DFAN/OneStep Diabetes Newsletter
July 1999 Edition


We're back in action! After a hiatus our newsletter
is being published again. I'll keep this short, but I
want to thank all of you who stuck with us during
this time. We need your diabetes related articles,
poem, jokes, anecdotes and anything else you'd
like to send it!

Send all your questions and comments to:

dmmteam@... -or- belve@...

Website URL: http://pages.prodigy.net/dfan/dfansite



_____ARTICLE_____

HELP TO ORGANIZE YOUR MEDICATION
by Marsha Surad

I want to share something with the group that has
been a big help to me.

I get almost all of my prescriptions filled through a
mail order pharmacy. I get a three month supply
mailed to me. If there are refills, they always
include a piece of paper to return for the refill. I was
ALWAYS losing these pieces of paper, and in trouble
sometimes, not ordering my medications in a
timely manner.

I got a calendar, which I use just for prescriptions. I
keep it here at work, since this is where I tend to do
my ordering. When the doctor gives me a new
prescription to send in, I staple it to the calendar in
the current month (usually they also give me samples
for a month), so that I can remember to mail it in, and
not lose it in my purse.

When the filled prescription comes to me, they will
include the papers for renewals. I staple those to my
calendar in the month in which I must send them in.
If the prescription does not allow for refills, but I will
need a new prescription from my doctor, I make a note
on the date two weeks before this supply should run
out, to call the doctor and ask for a new prescription.

This system would also work well for keeping track of
medical appointments. Just staple your little reminder
appointment card to the calendar. You should keep a
separate calendar just for drugs and doctors.

I take a number of medicines, because not only am I
diabetic, but I have allergies, blood pressure, thyroid
problems, and fibromyalgia. It is a lot of medicine to
keep track of. I use one of those sets of 7 containers
with 4 compartments in which to place your medications
according to how you need to take them. I have one
compartment for the medications to be taken on an
empty stomach. Then, the next compartment are my
morning medications. Next are the pills I take with
lunch/dinner. Finally, there is my after dinner/bedtime
medications. This system works great for me. I
encourage everyone to consider laying out their
medications this way. There is less confusion about
whether or not you got your medications that day. You
can also see when you are getting low on some
medications. In fact, some people might want to keep a
separate container filled, so that they always have a two
week supply of medication, if they get theirs through the
mail, as I do.

I hope these two types of organization of medications
will help others.


_____ARTICLE_____

SIBLING RIVALRY

In speaking to both my brother and sister, I now realize
how much diabetes can wreck a life. For so many
years I thought I was just the odd one in the family
who couldn't deal with this dreaded diabetes-thing.
I thought I was the only one who didn't like taking
shots or being responsible about all this.

Well, much to my surprise, or maybe I knew it
all along, my brother and sister have followed in
my footsteps. Lock, Stock and Barrel.

When I was first diagnosed with diabetes I went into a
mental shock. At first, I was diligent and wanted
to be the perfect patient, but as time went on I found
myself locked in a battle against myself. I kept
fighting with the parts of me that wanted to acknow-
ledge the diabetes and the part of myself that wanted
to run and hide. It's years later, but I still battle with
those two parts of me each day. I can honestly say
that I'm doing better with things now. It took a lot
of physical and emotional pain for me to get to this
point in my diabetes-life, but I'm here now and I'm
glad.

But back to my siblings. My brother, who is now 46
years old is a Type 2 diabetic. He told me recently
that his blood sugars average between 150 and 670
(8.3 and 37.8 mmol/l) Yes, that's right 670. He
WANTS to keep his blood sugar that high so he won't
have to deal with insulin lows. Then there is my
sister. She's a Type 2 diabetic also, and she's almost
in the same boat my brother is in, except she's trying
to take care of herself now.

As I look at my siblings I see so much of myself. Running
away from the diabetes when there is really no place to
run. Hiding from it won't help. Trying to block it out
of the mind won't work. It's something that has to be
faced head on, not matter how scary or frustrating it is.
I know all this now, and I feel I have to let others know that
we CAN live with diabetes, even if it's tough sometimes.
So please, always try your best. You can never go wrong
in trying your best. For you, or your child if they are the
person with diabetes. Give it your all!


_____RECIPE OF THE MONTH_____

RICH RICE PUDDING - Makes 10 half cup servings.
One serving is one half cup

(This is our 100th DFAN recipe! It's taken a few
years to get to this point and we hope our recipes
have made your diabetes management plans easier
to live with!)

INGREDIENTS

1½ cups cooked rice
¾ cup raisins
½ cup sugar
2 eggs
¾ cup egg substitute
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Dash of nutmeg
2 cups fat-free (skim) milk (scalded)
2 teaspoon melted reduced fat margarine


DIRECTIONS

Heat the oven to 450 degrees. Combine the rice,
raisins, sugar, eggs, egg substitute, vanilla, cinnamon,
and nutmeg in a large bowl. Add the milk and
margarine and mix well. Pour the batter into a 1½
quart casserole dish. Place the casserole dish in a
hot water bath (pan with hot water) and bake for 1
hour or until the pudding Is firm.

Per Serving: 148 Calories; 2 grams Fat;
28 grams Carbohydrate; 6 grams Protein;
78 mg Sodium

Exchanges: 2 Carbohydrate


_____A PLACE TO CHAT_____

NEW HOME FOR EXPERIENCE & SUPPORT

There's a new place for folks with diabetes or their
families to chat on the internet. It's the diabetes
channel on a network operated by NdrsNet.

The folks there are friendly and interested in hearing
what others have done in their lives to live with diabetes.
Many have come from other diabetic related chat
channels and if you might already know them. Doesn't
matter if you're a type 1 or a type 2, all are welcome
there.

This network is different from any other I and most of us
have seen. It is clean, no porn, no hacking. Troublemakers
are not tolerated. So it's a comfortable and friendly place to
get together and just chat.

We talk about what we've read on any of the diabetes related
mailing lists and share with new folks the means to subscribe
to them.

Server names to connect to this new diabetes channel are:

IRC.ndrs.com

or http://www.ndrsnet.com/webchat.htm
** select #diabetes from the pulldown
menu
Note: must be Netscape 4.0 or IE 4.0 or higher

If you use WebTV you can use the WebTV chat located at
http://www.ndrsnet.com/webtv.htm

You can also get connected by using this following web page
address: http://www.ndrsnet.com\diabetes-support
Contact Person: Eric Spears


_____NEW FEATURE_____

THE DM ADVISOR

The DM Advisor will be a new monthly column in our
newsletter and at our website. Each week (at the website)
and each month (in the newsletter) we'll choose
questions that have been submitted and show them to
you, along with The DM Advisor's responses.

The DM Advisor will handle questions that deal
with emotional aspects of diabetes, as well as
with any problems you might have concerning
how your family, friends, co-workers and others
relate to you and diabetes.

What kind of questions can you ask? Well,
maybe you want advice about how to get
your family to support you more with your
diabetes management plan. Or maybe you
have a friend that keeps trying to get you
to eat things you shouldn't eat. If you're
feeling unmotivated and want some
help. Ask these questions and more.
The DM Advisor will always give you
a courteous, kind response.

So start sending your questions in! Send
them to dmmteam@... -or- belve@...
please make sure you include that your
question is for "The DM Advisor".


_____DFAN COURSES, LISTS, & CLUBS_____

DFAN now offers diabetes discussion lists as well as
diabetes knowledge courses for you and your family
members. All are offered FREE of charge so if you'd
like to learn more about diabetes we might have just
what you need. If you'd like to subscribe to any of
these offers or get more information just send your
request or question to:

dmmteam@... -or- belve@...

You can also get more information at our website:

http://pages.prodigy.net/dfan/dfansite

DIABETES KNOWLEDGE COURSES
Diabetes 101 Course - for diabetics
Family N" Friends - self explanatory..<g>
WOW! Weeks Of Weightloss - 21 Day Plan for
weightloss and diabetes management

DISCUSSION LISTS
Christian Diabetes
Weight loss & Diabetes

DAILY/WEEKLY
Daily Diabetes Motivation/Information E-mails
Weekly Diabetes File Club
Weekly Recipe Club


_____DFAN WEBSITES_____
Diabetes Site
http://pages.prodigy.net/dfan/dfansite/

Charcot Foot Support Page
http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/Resort/3146/charcot/

DFAN Diabetes Bookstore
http://members.aol.com/dmmteam

Diabetes Kids Website
http://pages.prodigy.net/dfan/kiddm.htm

Diabetes Weightloss Site
http://members.aol.com/belve/dfan/

Angel Network Site
http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/Resort/3146/angel/

Copyright 1999

Belver Ladson
dfanish@... Instant Messenger: Belve
DFAN Website: http://pages.prodigy.net/dfan/dfansite
Got A Diabetes Story or Poem You Want To Share? Write me!
Diabetes Angels http://www.geocities.com/hotsprings/resort/3146/angel

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