Chairman George Van Ankum welcomed 25 people to a diabetes information meeting on Oct. 11 at Knox United Church in Clifford.
George Van Ankum thanked the volunteers who have continued to keep the branch office open every Tuesday and Friday afternoon for over 36 years. They arrange the five information meetings throughout the branch area, maintain the office, offer free literature and a lending library, set up literature displays, host a luncheon, build canvass kits, and encourage over 400 canvassers to go door-to-door collecting donations mid-October through November to raise funds for research and Canadian Diabetes Association (CDA) programs and services.
Reports were given regarding membership, assistance programs, grocery tape programs, the soup and sandwich luncheon at the Legion, and the annual appeal.
Guest speaker Nancy Raymond of Baden is a registered nurse and diabetes nurse educator who spoke on her 50-year journey with Type 1 Diabetes. She combined interesting historical references and research statistics with her own experiences.
The late 19th century showed nutritional restrictions played an extreme role in controlling diabetes, just like today. The creation of insulin in 1921 opened the doors to discovery and research evolved over the decades with pills; home test kits; synthetic insulins; insulin metres, pumps, and pens; clinical trials; the metric system; carbohydrate counting; and government funding.
Her two pregnancies in the ‘80s resulted in a girl and a boy who lead healthy active lives with their own families. She is proud of the enthusiasm of Canadian researchers who set clinical practice guidelines and long to find a cure to this condition of epidemic proportions worldwide.
She says success is in your hands so be healthy, happy, and active. She believes low blood sugar is the puzzle that needs attention. She hopes for the day when continuous glucose monitors are affordable and accessible.
Raymond considers her husband Patrick to be her “low blood sugar cop” and advises that diabetics need family, friends, and health care team to guide them through days and nights of highs and lows. A diabetic may not know why a blood glucose reading hit 22, but they can record it in a log book, their own research tool. Referring to Diabetes nurse educator Margaret Stevens of Palmerston she stated, “Use your log books to tell your story to the Marg Stevens of this world. There is a person. There is a family. There is a story behind each and every number in your book.”
Raymond shared a copy of an early CDA publication Exchange Lists for Meal Planning for Diabetics in Canada that offered recipes such as grilled cheese and bacon sandwiches.
One bright side of living with Type 1 Diabetes for 50 years is the recognition by Novo Nordisk with their Half Century Award. Both George Van Ankum and Nancy Raymond have been congratulated and presented with framed prints of Sir Frederick Banting’s home and office as it existed in his days of discovery of insulin.
George Van Ankum hoped that everyone would take at least two ideas home to apply to their own health; encouraged everyone to look over the literature display set out by Cora Anne Morden and Audrey Morden; and invited everyone to stay, visit, and enjoy the refreshments prepared by Alice Van Ankum.
The meeting was sponsored by the North Perth – North Wellington Branch of the CDA located at 94 B Elora St. S. in Harriston. Volunteers can be reached at 519-338-3181 or npnw@diabetes.ca
