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.
Living with Type 1 Diabetes is a lifelong commitment to a relationship that you never saw coming. Diabetes has changed my life for the best and I shall share my stories, stresses and life living with Diabetes so that people can see the HUGE silver lining in a dark cloud. No longer will it be known as Diabetes but rather LIV-abetes
Wednesday, 29 August 2012
Thursday, 23 August 2012
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.
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.
Tuesday, 21 August 2012
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
Friday, 17 August 2012
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
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
Thursday, 16 August 2012
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
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.
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.
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.
Wednesday, 15 August 2012
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.
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.
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