional Cleveland Health Education Jobs Diabetes Educator Job Job code: T26147
Member’s Spotlight…
Fellow NEO-AADE member Ann Williams, RN, CDE, PhD had the article/story ―Hypoglycemia: That Dog-Gone Low Blood Sugar‖ published in the Voice of the Diabetic Vol 23, No 3 Summer Edition. Ann is the first person I am ―highlighting‖ as a fellow NEO-AADE member who definitely has a unique bit of news updating us on what she has been busy doing lately. I hope you enjoy the article/story. Please pass the information on service animals onto anyone you know who may also benefit from the information.
Voice of The Diabetic Vol 23, No 3 Summer Edition
Hypoglycemia: That Dog-Gone Low Blood Sugar
This column is going to be a little different, because instead of explaining something about diabetes, I’m going to tell a story about some recent events in my own life with diabetes. I have had type 2 diabetes since 1991. I was already a diabetes educator when I diagnosed my own diabetes, and soon told my doctor about it. Because I had severe side effects with oral medications, I have used insulin from the first year. After doing multiple injections for several years, I got an insulin pump, and have managed my diabetes with a pump ever since then. As a diabetes educator, I have seen all the major diabetes complications in my patients, so I am highly motivated to prevent complications in myself. Therefore, I have done intensive management from the beginning, trying to keep my blood sugar as close to normal as possible. Of course, it’s nearly impossible to do this perfectly. So at times, I have low blood sugar, or hypoglycemia. On the day this story begins, I was lying on my bed. A little circular thought was running around my brain, saying, “I don’t feel so good…. I wonder what’s happening to me…. I really don’t feel good…. I wonder what this is…. I don’t feel good…. I wonder…..” Round and round this thought went, repeating itself over and over. Suddenly, I felt a cold, wet nose and a fuzzy snout against my neck. My dog, Yoda, was pushing against my neck. He is small – only about 11 pounds – but he was pushing with all his might. Finally, it occurred to me that he wanted me to get up. I stood up, still not feeling so good and wondering what was happening to me. Yoda pushed against the back of my leg. A drop of sweat dripped off the end of my nose. That drop of sweat broke through my circular wondering with a fact: Sweat dripping off the end of my nose is one of my personal signs of hypoglycemia. I realized I was having low blood sugar, so I went and checked it. It was 57 – low enough that I needed to treat it, so I ate four glucose tablets. Fifteen minutes later, my blood sugar was 72, so I knew I had treated it enough. Later, I thought about what had happened, and I realized that Yoda had been signaling me. I had heard that dogs sometimes alert their owners to hypoglycemia, but never expected that Yoda, at the age of eight years, would suddenly be one of them. I wondered if he would do it again. To make a long story short, my old dog had indeed learned a new trick. He has signaled me every time I have had hypoglycemia in his presence for about the last year.
After my experience, I became very curious about dogs that alert their owners to hypoglycemia, and searched the terms “diabetes alert dog” and “diabetes service dog” on the Internet. I learned that there are four schools in the U.S. that train dogs for this purpose. I also found several newspaper and magazine stories about dogs that, like Yoda, spontaneously started alerting their owners to hypoglycemia. After reading about all of these dogs, I decided that it would be helpful if I were certain that Yoda would always alert me, and to have him with me more of the time. In order to do that, I needed him to learn better manners for being in public. Although he was trained well enough to be a good pet, a service dog must have a higher standard of good behavior. While the Americans with Disabilities Act does guarantee that service dogs can accompany their humans in public, this right applies only if the dog has excellent public behavior. A service dog owner whose dog is out of control or threatening in public can be asked to remove the dog. I found a service dog trainer in my area, and Yoda and I met with her. I learned more than I knew there was to know about dog training, and once I knew the training techniques, Yoda learned very quickly. He now has a service dog vest, and he knows that when he is wearing the vest he must be on his best behavior. For most of the last year, Yoda has gone with me almost everywhere. He is quite consistent about alerting me to hypoglycemia, often before I recognize that I am feeling the symptoms. (I do always check my blood sugar when he alerts me, just to be sure.) As a person with type 2 diabetes, I do not have hypoglycemia as often or as severely as many people with type 1. But Yoda’s help has improved my life. He lets me know when I have low blood sugar early in the process, while it is dropping, but before it gets really low. By treating early, I can avoid feeling awful for several hours afterwards. So what would I say to someone who is thinking of getting a diabetes alert dog? First of all, I believe that it’s important to work with a professional service dog trainer. A diabetes alert dog needs to be consistent in detecting low blood sugar, for obvious safety reasons. Furthermore, as explained above, anyone who takes a dog out in public has a responsibility for that dog behaving well. Another consideration is that training for diabetes alert dogs is relatively new. Most service dog trainers do not know the training techniques. Therefore, I think a person who wants a diabetes alert dog should probably get one from one of the schools. Now, here I have to add a disclaimer: I do not have any personal experience with any of the schools. I only know what I have read on their web sites. If you want a diabetes alert dog, I would suggest that you contact all of them. Some will only serve people from a particular part of the country. The amount of time that you would spend with your dog in training, and the fee for a dog, can be very different at different schools. I imagine that there might be differences in their training procedures. You’ll have to find out as much as you can from the schools, and then make the decision that you think is best for you. Having said all that, I hope that if you decide to get a diabetes alert dog, your experience is as good as mine has been. Please let me know! You can contact me through the editor of the Voice of the Diabetic. Additional Resources: Schools for Diabetes Alert Dogs
All Purpose Canines www.allpurposecanines.com phone: 605-225-1131 Canine Partners for Life www.k94life.org phone: 610-869-4902 Dogs 4 Diabetics www.dogs4diabetics.com phone: 925-246-5785 Heaven Scent Paws www.heavenscentpaws.com phone: 573-493-2627 About the Author Ann S. Williams is an RN, with a PhD in Psychology, and has worked as a diabetes educator for 20 years. She has specialized in teaching independent diabetes self-management for blind people and writes and speaks frequently on this topic for other health care professionals. She was the founder and past chair of the Disabilities Specialty Practice Group of the American Association of Diabetes Educators, and remains an active member of that group.
Member’s Spotlight …..…
As president of NEO-AADE, I am constantly gleaming with pride when I see one of our members volunteering at a state or national level within their profession. The second member I would like to ―spotlight‖ is Andrea Dunn, RD, LD, CDE. I have seen fellow NEO-AADE member Andrea Dunn’s name often in print. In the Journal of the American Dietetic Association volume 104, issue 12, page 1804 Dec 2004 she had her article entitled, Feeding the Athlete, published. She is the Communications Chair of the Diabetes Care and Education (DCE) Dietetic Practice Group of the American Dietetic Association and has served as the editor of their newsletter. She also has been a presenter at AADEs National Meetings including last year in Washington DC. Since I knew her involvement in diabetes and the profession was a perfect example of what I would like to include in our newsletter and website to highlight one of our members, I asked Andrea if she would send me a few paragraphs of her accomplishments so I could create a ―write-up‖ on her. Instead of providing information about herself, she humbly submitted the information below containing helpful information for patients and health care professionals and encourages other professionals to submit articles or become reviewers for the newsletters or to just get more involved.
NEO-AADE member Andrea Dunn, RD, LD, CDE is currently Communications Chair of the Diabetes Care and Education (DCE) Dietetic Practice Group. Any member of the American Dietetic Association can join DCE and benefit from the continuing education programs, knowledgeable list serve and informative newsletters. Even if you are NOT a member, you can take advantage of their high quality diabetes patient education handouts. Available at www.dce.org, you will find twelve ready to print handouts in English, along with two Spanish handouts and one in large print. From the home page, choose „DCE publications‟ and then click on „educational handouts‟. DCE is always looking for writers or reviewers for the newsletters and website as well as members that want to get more involved with this great group. Contact Andrea at [email protected] if you are interested in more information.
Andrea Dunn, RD, LD, CDE
Thank-You from the President………
Lastly, I wanted to write a few personal notes in this newsletter as my term as President of NEO-AADE comes to an end. I want to thank the following individuals for the time and effort they put toward NEO-AADE this year: 2009 Executive Committee Members/Officers/Standing Committee Members: Renee Ellert-President Elect, Cathy Tobey-Corresponding Secretary, Helen Richwine-Recording Secretary, Rose Anne Anthony-Treasurer, Past President Janet Anselmo, Judy Zangmeister-Membership Chair, Mary Chism-Legislative Chair, Matt Sebastian-Webmaster, Marilyn Herget-Historian, Tellers: Maryellen Eickman-Fiala and Mary Beth Scala
A personal “Thank You” to all the diabetes educators of NEO-AADE:
This past October marked the 30-year anniversary of my living with type 1 Diabetes. Although I am able to be ―thankful‖ to have lived an overall healthy and ―normal‖ life with diabetes, I know too many of my patients and friends have not been as fortunate. As a patient with diabetes I see first hand the major role diabetes educators play in patients’ lives. In addition to the education diabetes educators provide, you also provide words of encouragement every step of the way. Never underestimate how your kindness and compassion can make the difference in the life of someone with diabetes!!! Obviously having diabetes played a major role in me attaining a career in health care and ultimately in diabetes education, but I realize people often work in many different areas within their profession before ending up in diabetes education. So in many ways ….being a diabetes educator is a ―choice‖ to some degree …. and for whatever reason all of you ―chose‖ to become a diabetes educator. Thank you!! Thank You!! THANK YOU!!!. Until there is a cure for this disease, I am so thankful to have fellow NEO-AADE members educating fellow patients with diabetes. Whatever inspired you to become a diabetes educator …. Patients (me included) are all the more fortunate as a result.
Jill Richards-Divita, 2009 NEO-AADE President
By Jill Richards-Divita, President
Fall 2009
Fall General Membership Meeting A Great Success:
Our Fall general membership meeting was held on Thursday, Oct 8th at the Cleveland Clinic Family Health Center in Strongsville. Our own NEO-AADE member, Peggy Doyle, RD, LD, CDE, gave a very informative presentation entitled: ―Considerations for the Diabetic Patient with Celiac Disease‖. When NEO-AADE was looking into possible ―hot topics‖ for future meetings, we took notice of the American Association of Diabetes Educator’s (AADE) September Live Webinar entitled ―Moving through the GI Tract‖. When we inquired of possible notable speakers on the topic of Celiac Disease, Peggy’s name came up several times. We were excited that the so-called ―notable expert‖ was one of our very own members. Thank you Peggy. We all gained a lot of valuable information and will use this for our patients who have both Diabetes and Celiac Disease. Peggy forwarded references and bibliographies used for her presentation to make available to those who attended the meeting and for any one else who would find the resources on Celiac Disease/Gluten Free resources helpful. The information is located in the attachment included with this email titled ―CeliacDiseasandgluten-freeinfo‖ and is also available on our website.
December General Membership/Annual Meeting: Save the Date !!!
We are excited to have Dr. Laurie Sadler as our speaker for our December General Membership/Annual Meeting. Dr. Sadler is a medical doctor who is certified in Internal Medicine with special interests in diabetes, preventive cardiology and lipid disorders. She is the Medical Director at the Joslin Diabetes Center, an affiliate of St Vincent Charity Hospital, as well as Principle Investigator (PI) for several diabetes and dyslipidemia research trials and was the PI for the St. V's ACCORD study site. She is an assistant professor for the School of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University and made the list of Cleveland Magazine’s Best Doc’s in the March 2008 issue. Her presentation focuses on cardiovascular risk reduction in diabetes. She will highlight results of several recent research studies and will speak on lipid management. We will have our ―Installation of 2010 Officers‖ Ceremony at this meeting and also will be ―raffling off‖ a basket filled with goodies to benefit the Debra Mordaunt Scholarship Fund at this meeting so bring some extra cash. More information to follow in future emails and on our website.
“Cardiiovascullar Riisk Reductiion iin Diiabetes” “Card ovascu ar R sk Reduct on n D abetes”
Presented By: Laurie Sadler, MD Date: Thursday December 10 Location: Creekside Restaurant 8803 Brecksville Rd Brecksville, OH 44141
NEO-AADE Sponsorship of AADE Live Webinars:
President-Elect/Program Chair, Renee Ellert has had the dual responsibility of both planning (finding locations, finding speakers, and choosing topics) for our general membership meetings and finding facilities willing to hold AADEs Live Webinars. NEO-AADE has sponsored 3 of AADEs Live Webinars so far this year with great success in turnout. The most recent AADE seminar sponsored by NEO-AADE took place on Wednesday November 4 at the Diabetes Association of Greater Cleveland 3602 South Green Rd in Beachwood. ―When eating becomes a Problem, Body Image and Diabetes.‖ We’d like to thank DAGC for hosting the event. We’d also like to thank those NEO-AADE members who helped secure meeting rooms to host the previous AADE webinars at their facilities this year: Roberta Sass, Mollie Secor, and Andrea Dunn for coordinating the January 7 ―Carbohydrate Counting‖ Webinar at the downtown campus of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation (CCF). Renee Ellert’s coordination of the May 6 ―Teaching Tips‖ Webinar at the CCF Family Health Center Beachwood and Mary Ellen Grady for coordinating the ―Medications Update‖ Webinar held at the CCF Fairview-Diabetes and Wellness Center, July 8. We are planning to continue to sponsor these webinars several times per year. Again these would take place during those months when our general membership meetings are not held and we’d like to sponsor one webinar held during the summer. We will notify members, by email and on our website, all future NEO-AADE sponsored Webinars. NEO-AA DE m em be rs can at t end fo r fr ee and t he cost for non m em bers i s cu rrent l y $ 5 . 0 0 .
Staying Green:
Since we are no longer paying postage to mail newsletters and communications, we will be paying a monthly fee for an improved website. Please bear with us as we are utilizing our volunteer efforts to ―spruce up‖ our website. Accomplishing the task of improving our website has been a much more time consuming endeavor than we initially thought. I would like to thank Renee Ellert, Rose Anne Anthony and Webmaster Matt Sebastian for assisting us with this task. We will keep members updated on when the ―Spruced Up‖ version of our Website will ―go live‖ and encourage members to view our website to check out it’s ―New Look”.
WEBSITE:
www.neoaade.org www.neoaade.net www.neoaade.com
Correspondence Update:
All future correspondence will be in the form of emails. We have been asking members to give us their email addresses at the past several meetings. Keeping us informed of changes in your contact information is very important. If you have a change in your email address, please contact our Corresponding Secretary, Cathy Tobey at [email protected] or 216 228-8243. If you would still like to receive mailed information, or you do not have internet access call Cathy. Cathy has done a great job getting all the important correspondence to members and we want to make sure members continue to receive information from NEO-AADE. Look in your inbox for important emails coming later this month: December General Membership/Annual Meeting 2010 Ballot of Officers via Survey Monkey Changes / Amendments to NEO-AADE Bylaws 2009
Nominations of Officers:
Jan Anselmo, past president and member of the nominating committee, has been hard at work finding a great slate of officers for 2010. She has found noteworthy candidates for each office position and for the membership chair, and nominating committee positions. As it turns out we do not have any contested offices for this election. At the October meeting, active members voted on a paper ballot. We need to ratify the previous vote due to an error made in the election procedure. Our bylaws state that we need to present the slate of officers ―in writing‖ prior to the vote which was not done properly. Therefore, the ―Slate of Officers‖ information in this newsletter serves as ―written communication‖ as is required by the bylaws. We will be sending out the NEO-AADE 2010 SLATE OF OFFICERS/BALLOT via email to all current active members (including those who voted at the October general membership meeting) using ―Survey Monkey‖, an electronic means of conducting surveys/elections. Please check your emails soon for the Survey Monkey link and submit your ballot. Below is the slate of officers for NEO-AADE in 2010. Swearing in of the officers will be held during our December general membership meeting.
2010
President
Slate of Officers for NEO-AADE for 2010
Renee Ellert, RN, MSN, NP-C, CDE * Cleveland Clinic Beachwood Family Health Center * President-Elect from previous year automatically becomes President the following year. Helen Richwine, RN, CDE (Current Recording Secretary) Barberton Citizen’s Hospital Cathy Tobey RN, BSN (Current Corresponding Secretary running again) Cleveland Clinic Foundation Lakewood Family Health Center Sharon Watts, RN, CNP, CDE Louis Stokes Veterans Administration Rose Anne Anthony, RD, LD, CDE (Current Treasurer running for another year) St. Vincent Charity Hospital Dawn Noe, RD, LD, CDE St Vincent Charity Hospital * this position is an appointed position in our bylaws
President Elect Corresponding Secretary Recording Secretary Treasurer
Membership Committee Chair*
Nominating Committee Members for 2010
Andrea Dunn, RD, LD, CDE Maryellen Grady, RN, BSN, CDE Cleveland Clinic Westlake Fairview Hospital Health Center Family Health Center Jill Richards-Divita, RD, CDE * Accu-Chek Spirit Insulin Pumps * Immediate Past President automatically serves as a member of the Nominating Committee
Membership Update:
NEO-AADE is proud to be among the larger size AADE chapters in the country. At any given time throughout this year our membership has ranged between ≈ 55-75 members. Our membership has included members from 14 counties in Ohio including; Ashtabula, Columbiana, Cuyahoga, Erie, Geauga, Medina, Huron, Lake, Ottawa, Portage, Summit, Stark, Trumbull and Wayne. Any organization is only as diverse and dynamic as its members and our membership is comprised of several different health care professions including registered nurses, nurse practitioners, registered dietitians, physicians and pharmacists. We currently have more than 25 Registered Dietitians, more than 35 Registered Nurses, 3 Nurse Practitioners, 1 nurse with a PhD and 3 Registered Pharmacists and more than 50 of these health care professionals are also CDEs. Special thanks go out to 2009 Membership Chair-Judy Zangmeister who has done an excellent job as Membership Chair this year. E-mail Judy if you have any membership questions: [email protected]
American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE) 2009 Research Executive Summary
I participated in a conference call for local AADE chapter leaders on the results from the two AADE on-line surveys recently conducted (June – August 2009). Some of the key findings I found pertinent to our chapter include: --Members chose: face to face events, appropriate topics, good speakers and convenient locations as attributes of an ideal session Our general membership meetings are all face to face, usually within a 1-1 ½ half hour drive or less for most members and we pride ourselves in the networking and unique comradery that takes place among our members, friends, previous and current co-workers at our meetings. --Most members (65%) stated professional education and staying current/up to date with diabetes issues as the primary reason for attendance at meetings. Our Program Chair/President Elect often finds notable speakers on current and timely Diabetes topics. --Cost is not a deciding factor for involvement in their local chapter. Controllable items such as location & topic ranked higher as did “ability to make meetings due to work schedules for involvement”. We often have at least 2 of the 4 general membership meetings free of charge and most dinner meetings have been graciously sponsored by pharma/medical device companies and the dinner meetings are often free or at a low cost. Hopefully this helps gives one less reason a member chooses not to come to a meeting. --Although websites are utilized by roughly 30% of members, some chapters do not have a website. The calendar is one of the top reasons members visit the website with legislation & advocacy having fewer web visits. Twelve % of members reported they never visited the website of their local chapter. NEO-AADE is currently updating and creating a ―New Look‖ to our website. Meeting information/calendar info has always been on the site. Summary: AADE felt as a whole, the research revealed: AADE members are focused on professional education and access to knowledge and value local delivery. --We also learned that AADE members stated they were willing to become more ―active‖ in their local chapter but not necessarily by holding an office position. NEO-AADE currently has several committees within Neo-AADE including: Legislation Committee, Membership Committee, Programming Committee, and Website Committees. If you would like to become a member of any of these committees, please let me know at our next general membership meeting in December or by email at [email protected].
On The Legislative Front:
Mary Chism RN, CDE, our Chapter Legislative Coordinator (CLC), and Treasurer Rose Anne Anthony RD, CDE, a legislative committee member, joined over 75 other AADE members who travelled to Washington DC to attend the 2009 AADE Public Policy Forum on June 15th and 16th. It was the first time AADE had a public policy forum independent of an AADE annual meeting taking place in Washington DC. This particular public policy forum consisted of informational sessions on Healthcare Reform, HR 2425: The Medicare DSMT Act of 2009, HR 1402: Catalyst to Better Diabetes Care Act and trainings on how to effectively communicate these issues with Congress. Mary and Rose Anne had an opportunity to make appointments with their legislators from Ohio. Since most Congressmen/Senators are not in their Washington DC offices during the summer, Mary and Rose Anne met with the legislative aides of their legislators to educate them on the importance of HR 2425 which would give CDEs the opportunity to gain provider status for diabetes education under Medicare. Three additional congressmen signed on as co-sponsors to the H.R. 2425 legislation immediately following the forum.
Update on (H.R. 2245) Diabetes Self Management Training Act of 2009:
The CDE provision from the Diabetes Self Management Training Act of 2009 (H.R 2245) was adopted as an amendment to the current Health Care Reform bill known as the Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962). After months of committee hearings, town halls, and rigorous debate, (H.R. 3962) The Affordable Health Care for America Act was passed by the House of Representatives. It is believed the CDE language will stay in the Senate version of the Affordable Health Care for America Act since designation of CDEs as providers of Diabetes Self Management Training for Medicare is non-controversial and cost neutral.
AADEs DSMT e-petition:
If you have not yet signed AADEs e-petition for (HR 2425) please do so and encourage others to do the same. There are 4040 e-signatures to date and AADE plans on keeping the petition up for a year to use as needed to show legislators how much support there is for DSMT legislation.
Tell congress you support increasing access to diabetes education. Sign the e-petition today!!! Click on the link below. www.diabeteseducator.org/supportCDElegislation
Advocacy e- newsletter
AADE announced that the e-Advocacy, Advice and Announcements newsletter is up and running on the AADE website. This newsletter is a wonderful way to keep updated on the AADES legislative activities click on the link listed below to access the e-advocacy newsletters for September and October http://www.diabeteseducator.org/PolicyAdvocacy/2009.09/articles.html http://www.diabeteseducator.org/PolicyAdvocacy/2009.10/articles.html Additional resources:
AADEs advocacy specialist James Specker is available to help answer questions at any time on the phone or by email. He can be reached at (312) 601-4873.His email is [email protected] the general advocacy email is [email protected]. Information about all current Federal legislation is available at Thomas (Library of Congress): http://thomas.loc.gov/home/abt_thom.html
Ohio Continues as 1 of 4 States Without a Diabetes Cost Reduction Act (DCRA)
Ohio, Alabama, Idaho and North Dakota remain without the benefits of a Diabetes Cost Reduction Act (DCRA). The DCRA seeks to ensure that Ohioans with diabetes are guaranteed coverage for diabetes education, Equipment and supplies in state regulated health plans. One major milestone for this legislation is that in June of 2009, the DCRA was passed by the House Health Committee, This was the first time this occurred in more than a decade. This was a huge step for the DCRA. The DCRA still needs to pass the full House of Representatives and then the procedures for passage of the bill in the senate will be similar. Click on the link below to send a letter to your legislator: Take Action Now! You can receive updates on the DCRA in Ohio by email by becoming a diabetes advocate for the American Diabetes Association (ADA). You may sign up as an advocate at the link below: http://advocacy.diabetes.org Thank you to all those who are already advocates and those who are becoming advocates!!!!
Got News ??? Please Share ….
Our membership is full of highly talented, remarkable people who surely have plenty of news, whether professional or personal to share with our members. If you have special announcements, ie: weddings/special anniversaries; births (children, grand-children); note-worthy accomplishments, certifications, higher degrees, awards, career advancements/jobs you or a family member may have received. Although we are professional colleagues, we also are ―friends‖ and want to share in each others’ good news, and accomplishments. Please email me your ―newsworthy‖ information so I can include it in future e-newsletters and post it on our website. Please remember the e-newsletter will go out to all members on our email roster and will also be posted on our newly designed website. My email is [email protected].. Feel free to submit ―mini-bio’s‖ of yourself or just a paragraph or two of interesting tid-bits about yourself. Look at the website often for our ―News Worth Sharing‖ and ―Members Spotlight:‖ sections. We want our website and newsletters to reflect all of our members … Don’t be shy ….
Condolences:
We would like to send our condolences to NEO-AADE member Hollie Asanowicz-O’Malley, diabetes educator at Southwest General Hospital for the loss of her father who passed away recently. Also condolences go out to NEOAADE member Terry Grano, diabetes educator at Lake Hospital Systems, on the recent passing of her brother.
JOB OPPORTUNITIES:
Rebecca Sauvey had great job opportunities to announce at our last meeting. Between now and July 2010, Cleveland Clinic Foundation (CCF) will be looking to fill 6 CDE positions—4 inpatient and 2 outpatient. Current positions are posted on their website as they are accepting applications now. The others will be posted throughout the year with all 6 to be on board by July. Cleveland Clinic Human Resources web site:
http://www.clevelandclinic-jobs.com/job/CLEVELAND-Diabetes-Educator-CCHS-Employees-Only-Job-OH-44101/626702/
career opportunities
Cleveland Clinic Nursing ―By Category‖ Managerial/Professional Managerial/Professional Cleveland Health Education Jobs Diabetes Educator Job Job code: T26147
Member’s Spotlight…
Fellow NEO-AADE member Ann Williams, RN, CDE, PhD had the article/story ―Hypoglycemia: That Dog-Gone Low Blood Sugar‖ published in the Voice of the Diabetic Vol 23, No 3 Summer Edition. Ann is the first person I am ―highlighting‖ as a fellow NEO-AADE member who definitely has a unique bit of news updating us on what she has been busy doing lately. I hope you enjoy the article/story. Please pass the information on service animals onto anyone you know who may also benefit from the information.
Voice of The Diabetic Vol 23, No 3 Summer Edition
Hypoglycemia: That Dog-Gone Low Blood Sugar
This column is going to be a little different, because instead of explaining something about diabetes, I’m going to tell a story about some recent events in my own life with diabetes. I have had type 2 diabetes since 1991. I was already a diabetes educator when I diagnosed my own diabetes, and soon told my doctor about it. Because I had severe side effects with oral medications, I have used insulin from the first year. After doing multiple injections for several years, I got an insulin pump, and have managed my diabetes with a pump ever since then. As a diabetes educator, I have seen all the major diabetes complications in my patients, so I am highly motivated to prevent complications in myself. Therefore, I have done intensive management from the beginning, trying to keep my blood sugar as close to normal as possible. Of course, it’s nearly impossible to do this perfectly. So at times, I have low blood sugar, or hypoglycemia. On the day this story begins, I was lying on my bed. A little circular thought was running around my brain, saying, “I don’t feel so good…. I wonder what’s happening to me…. I really don’t feel good…. I wonder what this is…. I don’t feel good…. I wonder…..” Round and round this thought went, repeating itself over and over. Suddenly, I felt a cold, wet nose and a fuzzy snout against my neck. My dog, Yoda, was pushing against my neck. He is small – only about 11 pounds – but he was pushing with all his might. Finally, it occurred to me that he wanted me to get up. I stood up, still not feeling so good and wondering what was happening to me. Yoda pushed against the back of my leg. A drop of sweat dripped off the end of my nose. That drop of sweat broke through my circular wondering with a fact: Sweat dripping off the end of my nose is one of my personal signs of hypoglycemia. I realized I was having low blood sugar, so I went and checked it. It was 57 – low enough that I needed to treat it, so I ate four glucose tablets. Fifteen minutes later, my blood sugar was 72, so I knew I had treated it enough. Later, I thought about what had happened, and I realized that Yoda had been signaling me. I had heard that dogs sometimes alert their owners to hypoglycemia, but never expected that Yoda, at the age of eight years, would suddenly be one of them. I wondered if he would do it again. To make a long story short, my old dog had indeed learned a new trick. He has signaled me every time I have had hypoglycemia in his presence for about the last year.
After my experience, I became very curious about dogs that alert their owners to hypoglycemia, and searched the terms “diabetes alert dog” and “diabetes service dog” on the Internet. I learned that there are four schools in the U.S. that train dogs for this purpose. I also found several newspaper and magazine stories about dogs that, like Yoda, spontaneously started alerting their owners to hypoglycemia. After reading about all of these dogs, I decided that it would be helpful if I were certain that Yoda would always alert me, and to have him with me more of the time. In order to do that, I needed him to learn better manners for being in public. Although he was trained well enough to be a good pet, a service dog must have a higher standard of good behavior. While the Americans with Disabilities Act does guarantee that service dogs can accompany their humans in public, this right applies only if the dog has excellent public behavior. A service dog owner whose dog is out of control or threatening in public can be asked to remove the dog. I found a service dog trainer in my area, and Yoda and I met with her. I learned more than I knew there was to know about dog training, and once I knew the training techniques, Yoda learned very quickly. He now has a service dog vest, and he knows that when he is wearing the vest he must be on his best behavior. For most of the last year, Yoda has gone with me almost everywhere. He is quite consistent about alerting me to hypoglycemia, often before I recognize that I am feeling the symptoms. (I do always check my blood sugar when he alerts me, just to be sure.) As a person with type 2 diabetes, I do not have hypoglycemia as often or as severely as many people with type 1. But Yoda’s help has improved my life. He lets me know when I have low blood sugar early in the process, while it is dropping, but before it gets really low. By treating early, I can avoid feeling awful for several hours afterwards. So what would I say to someone who is thinking of getting a diabetes alert dog? First of all, I believe that it’s important to work with a professional service dog trainer. A diabetes alert dog needs to be consistent in detecting low blood sugar, for obvious safety reasons. Furthermore, as explained above, anyone who takes a dog out in public has a responsibility for that dog behaving well. Another consideration is that training for diabetes alert dogs is relatively new. Most service dog trainers do not know the training techniques. Therefore, I think a person who wants a diabetes alert dog should probably get one from one of the schools. Now, here I have to add a disclaimer: I do not have any personal experience with any of the schools. I only know what I have read on their web sites. If you want a diabetes alert dog, I would suggest that you contact all of them. Some will only serve people from a particular part of the country. The amount of time that you would spend with your dog in training, and the fee for a dog, can be very different at different schools. I imagine that there might be differences in their training procedures. You’ll have to find out as much as you can from the schools, and then make the decision that you think is best for you. Having said all that, I hope that if you decide to get a diabetes alert dog, your experience is as good as mine has been. Please let me know! You can contact me through the editor of the Voice of the Diabetic. Additional Resources: Schools for Diabetes Alert Dogs
All Purpose Canines www.allpurposecanines.com phone: 605-225-1131 Canine Partners for Life www.k94life.org phone: 610-869-4902 Dogs 4 Diabetics www.dogs4diabetics.com phone: 925-246-5785 Heaven Scent Paws www.heavenscentpaws.com phone: 573-493-2627 About the Author Ann S. Williams is an RN, with a PhD in Psychology, and has worked as a diabetes educator for 20 years. She has specialized in teaching independent diabetes self-management for blind people and writes and speaks frequently on this topic for other health care professionals. She was the founder and past chair of the Disabilities Specialty Practice Group of the American Association of Diabetes Educators, and remains an active member of that group.
Member’s Spotlight …..…
As president of NEO-AADE, I am constantly gleaming with pride when I see one of our members volunteering at a state or national level within their profession. The second member I would like to ―spotlight‖ is Andrea Dunn, RD, LD, CDE. I have seen fellow NEO-AADE member Andrea Dunn’s name often in print. In the Journal of the American Dietetic Association volume 104, issue 12, page 1804 Dec 2004 she had her article entitled, Feeding the Athlete, published. She is the Communications Chair of the Diabetes Care and Education (DCE) Dietetic Practice Group of the American Dietetic Association and has served as the editor of their newsletter. She also has been a presenter at AADEs National Meetings including last year in Washington DC. Since I knew her involvement in diabetes and the profession was a perfect example of what I would like to include in our newsletter and website to highlight one of our members, I asked Andrea if she would send me a few paragraphs of her accomplishments so I could create a ―write-up‖ on her. Instead of providing information about herself, she humbly submitted the information below containing helpful information for patients and health care professionals and encourages other professionals to submit articles or become reviewers for the newsletters or to just get more involved.
NEO-AADE member Andrea Dunn, RD, LD, CDE is currently Communications Chair of the Diabetes Care and Education (DCE) Dietetic Practice Group. Any member of the American Dietetic Association can join DCE and benefit from the continuing education programs, knowledgeable list serve and informative newsletters. Even if you are NOT a member, you can take advantage of their high quality diabetes patient education handouts. Available at www.dce.org, you will find twelve ready to print handouts in English, along with two Spanish handouts and one in large print. From the home page, choose „DCE publications‟ and then click on „educational handouts‟. DCE is always looking for writers or reviewers for the newsletters and website as well as members that want to get more involved with this great group. Contact Andrea at [email protected] if you are interested in more information.
Andrea Dunn, RD, LD, CDE
Thank-You from the President………
Lastly, I wanted to write a few personal notes in this newsletter as my term as President of NEO-AADE comes to an end. I want to thank the following individuals for the time and effort they put toward NEO-AADE this year: 2009 Executive Committee Members/Officers/Standing Committee Members: Renee Ellert-President Elect, Cathy Tobey-Corresponding Secretary, Helen Richwine-Recording Secretary, Rose Anne Anthony-Treasurer, Past President Janet Anselmo, Judy Zangmeister-Membership Chair, Mary Chism-Legislative Chair, Matt Sebastian-Webmaster, Marilyn Herget-Historian, Tellers: Maryellen Eickman-Fiala and Mary Beth Scala
A personal “Thank You” to all the diabetes educators of NEO-AADE:
This past October marked the 30-year anniversary of my living with type 1 Diabetes. Although I am able to be ―thankful‖ to have lived an overall healthy and ―normal‖ life with diabetes, I know too many of my patients and friends have not been as fortunate. As a patient with diabetes I see first hand the major role diabetes educators play in patients’ lives. In addition to the education diabetes educators provide, you also provide words of encouragement every step of the way. Never underestimate how your kindness and compassion can make the difference in the life of someone with diabetes!!! Obviously having diabetes played a major role in me attaining a career in health care and ultimately in diabetes education, but I realize people often work in many different areas within their profession before ending up in diabetes education. So in many ways ….being a diabetes educator is a ―choice‖ to some degree …. and for whatever reason all of you ―chose‖ to become a diabetes educator. Thank you!! Thank You!! THANK YOU!!!. Until there is a cure for this disease, I am so thankful to have fellow NEO-AADE members educating fellow patients with diabetes. Whatever inspired you to become a diabetes educator …. Patients (me included) are all the more fortunate as a result.
Jill Richards-Divita, 2009 NEO-AADE President
