The DOC Gals

How awesome was the Behavioral Diabetes Institute’s Celebration of Strength Luncheon for women with type 1 diabetes? Well, since last year’s event was so incredible, my hopes were high for a comparably amazing luncheon this year, and I was not disappointed even a little bit.

As soon as I arrived at the sign-in table, Dr. Susan Guzman, one of the founding psychologists at BDI, greeted me with a big hug and gracious welcome. If it hadn’t been for her invitation, I likely never would have gone. Once I was signed in, I entered the dining room, and sitting before me was Cherise from the heartfelt Diabetic_Iz_Me, Jaimie, admin extraordinaire from TuDiabetes, and Suzanne from 1HappyDiabetic, who very similar to me, has traveled the road of denial and is now hoping to help other diabetics as a mental health provider. I wouldn’t have hesitated to call these ladies my sisters prior to that moment, but actually meeting them in person just sealed the deal. We exchanged hugs and squeals of delight, and the picture-taking commenced, naturally!

Once most everyone had arrived, Dr. Guzman welcomed everyone. She talked about the purpose of the luncheon, to celebrate what’s right with us instead of focusing on what’s wrong, highlighting that we all have strengths to be honored and celebrated, even when we’re struggling. Then, each table was assigned the task of creating a message of hope and inspiration in ten words or less. Our table came up with: The effort to connect with others makes managing diabetes easier. That was, of course, a generous nod to how social networking has made such a difference for so many of us in the never-ending monotony that diabetes brings. I didn’t jot down all of the messages, but I caught, Celebrate your magnificence, and Hope for many tomorrows, each day being a new beginning. I will say that capturing an idea like that in ten words or less was quite the challenge.

Dr. Guzman shared that the event, which is of no cost to attendees, was made possible by an unrestricted grant from Abbott Pharmaceuticals Diabetes Division. I felt inclined to mention that because we diabetics have a tendency to demonize Big Pharma, so I think it’s cool to see them do something nice for the D community, especially BDI which is an organization I just love, and anxiously await the day when it comes to the East Coast.

Following that introduction was lunch, a yummy salad of greens, black beans, corn, tortilla strips, cheese, grilled chicken, and dill-ranch dressing. There were avocadoes too, but that’s on the short list of foods that I think are icky, but that just meant more for the people who like them.

Kelly Close

As they cleared the lunch dishes, Kelly Close from Close Concerns and diaTribe provided the keynote address. She spoke of the then and now of diabetes care, drawing from her own 24 years of type 1 diabetes. She spoke about what it means to live with this disease: Huge Weight, Every Day is a New Roller Coaster, Bag Lady, On Your Own, Cost a Lot! (contrary to what the uninformed Khaki Pants asserted), 24/7 No Vacations. She also offered advice: Avoid Worrying Incessantly, Stay Alert!, Always Carry a Spare.

Kelly spoke about her work at diaTribe and Close Concerns with her husband, John. She also mentioned one of the DOC’s current favorite causes, health care reform, stating that $40B was spent last year on in-patient diabetes treatment, a number that’s projected to rise to $70B by 2020. Her oh-so-logical and 110% approved by me response? Spend that money on insuring people so the money doesn’t have to be spent on treating diabetes complications and diabetes-related medical crises. Gosh, it’s so simple, it just might work! That drew obvious support from her audience.

Kelly closed by mentioning some fabulous women in diabetes health care. Dr. Fran Kaufman, MD has been working on the closed-loop system, something that will likely be commercially available within a few years. Not up my alley, but of interest to many women with diabetes is Dr. Lois Jovanovic, MD, the world’s expert on diabetes and pregnancy. She also offered a big shout out to Amy Tendrich of DiabetesMine who obviously does so much for us and with us to make diabetes a little more tolerable.

After Kelly spoke, Dr. Guzman then invited everyone to come up and share a snapshot of their respective lives with diabetes. First she invited anyone who had been there last year, but hadn’t gotten an opportunity to speak, so I marched right onto the stage. I’m actually a pretty shy person most of the time, but after hiding my diabetes for 25 years, every day that I have an opportunity to speak with pride about being diabetic is a good day, and this was no exception. I don’t remember what exactly I said, but it went something like this:

Hi, I’m Lee Ann Thill, and I’ve had type 1 diabetes for 31 years this month.

Before I could get out the next part though, the tears started, seemingly out of nowhere.

I’ve not had an easy journey with diabetes. I had an eating disorder for 18 years. I’ve had depression for 20 years, and it’s been really hard. About 5 years ago though, I got online, and I’ve found a network of friends that I don’t know what I would do without. Now, my eating disorder is long-gone, and my depression is managed. I have amazing friends, I blog, and I’m an art therapist so I’m working to bring art therapy to people with diabetes so they can have more positive ways to express themselves.

Cherise & Dr. Guzman

It was something like that. It was even less eloquent than that, which is pretty downright ineloquent because I express myself way better in writing than when I open my mouth, and most of that was said while I tried to keep the floodgates from unleashing the torrent of tears. I totally didn’t expect to be overcome with emotion like that since this is stuff I’ve talked about and certainly written about before. As I walked back to my seat, Alexis from I Run on Insulin jumped up to introduce herself, which was a super cool surprise because I had no idea she was going to be there. I’ve whined aplenty about my perpetual lack of interest in exercising, so she’s just a wonder to me. Another woman, an artist, gave me her business card with a note to call her.

I wasn’t the only one up there fighting tears as I talked, although plenty of women managed to get on stage, share, and make it back to their seats minus mascara streaks. The range of experience described by the diverse group of women was astounding. There was a woman diagnosed on Valentine’s Day of this year, as well as an impressive number of ladies who had passed the 50-year mark or were in the homestretch. Several women were recovering addicts, which is a pretty challenging combination of issues for which BDI offers some unique programming. There was a lady who spoke about losing her baby, and another who said she has a couple of kids, and had just gotten a positive reading on a home pregnancy test. There was a woman who talked about being diligent with her diabetes management during pre-pregnancy planning and pregnancy, but had allowed her diabetes management to slip without that immediate motivation to stay on top of it, and was searching for the motivation to get back on track again. There was a lady who had just finished chemo for stage 3 cancer, and another who had received word that morning that the lump in her breast is non-cancerous. There were women of all races, all ages, including one sitting next to me at our table who was only 19 or 20, and plenty who looked older than my mom. Women with pumps and CGM’s, and women kicking it old school with MDI.

Dr. Guzman gave everyone a little giftbag when they came on stage. Inside the giftbag was a sterling silver bracelet with two charms. One charm that says ’strength”, and another that’s a little locket box. To go inside the box, BDI’s newest doctor, Dr. Liana Abascal, Director of Adolescent & Family Services/Eating Disorders Programs, printed the messages of hope and inspiration that each table created before lunch in 8.5 font, cut out the strips, and folded them up so they’d fit in the little locket. The strips were distributed to each table once everyone had had a chance to come on stage.

The event came to a close, but many of us stayed and chatted. I had the pleasure of talking to a couple of women, one was trying to move past the food, body and insulin issues, and another who, like me, had found her way to the other side. Cherise, Jaimie, Suzanne and I stayed and talked for quite a while, eventually taking our conversation out to the parking lot where we got a few more pictures, and shared plenty of laughs and plans to attend together next year.

It was really incredible overall, and I’m so grateful I was able to attend. It’s such a charge in my battery, that I really can’t imagine not going now. So, until next year, to any of those ladies who happen to visit here, a heartfelt thanks for sharing your stories and for listening to mine. I very much look forward to seeing you again next year, hearing your tales of life with diabetes that inspire me, and getting an always needed reminder that while I spend much of my life focused on what’s wrong with me since that’s what I have to do to live, there’s an awful lot that’s right about me too.