This week Kitty and Dr. Fallon will interview Michelle Laranko a Certified Diabetes Educator with Cooper University Hospital in Camden, NJ Michelle is a type one diabetic and also has an adult son which she raised with type one diabetes. Listener’s are invited to call in with their questions and comments. 

Michelle Laranko

I am a Certified Diabetes Educator, first certified in 2002 and a Certified Pediatric Nurse, first certified in 1995.

I was a presenter of various topics on diabetes in children at conferences sponsored by the Southern New Jersey Perinatal Cooperative, The National Association of School Nurses, The Six NJ Maternal/Child Consortia and the New Jersey Department of Health & Senior Services, Horizon New Jersey Health, and many local schools and school districts.

I give yearly updates and refresher in-services for the pediatric and PICU staff nurses at Cooper University Hospital on the care of the child with diabetes and the teaching of survival skills to the newly diagnosed child and their family/guardians.

Each year, I speak with school nurses in many school districts across NJ, introducing them to new treatment regimens, carbohydrate counting, insulin pumps, and refreshing their general diabetes knowledge.

I have been a guest speaker twice at the Southern NJ Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Outreach group.

I am a member of GSADE (Garden State Association of Diabetes Educators), newsletter editor for TRI-ade, (Tri-state Association of Diabetes Educators) and AADE (American Association of Diabetes Educators).

I have 28 years of nursing experience, 17 years of pediatric nursing experience, 7 years as a Pediatric Diabetes Educator, and care for over 300 pediatric patients with diabetes. I have lived with diabetes myself since my diagnosis at age 12 years and spent 20 years raising my son who was diagnosed with diabetes at 3 years old. I have worked as a staff nurse at Camp NEJEDA, a camp for children with diabetes for7 years, the last two as a charge nurse, supervising the care of 80 children with diabetes and a staff of 8 – 10 nurses.

I am part of the Pediatric Diabetes Team at Cooper University Hospital, working with all of the children with diabetes, their families, guardians, school nurses, and primary physicians. My position is to educate about treatment options, prevention of complications, and making adjustments to improve blood sugar control. I keep the children, their families, and our own doctors, abreast of the ever changing recommendations, equipment, medications, and new items on the diabetes market. I speak to groups, parents, nurses, doctors, teachers, and support groups about all subjects concerning diabetes and children. I hold group classes for specific topics such as “Taking Diabetes to College” or “Diabetes for the Caregiver”. I also hold in-services for the Pediatric and PICU nurses at Cooper to keep them abreast of the ever changing world of diabetes.

I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes, back in the dark ages, November 3, 1972, at the ripe old age of 12 years (yes, I’ll be 48 this year)! Surviving one shot a day and urine tests, I moved into the modern age during the first of 3 pregnancies. Although I thought multiple injections and multiple blood sugar tests was for the birds, and just the means to an end, a healthy pregnancy and baby, I discovered that I truly felt physically and mentally much better. I have 3 beautiful children and have since moved into age of technology with pumping and Continuous Glucose Monitoring. The devastation of diabetes again darkened my door on November 28, 1986, when my oldest child, my beautiful healthy 3 year old son, Frank, was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. I believe in fate. I believe things happen for a reason. I believe that’s why I’m here and why I do what I do, why my nursing career has moved from adults, to children, to children with diabetes and why my heart is always in my work as well as my brain, and why ALL of my patients are “my kids.”

Michelle Laranko, RN, CDE

Pediatric Diabetes Educator

Cooper Pediatrics, Division of Endocrinology

3 Cooper Plaza, Suite 200

Camden, NJ 08103

856-963-3764

Photo Above: Michelle Laranko

Listen to Diabetes Living Today interview

6/3/08 ~ Michelle Laranko, RN, CDE, CPN

 6/3/08 ~ Michelle Laranko, RN, CDE, CPN [53:42] Play Now | Play in Popup

This week Kitty and Dr. Fallon will have an Open Forum. They will be taking your phone calls and answering your questions on Diabetes. Listener’s are invited to call in with their questions and comments. 

Photo Above: Dr. Joseph J. Fallon, Jr. & Kitty Castellini

Listen to Diabetes Living Today®

5/20/08 ~ Diabetes Living Today® ~ No Sugar Added™ Open Forum

 5/20/08 ~ Diabetes Living Today® ~ No Sugar Added™ Open Forum [57:07] Play Now | Play in Popup

This week Kitty and Dr. Fallon interview Donna Bell who’s five year old daughter, Evey has both diabetes (type 1) and Celiac Disease. They also interview Lee Ann Thill on what it is like to live with Diabetes and eating disorder Diabulimia.

Donna Bell on Celiac

Donna Bell has four children. Her youngest daughter, Evey, who is now five years old was diagnosed with Celiac Disease in February, 2006. When Evey’s doctor suspected Celiac Disease ( an auto-immune disease that prevents your body from absorbing nutrients from food. It is triggered when you eat wheat, barley, oats or rye) she suggested Donna be tested for Celiac also. The Celiac panels and biopsies were positive for both Evey and Donna. Then in September 2006, Evey was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes.

Feeling overwhelmed, Donna started attending Celiac Support Groups. The groups were helpful but did not go into carbohydrate counting and insulin issues. She also attended Diabetes Support groups. They were also helpful but there was no information on carbohydrates in relation to gluten free food.

In January, 2007, Donna decided to start a new support group: FACT ( Families Affected by Celiac and Type 1)

FACT meets every other month and the group usually consists of parents that have children with both Type 1 Diabetes as well as Celiac Disease. Since the diagnoses of so many Type 1 adults , the group has now opened up to adults that have both auto-immune diseases. Some past topics have included eating at restaurants, recipe swaps and even a pool party including all family members enjoying gluten free foods.

Photo Above: Kitty with Evey Bell aka The Crazy Redhead!

Lee Ann Thill on Diabulimia

Lee Ann Thill was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 1978 at age 5. She developed bulimia and diabulimia, the practice of omitting insulin to manipulate weight, at age 14, and was diagnosed with depression at age 16. She struggled to recover from her dangerous eating disorder for 18 years, receiving in-patient treatment on several occasions and years of out-patient counseling, before finally overcoming it in 2005. She has been treated for several diabetes-related complications over the years, but now her complications seem to have stabilized. She’s been using an insulin pump since 2004, counts carbs, and has been using a continuous glucose monitor since August 2007. She maintains tight control of her diabetes now, and while she acknowledges diabetes can be frustrating, she’s learned to accept it and appreciate the ways it’s shaped her life and who she is.

In the last year, she began speaking publicly about her experience with diabetes and eating disorders in order to educate and warn people about the dangerous combination, and encourage those who think they have this problem to seek help.

Lee Ann has a BFA in ceramics and painting from Temple University, and an MA in art therapy from Drexel University. She has a private practice, New Jersey Creative Counseling, providing counseling and art therapy. She specializes in the treatment of diabetics seeking help with depression, anxiety, food and body issues, overcoming grief and anger, finding acceptance of their condition, and looking for practical guidance for coping with the management of a chronic illness that affects every aspect of life. She currently lives with her husband, Jason, and their pets in South Jersey, and enjoys creative activities like art, gardening, and cooking.

Photo above: Lee Ann Thill

Listen to Diabetes Living Today interview:

5/6/08 ~  Living with Diabetes, Celiac and Diabulimia

 5/6/08 ~ Living with Diabetes, Celiac and Diabulimia [56:23] Play Now | Play in Popup

This week Kitty and Dr. Fallon interview Novelist Brenda Novak.

A PRICELESS MOTHER’S DAY GIFT
FOR A DIABETIC SON

Novelist Brenda Novak’s 4th Annual Online Auction Adds Diabetes Research Institute as Beneficiary

(Sacramento, CA), May 2008 – As the mother of a child with type 1 diabetes, bestselling author Brenda Novak uses the creativity and vision she calls upon regularly as a writer to create the 4th Annual Online Auction to Benefit Diabetes Research. Held each May in honor of Mother’s Day, the month-long event can be accessed at www.brendanovak.com from May 1st through May 31, 2008. This year, a new beneficiary has been added, the Diabetes Research Institute – a place Novak has come to know as the best hope for a cure for her son and the millions of others living with this insidious disease.

“I’ve faced some very dark moments in my life because of my son’s diabetes, and this Online Auction for Diabetes Research is an annual bright light that I’ve seen grow in size and importance in the four years it’s been running,” said Novak. “I’m particularly proud to have the Diabetes Research Institute on board this year. It is one of the most progressive forces in the search for a cure.”

In its first three years, the auction raised more than $250,000 for diabetes research with the beneficiary being the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. In 2007, the auction boasted almost 70,000 hits and 10,000 unique visitors to the website. With the help of some of the biggest fiction writers in the business, including Nora Roberts, Debbie Macomber, Lisa Scottoline and Scott Turow, as well as the participation of such powerful publishers as Grand Central Publishing (formerly Warner Books) and Bantam/Doubleday/Dell and Harlequin Enterprises, the 2008 auction will be the largest and most visited yet.

Novak has assembled a unique array of items that can’t be found anywhere else, such as the chance to appear as a character in her next novel, personal meetings and mentoring from top-notch, celebrated authors, and autographed books. Additionally, aspiring writers will jump at the chance to bid on evaluation opportunities with some of the most powerful and well-connected agents and editors in publishing, and possibly face-to-face interaction with these A-list publishing industry giants.

“We are in awe of what Brenda has been able to do with her event in just a few short years, and we are proud to be joining with her as both a participant in helping make the event a huge success and as a beneficiary of the proceeds,” said Robert A. Pearlman, president and CEO of the Diabetes Research Institute Foundation.

About Brenda Novak
Brenda Novak is a national bestselling author, widely known for her popular Stillwater Trilogy (“Dead Silence,” “Dead Giveaway,” and “Dead Right”). Her dynamic new trilogy is due out this summer – “Trust Me” (June), “Stop Me” (July) and “Watch Me” (August). Many of her books have been designated an RT Book Review Magazine “Top Pick” and have gone on to place in contests such as the National Reader’s Choice, the Bookseller’s Best, The Write Touch Reader’s Award, and the Bookbuyer’s Best. Novak has given numerous writing workshops and appeared on various television and radio programs. To learn more, visit www.brendanovak.com.

Bestselling author Brenda Novak with her son, now 11, who was diagnosed with diabetes at age 5.

VISIT THE AUCTION NOW!

Listen to Diabetes Living Today

5/13/08 ~  Novelist, Brenda Novak

 5/13/08 ~ Novelist, Brenda Novak [58:14] Play Now | Play in Popup