World Diabetes Day

To all the people that live with Diabetes and those who are affected by this Silent Killer today is your day.  Let us all stand together and United against this silent killer.  Share what you have done and will be doing to show your support today - be it a Facebook post, Profile picture or getting yourself screened.

World Diabetes Day we need to protect our Future.

Diabetes and Travel

Getting ready for the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) congress in Berlin and meeting up with the Executives of the Young Leaders in Diabetes and the sponsors of the program to discuss the future of the YLD.

When it comes to traveling and having Diabetes there is so much more to think about - it not just to pack your bags and off you go.

Even though I have done my fare share of traveling every time it comes to packing making sure I have all my things is still so important.

I find it useful to obtain and make a list of all the things that you need for your travels, for example Insulin, testing strips, and Glucagon e.t.c. It is odd to me that not many people travel with Glucagon - I do not leave home without mine - often taking two.

When traveling overseas it is extremely important to obtain a letter from your Doctor/Specialist stating the you are a person with diabetes and you need to carry your medication and supplies with you all the time.

Please never put your insulin in your check in luggage as it in the hull of the aeroplane it gets really cold and it might ruin the insulin resulting in it not working.

When it comes to the amount to pack for the trip I always take at least double the amount that I would normally use at home as I do not know what is going to happen while I am not home and rather have left over’s than not enough.

For more information go to ADA Travel Tips.

Safe travels

World Diabetes Day - YouTube

Go and check out my World Diabetes Day video Keegan Hall - World Diabetes Day Message and let us start to protect the future of those living with Diabetes.

The 24th September 2012 is the last day to sign the petetion for the Frederick Banting Google Doodle on the 14th November (World Diabetes Day).  4986 people have already signed the petition the question is HAVE YOU?

Go to http://www.diabeteshandsfoundation.org/2012/05/banting-doodle/

World Diabetes Day Facebook cover

World Diabetes Day 2012 is all about protecting the future of the youth.  Attach this photo to your Facebook profile to show your support for those living with Diabetes.

Young Leaders in Diabetes in Arusha Tanzania.

Young Leaders in Diabetes YLD  – Tanzania special

As many of you know the 1^st African Diabetes Congress and the YLD’s attendance at the congress was a resounding success, which has caused a multiplier of enthusiasm and hard work in improving the lives of Young People, affected by Diabetes Worldwide.

On the 21^st July the African Diabetes Youth Programme being run by the Tanzanian Diabetes Association and IDF Young Leader Michael Sorenson from Denmark.

This programme brought together 43 young people between 15 and 21 years, 22 nurses and 21 doctors from Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Cameroon, Guinea and Congo. The programme focused on diabetes management, peer-to-peer support and education, how to build awareness, and the principles of good leadership.

19 IDF YLD arrived in Arusha on the 22^nd July and joined the program for the last two days. For most of the Young Leaders, this was their first time in an African country as well as their first reunion with their fellow young leaders, formed at the World Diabetes Congress in Dubai last December.

However, just like in Dubai the introduction of the YLD to the congress helped to light up proceedings and provided many of the African Youth with knowledge, experience and inspiration. 

Marie Helene from IDF Global mentioned that “The African Youth Program was a great opportunity for the YLD to meet with youth in Arusha and to share regional experiences and knowledge” as more people began to arrive on the first day, the greater the level of sharing, and the greater the impact for the program!

In addition, like the congress in Dubai, all attendees realised that there were huge differences in the issues facing people with diabetes worldwide, but there was also similarities. Interestingly, like in Dubai the biggest issue raised was a lack of education.

These shared issues provided a powerful bond between the IDF young leaders and will hopefully ensure that further work will be done to support the African Youth, providing them with hope and a reason to become more involved and continue to ask for support and advice from the YLD moving forward.

As the first IDF Youth congress since Dubai, it will be interesting to see how many of the program will work toward becoming a part of the YLD in Melbourne.

As he joined the group between sessions, Professor Jean-Claude Mbanya, President of the International Diabetes Federation said "It is a pleasure to see the enthusiasm shown by the Young Leaders in Diabetes.  I am confident that the Congress and the Youth Programme will help them understand the reality of having diabetes in Africa and to evaluate the challenges faced by people here".

This was surely the case and after the conclusion of the African Diabetes Youth Program, both the African Youth and the IDF Young Leaders attended the opening ceremony of the first IDF African Congress.

It was a powerful and emotional affair, as many of the African Youth addressed the Tanzanian Vice President to ask for a continuation in the free insulin they need to survive.

Young Leader Rachel Lamb from Australia commented “The Opening Ceremony was another amazing, exhausting, confronting day at the African Diabetes Congress (ADC). The congress sessions are so informative, but a lot of the stories, stats and scenarios are pretty foreign, scary & hard to hear. For example, patients here in Africa wishing they had AIDS instead of diabetes so the government would provide free medication. Having their parents wait/hope for them to die so the cost of their insulin won't drain the family finances, which are already below modest. The cost of their diabetes supplies being equal to, or exceeding that of the WHOLE family's yearly income or having people in their village shun them, because a common misconception is that their condition is the result of witchcraft. As I'm sure you can imagine, a lot of the IDF YLD are finding these scenarios confronting. How do you feel when you hear stories like this? Can you relate? Do you sympathise? Does it make you want to take action?”

The answer left many of the young leaders realising the significance of the International Diabetes Federation’s phrase “Act on Diabetes Now”!

The program also was also an ability for Sir Michael Hirst, IDF President-Elect to give a brief of the program over the next few days and for Isabella Platon, Head of Communications at IDF Global, to give insight to the young leaders, on the importance of good communication and how to work with the IDF to achieve the communication side of your projects. 

Once the African Youth had left the IDF young leaders were given a unique experience, since Dubai, to discuss the program and highlight any challenges or solutions they have moving forward. Ironically, the main issue highlighted was a need for further communication via the forum and the website. These have been highlighted as key objectives over the coming months with forum manager Jan already implementing a notification system so you will now be notified of new posts on the forum via email. Since Dubai the forum has once again sparked back to life so congratulations Jan.

The YLD had the opportunity to go to the Mount Meru Hospital for the Diabetes Clinic day.  The YLD had the opportunity to meet with the people living with Diabetes in Arusha and share experiences.  For many of the YLD this was a great experience in the fact of experiencing what it would be like to live with Diabetes in Africa.  A special thank you to Abbott Diabetes Care South Africa for the sponsorship of the trip to Mount Meru hospital as well as for the t-shirts that the YLD wore to both the hospital and the opening ceremony.

The young leaders that were in Tanzania we had many discussions on the way forward with the program – minutes were taken at all the meeting and will be circulated to all the YLD through the forum by the 3 September 2012 – a big thank you to Krystal Boyea for taking the minutes and to Pauline for being the official photographer for the IDF YLD in Tanzania.

Finally, I want to say huge thanks to Debbie Jones, Lorne Abramson, John Sjolund, Paul Madden, IDF Africa and all the YLD for all the incredible hard work they put into the IDF YLD program in Tanzania. Once again you have helped to change the lives of many for the better. What’s more, you have instilled in them that this program is more than just providing a solution to the issues facing people with diabetes on a domestic level, but it is a program to improve the lives of young people affected by diabetes worldwide especially where it is needed the most.

Thank you to this amazing much of Young people who, as Krystal from Barbados (Bermuda;) said, my Diabetic Family for all the hard work and great humility that was shown in Arusha. You all made it such a worth while experience and of course was great to see you all again.

Where were you?

In many instances in our lives we see many things that we wish we could help and be apart of.  Go and view this song by Beyonce http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i41qWJ6QjPI&feature=g-music and receive the inspiration.

I know I WAS HERE in the fight against Diabetes.

CDE Postgraduate Forum

This week has been really busy as we at Diabetes South Africa are getting ready for the 14th annual Center for Diabetes and Endocrinology's Postgraduate forum this weekend http://www.cdecentr.co.za/AnnualForum.asp.

This is a great opportunity to reconnect with business associates and supporters of Diabetes South Africa to discuss the new way forward for the next year.

Many things change in a year and these need to be discussed and used to the benefit of people living with Diabetes in South Africa.

I will be there on Friday and Sunday so look out for live twitter feed on #CDE2012 from tomorrow morning for live updates in the Diabetes in South Africa.

Young Leaders in Diabetes and the Media

The International Diabetes Federation Young Leaders in Diabetes President - Alex Silverstein will be DSMA live on Thursday the 23 August 2012 - http://dsmalive.com/2012/08/20/dsma-live-with-alex-silverstein-on-8232012/.

There is great importance of engaging with the media to convey messages and to bring about the awareness around Diabetes.

The platform that has taken over the way in which we can engage with a huge population in Social media - Facebook and Twitter.

Here are some of the people that I follow on Twitter:

@PositivDiabetes
@GlobalDiaBEATes 
@diabeteshf 
@AmDiabetesAssn 
@IntDiabetesFed 
@askmanny
@YLDIntDiabFed
@TeamType1 

Follow me on Twitter for live updates when I will be in Berlin for EASD (European Association for the Study of Diabetes) annual congress and  development meetings with the executives of the YLD and our sponsors. #YLDEASD12

Where am I now?

After my first camp - the entire way that I viewed Diabetes had changed to one of positivity that also spread in to other aspects of my life.

My HbA1c came down to 6.2% and was put onto an insulin pump. This began to give me thr freedom to live life to the full.  When people as me today about the pump i often say that i could not go back on injections 5 times a day - there is just no way. 

In 2008 I joined the Youth organization Youth with Diabetes (www.youthwithdiabetes.com) as the Chairman of the Youth Committee.  This was an exhilarating opportunity as i finally had the medium to make the difference in Diabetes that i clearly saw needed to be done.

In 2009 Novo Nordisk South Africa began a campaign - Changing Diabetes.  I was approached my Novo Nordisk South Africa to be the Changing Diabetes Youth Ambassador. this was a great opportunity to meet so many other people living with Diabetes around the world as share experiences and insight into the Diabetes epidemic around the world.  From media training in Denmark to presenting at cycle meetings in Turkey, being a Changing Diabetes Ambassador has allowed me to grow in myself and to begin to identify that i want to make diabetes my career. http://www.novonordisk.co.za/documents/article_page/document/2010_Chnaging_Diabetes_Keegan_Hall99.asp


2010 find me looking at my career and identifying that doing something in Diabetes is what i wanted and NEEDED to do.  I began working for Diabetes South Africa (www.diabetessa.co.za) in the September 2010, as an intern for Communication and Marketing as i was studying my BA in Corporate Communication at the University of Johannesburg.  While working for Diabetes SA it has given me the opportunity to get involved with and have exposure to the International Diabetes Federation and the formation of their Youth program - Young Leaders in Diabetes (http://youngleaders.idf.org). I attended the Young Leaders Leadership prorgam in Dubai in December 2011 where i was elected as the President-Elect.

As you can see there have been the ups and downs when it come to living with Diabetes - but the ups over shine the downs that is for sure.

Have a great weekend everyone

Making the Noise

Please share you thoughts and comments as well as any questions that you do have. I will try my best to answer them shortly.

Diabetes is made so much easier when you know that you are not the only one living with it. There is a huge community out there who will be able to provide support if a platform is provided. Let my blog be the starting point. It is time that we all make the noise that is needed so that people both living with or not living with Diabetes are aware of the seriousness of Diabetes and no longer will it be known as the SILENT KILLER

World Diabetes Day 2012 Frederick Banting

World Diabetes Day (WDD) is less than 100 days away. As part of WDD this year the International Diabetes Federation and the Young Leaders in Diabetes with the assistance of the Diabetes Hands Foundation are sending a petition to Google to honour Frederick Banting, the person who came up with insulin, by creating a Google doodle - which is the different Google images on the google home page.

Show your support by signing the petition at:
http://www.diabeteshandsfoundation.org/2012/05/banting-doodle/ or click on the link on my blog. 

Day 2 of my new venture into blogging.

When I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes, due to the fact that I was the first person in my family to have diabetes, I had no idea on how this was going to affect not only my life but my family and friends as well.

I was diagnosed by my family doctor who ensured that I could test my sugar and inject myself before leaving his rooms - due to this I was not admitted into hospital on diagnosis - thankfully

The first 18 months of having type 1 diabetes was not a pretty sight and was rough on the family (Mom, Dad and Sister).  I was in the stage that people call "denial" where I did not take my insulin injections or test my sugar levels - living with ketones became a weekly occurrence.  My Mom and Dad had done some research into diabetes and my Mom had a friend whose son has type 1 Diabetes and drew a lot of information from her - due to this newly found knowledge of diabetes the understanding of danger and stress I was putting my body under became apparent.

This had to change and so my parents bribed me to go on a diabetes camp promising me a new cellphone if I went for the weekend.  My initial reaction was - HELL NO - I am not going to waste my entire weekend at a stupid camp, with people I did not know, which had Diabetes - little did I know at the time that this would change my life forever.

After attending my first diabetes camp I realized that there were other people out there who have to go through the same things as I do on a day to day basis with diabetes made me feel that I can do this.  Having interacted with many of the teens at camp, some of them having diseases other than Diabetes that they have to manage as well change my perception on diabetes and I should be grateful that Diabetes is a manageable condition and one can live a healthy and active life with diabetes.

 After the first camp that I attended - they could not get rid of me and I became a Youth leader.  The friendships that I had made are ones that i know will last a life time.

Introduction

Thank you for the follow of my newest venture into diabetes advocacy and reaching people who understand where I am coming from when it comes to my Diabetes.

A brief background on who I am:

My name is Keegan Richard Hall I am 23 years old, was born on the 16th December 1988.  I come from Johannesburg, South Africa and was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes when I was 16 years old.

Living with Diabetes is not the only thing in my life that defines who I am but it does play an important part.

For the next couple of days I will be writing about who I am and what my life has been like living with diabetes and the accomplishments that I have achieved in my life.

I will share with you insight and stories from having an HbA1c of 14% to becoming the President-Elect for the International Diabetes Federation Young Leaders in Diabetes.