Bits and Pieces - Catching Up Before Looking Ahead

May is upon us, and the pace is picking up again.  In case you missed them, here are a few interesting bits and pieces of the big world of Diabetes which have crossed my computer screen in the past week or two:

This NPR podcast entitled, 'The Robot Vacuum Ate My Pancreas,' tells the story of Dana Lewis who invented her own artificial pancreas.  Not only is it fascinating to hear that (extremely intelligent, technologically trained) people are successfully doing this, but the piece does an excellent job of explaining her motivation.  A comparison of maintaining level blood sugars to trying to keep a car going exactly 70 miles an hour without cruise control was one clever example of how this piece describes the kinds of frustrations diabetes management brings.

The new Miss New Hampshire has Type 1 Diabetes and hopes use her platform to raise awareness throughout her state and during the Miss America Competition.  Awareness raising is always good in my book.

There was a huge stem cell therapy conference at the Vatican last week which received press in the mainstream media.  The attendees were addressed by both the Pope and Vice President Biden, along with many others. Diabetes and its community of advocates were well represented along with a multitude of other issues stem cell therapy may eventually provide help for.  The conference was designed to encourage collaboration between scientists using similar technology to treat different diseases.  You can sample the conference and its media coverage via the twitter feed.

Diabetes Blog Week is coming!  The week runs from May 16-20th with wildcard topics for those who want to keep going into the weekend.  I'm excited to respond to the prompts, and to read the thoughtful posts they're likely to evoke. 

National Nurse's Day is this Friday, May 6th.  Our school nurse will get a bottle of Bath and Body Works' Stress Relief Hand Sanitizer, and a card from us.  Don't forget the nurses who are important to you!

In my daughter's little world this month will bring big events like the annual standardized tests, at least 4 birthday celebrations, the 8th grade semi-formal dance and an all day music field trip which includes both performance competitions and time at an amusement park.  These should all prove to be incredibly exciting.  Will diabetes cooperate?  Stay tuned for details!