Monday, October 24, 2011

A whole new world

Some time ago, I started to work as a volunteer for different organizations. I have been asked to give workshops and presentations on a number of subjects. It's no problem for me to speak in public. In fact: it's something I really like to do.

Yesterday, I was invited to give a presentation on my life with diabetes. As always, it excites me to prepare these presentations and figure out what I'm going to talk about. The audience was diverse and I decided to tell them something more on counting carbs when you're diagnosed diabetic. I made a presentation to go with my text and I was pretty confident on the outcome.

For one hour, I had an interactive presentation with my audience. No less than 24 people were present to hear more about diabetes. Although you can't watch TV or read the news without hearing about diabetes, not many people know more about it than it involves insulin and sugar. This audience wasn't any different. I loved to teach them about D and make them aware of this condition, without scaring them. There's no use in scaring people. It's much more important to make them aware of a healthy lifestyle and a positive attitude. Even with diabetes, there's so much people can do to make their life worth living.

The audience was truly amused and interested. They asked questions they had thought about at home, before they came to the workshop. Questions that kept them busy and wondering. We talked about the importance of carbohydrates and the effect on our blood glucose. We discussed the meaning of blood work and how to interpret numbers like 175 mg/dl. They now know what numbers they need to check:
a fasting blood glucose  > 100 mg/dl means you're prediabetic. Several fasting blood glucoses > 126 mg/dl, means you have diabetes and you need to get treatment.

I'm looking into giving more of these workshops. I would even like to make it my profession. Although I don't see it as a job - it's what I like to do and it's what I'm good at - getting paid for what you do well is always welcome.

I'm satisfied and happy with yesterday's presentation and I'm looking forward to next month's. See, diabetes isn't always a negative point. It's exactly what you want it to be. And I'm willing to make the most of it.

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