quotable quotes - August 2009

from parent to parent

"To parents, unless you have diabetes, you do not, will not, and cannot understand what your child with diabetes goes through . . . every day."
- Tom Karlya, better known as blogger Diabetes Dad, providing valuable advice to parents in his keynote speech at this year’s Children with Diabetes Friends for Life conference.

a tweet of advice: CGM on the rise

“@LivinDiabetes It’s cool we have coverage for CGMS now. I’d urge NE1 to retry their insurance. Seems things are changing.”
- @Wyldceltic1, self-proclaimed dog-lover, Mac Geek, and type 1 using an insulin pump and CGM, responding to a post from follower @LivinDiabetes,also known as blogger Chris Bishop of http://livingwithdiabetes.com/. Her statements echo comments that we’ve been hearing from physicians and educators alike.

not a cure

“You can say the prognosis for diabetes is getting better. I honestly do not think funding for diabetes research will decrease due to better insulin treatments, mainly because insulin is a treatment and not a cure.”
- David Harlan, MD (Diabetes Branch of NIDDK, Bethesda, MD), addressing a parent’s concern about decreased funding for cure-based research at this year’s Children with Diabetes Friends for Life conference.

patient-centered healthcare

“The issue of health literacy is at the heart of this. My sense is that there will be a push to make healthcare more patient-centered. I think more and more patient self-care is being recognized on both sides as important. The question before us is how to take this to the next level. Bottom line, we need more public health in this country.”
- Sylvester Quevedo, MD, MPH (Stanford Medical School, Stanford, CA) pushing for a stronger patient voice in healthcare at this year’s American Association of Diabetes Educators annual meeting.

lag time: it's all relative

“Some worry about the lag time with CGM. But I say, 15 minutes of lag time with CGM is better than four hours of ‘lag time’ between tests with self-monitoring of blood glucose.”
- Virginia Valentine, CNS, BC-ADM, CDE (Diabetes Network, Inc.) and former recipient of the AADE Distinguished Service Award, discussing the benefits of continuous glucose monitoring at this year’s American Association of Diabetes Educators annual meeting.