This week Kitty and Dr. Fallon will interview Joe Martinez, Pharmacist and Type 1 Diabetic. Listener’s are invited to call in with their questions and comments. Tuesday Evening 8:00PM ~ 9:00PM (EST) Cruisin 92.1 FM~WVLT, streaming live on the web at www.wvlt.com Call In: 856-696-0092

Joe Martinez

Joe Martinez has had diabetes for over 16 years. He is a pharmacist, diabetic educator and insulin-pump using diabetic. The first two years he was on varying oral medications. He then progressed to injectable glargine insulin and quickly added rapid-acting insulin injections to his therapy regimen.

He considers himself in good control now using an insulin-pump with rapid-acting insulin and meal-time injections of pramlintide. Joe’s A1C numbers usually range from 6.3 to 6.7 depending on the time on year and how much traveling he does for work.

Joe and his wife Michele have three sons and live in the Princeton area of New Jersey. He enjoys coaching his son’s basketball team. Joe feels that he’s in better shape now with diabetes, than he was 25 years ago without diabetes. He takes the time to eat better, exercise more (he can do better here) and maintains a positive outlook on life.

Diabetes runs in Joe’s family. Both his grandmother’s were diabetic, as well as, his father is a Type 2 diabetic. One day he brought a glucose monitor home to show his father how to use it. After a Sunday meal of ravioli, broccoli and garlic bread, his father’s sugar level was 144 and Joe’s was 253. A quick trip to the doctors office and it was confirmed - diabetes.

At first, Joe couldn’t believe it. The reality of it slowly sank in. He then wanted to know as much about the disease as possible. His motivation was that someday, he wanted to run around with his grandchildren, with his own two legs and not in a wheel chair. Joe often says that he’s in better shape now, than he was 25 years ago - just making lemonade when you’re given lemons!

“It’s not what happens to you but how you respond that the key”. Joe is constantly talking to doctors and other health care professionals about the need for “appropriate therapy for the appropriate patient” in diabetes management.

In addition, he tries to personalize the diabetes patient to people who may not have an awareness of what the challenges of diabetes therapy are and how the disease will progress. Joe believes that one day their will be a cure for diabetes and he works to be part of the solution.

Photo Above: Joe Martinez

This week Kitty and Dr. Fallon will interview Kathleen McDonald, Nurse Practitioner. Listener’s are invited to call in with their questions and comments. Tuesday Evening 8:00PM ~ 9:00PM (EST) Cruisin 92.1 FM~WVLT, streaming live on the web at www.wvlt.com Call In: 856-696-0092

Kathleen McDonald, MSN, APRN, BC-ADM,CDE

Kathleen McDonald, MSN, APRN, BC-ADM,CDE, is a Certified Diabetes Educator(CDE) and Certified Nurse Practitioner in Adult Health, Gerontology, and Advanced Diabetes Management (ADM).

Kathleen received her RN degree from the Helene Fuld School of Nursing in Camden in 1973, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing (BSN) from the University of the State of New York in1983. Kathleen completed her Masters of Science degree in Nursing (MSN) from the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Nursing Adult/Gerontological Nurse Practitioner program in 1985.

Ms. McDonald is board certified as a Nurse Practitioner in Adult Health (1985), Gerontology (1986), and Advanced Diabetes Management (2002) by the American Nurses Credentialing Center. Additionally she is credentialed as a Certified Diabetes Educator by the National Certification Board for Diabetes Educators since 1986.

Kathleen was the 1999 recipient of the Garden State Association of Diabetes Educators’ Diabetes Educator of the Year award.

Since 2003, Kathleen is in private practice with a physician in Cherry Hill, NJ where she is responsible for the medical /metabolic management and diabetes self management education of a cohort of adult patients in the sub acute, long term, and primary care settings. Previous positions include National Project Director of a national Diabetes Quality Improvement Study with 65 certified diabetes educators nationwide; Diabetes Nurse Practitioner/Education Specialist-Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, PA; Nurse Practitioner Diabetes Services-Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, New Brunswick, NJ, and a 16 year practice in Voorhees, NJ, with a physician where she was responsible for medical management and diabetes self management education of adult patients with diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.

Kathleen is a past president of the Garden State Association of Diabetes Educators and the New Jersey State Nurses Association Forum of Nurses in Advanced Practice and a former chair of the Professional Education Committee of the American Association of Diabetes Educators.

Ms. McDonald has given professional presentations on Diabetes Education and Management on a state (New Jersey State Nurses Association (New York State Nurses Association) and national level (American Association of Diabetes Educators).

Kathleen has published numerous articles on diabetes management and education for both consumers and health care professionals. She most recently was a coauthor of an educational module for baccalaureate nursing faculty on Assessment and Management of Type 2 Diabetes in Older Adults for the American Association of Colleges of Nursing Geriatric Nursing Education Consortium.

Photo Above: Kathleen McDonald