Alright, you don’t know what the DRI means? (If you do know what it stands for, disregard the rest of this paragraph and skip to the second) DRI stands for Diabetes Research Institute, a recognized world leader in cure-focused research. (I didn’t make this up, it is taken directly from their website haha. Want to read more about the DRI click here)

Ok, now the techie terms are behind us. Phew!

I flew to Miami last Wednesday from New York to take a 5 day intensive course in mastering my diabetes. Yes, I flew to Miami to do this.

Why you ask?

1. My good pal Gary Kleiman whom I respect highly and also works at the DRI said it would be a good idea. 2. IMO, The DRI is the #1 place for anything regarding diabetes.
3. I heard from people that took this program that it has changed their lives.

So, yea that is pretty much all I needed to go 2hrs and 20 min by plane for. (I hate flying btw) Plus, I like learning new stuff about diabetes. Yea, I am a geek like that. Now, If I can apply what I learn and stick to it, that would be a sweet bonus at the end! Ok, that is a whole other blog post!

I flew in a day early because the class started at 8am on Thursday morning. I went down with my mom and sister so we hung out at the hotel pool for the remainder of the day and then went to South Beach at night to have dinner and people watch.

The next morning came quick. I had to take a Metrorail from the hotel which left me right near where I had to be.

I got to the DRI and was super excited to meet my classmates and also the Diabetes Center staff. Who consists of a delightfully sweet aussie who I have been speaking to on the phone for a quite a while but never met, Kellie Rodriquez, M.S.N., C.P.T., a funny brit Jane Sparrow-Bodenmiller, R.N., C.D.E., C.P.T. and the funny-cuban-nutrionist-stickler-part timer Marta Alfonso.

These three made the whole group feel completely at ease right away. Which was good because I was a bit nervous and didn’t really know what to expect. The first day was full of introductions about what to expect for the next 4 days and about ourselves.

There were nine people in our group ranging from 9 months to 30 years with diabetes. One person came all the way from Panama which was awesome! We had a husband/wife team as well as a mom and son combo. The rest of the group except me and the girl from Panama were from the Florida area. All of us bonded pretty quickly which was amazing. I felt a direct connection with these people from the get-go. I have noticed whenever you get people with diabetes together the D-bond is a strong glue! Ok, maybe that was corny but hey I tried LOL

After intros and lab work Day 1 consisted of a brief description on what diabetes is. A food lab teaching us all on the basics of carb counting, ratios, how to read food labels, measuring food with and without cups and using the WAG method.

What the hell is the WAG method ?

Answer: Wild Ass Guess

I thought this was the funniest saying we learned in the 5 days. We as people with diabetes always use this method and I never knew it had a name. It is a perfect name! It can be used in so many ways but, my favorite way to use it is “I’m waggin’ it”. Classic!

We all got into teams of two to go into another side of the room where there was a food lab setup and we had to guess how many carbs were in each item using the W.A.G method. We would write our answers on a piece of paper and then were given the answers to see if we wagged it right. (I seriously can’t get enough of that word)

It came as no surprise that most of us are terrible at guessing carbs. Which is why most of the time after going out to eat or not knowing exact carb counts our numbers are all whacked out. We were all given calorie king books to help us along the way but, learned that using our hands can help with portion control when we are out as well. Also once you have measured something out you can pretty much remember for the next time and make your life a bit easier.

We then had lunch which was sponsored by medtronic. Most of us were high by lunch. For breakfast they had bagels, fruit, yogurts, cereals and some other stuff to give us choices of real life foods we would eat. Apparently, we all chose bagels because of the spikes at lunch blood sugar check.

Anyway, one of the girls in our group got her lunch with meats and no bread I think with some salad, and  a bag of chips. Her number before she ate was in the 220’s. The nutritionist then told her not to eat the chips. But, what I didn’t understand was why?

Her number wasn’t so high  that it was going to cause a huge spike? What gives Ms. Nutritionist lady? Well if you are already high before you eat and then have carbs that are maybe a bit higher in fat like chips you will more than likely stay at a higher number for hours after. So, its better to wait till your number comes down first then, check again andeat the chips at a lower number. Makes sense right? I never knew that.

We learned a bunch of these little tips along the way which were so helpful.

After nutrition 101 we then got a lesson in insulin therapy and glucose targets. Ok, this was a real eye opener for me because my target ranges were always 100-110 low for me  was always anything below 80.

Wrong.

70-120 is normal range. I was always correcting blood sugars of 70-80 for years. Jane who in my opinion is the best CDE I have ever encountered told me for pregnancy 70 needs to be a normal blood sugar for me.

Oh boy, I thought. There is no way in hell I am going to get there from my current track record. I tried to keep an open mind though.

We ended day 1 talking about how to record our blood sugars over the course of the next 4 days. They had already asked us to record our blood sugars 3 days before we got there. Jane and Kellie took copies of them to put on transparencies which we  would review on day 2 with an endocrinologist and the CDE’s. We would then have to start writing day 1 numbers and food logs on the new transparencies.

I left day 1 with an open mind and great expectations of what was to come.

Day 2 coming soon…

It’s my birthday on September 12! Instead of gifts, I am asking for donations to the cause Support the Diabetes Research Institute, the Best Hope for a Cure®.

Donate Now or Check out my Birthday Wish

Visit the Diabetes Research Institute’s Website for more information.

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