Gary Scheiner's 'Diabetes Bites' newsletter

Gary Scheiner is our CDE and he's just plain wonderful. His company, Integrated Diabetes Services, provides a whole host of services to people with diabetes, both Type 1 and Type 2. Gary himself has been a Type 1 diabetic for more than 25 years, he knows of what he speaks. He's also a pump guru, has worn every pump on the market (and some that never even got to the market or aren't yet on the market!) and speaks wisely about each one.

The greatest thing I have found about Gary is that he listens, problem solves and most of all, teaches. We all want, well, let me speak for myself here, I want a CDE who listens to where we are with diabetes - what we struggle with, what are the complications in our lives - and helps me solve it so that we can live better. And by better I mean healthier - physically and emotionally. Gary listens. He always asks great questions and by questioning he teaches. I always tell him, I want you to teach me, so that I, in turn, can teach Grace. That's where we are right now in our diabetes management. Our diabetes management will evolve over time, as Grace gets older.  I envision a future where Grace may see Gary all by herself and when that day comes, that will be wonderful too.

There isn't a time when I am not with Gary that I don't learn something. It may be how to tweak a basal, how to bolus for rice, a trick about backing out of OmniPod screens and putting in numbers a different way, a new way of looking at numbers, a way of correcting a high and why it's high in the first place. He pours over numbers from Grace's OmniPod with me and as he does, he jots down numbers, draws graphs, looks at percents of highs and lows and suddenly, though it may take me some time at first, the light bulb goes on and I get a clearer picture of what we are doing. I start to understand how to change the rates, how to look at patterns, and how to adjust. And he waits for the light to come on, like a true teacher.

So, this blog post isn't only to rave about Gary, it's to share his monthly newsletter with all of you. I asked him first if that was OK and he gave the resounding 'Yes!' He also wanted me to tell all of you that if you would like to subscribe to his monthly newsletter, entitled 'Diabetes Bites,' that all you have to do is email Debbie at Integrated Diabetes at debbie@integrateddiabetes.com your email address.

Now, his newsletter comes in PDF format, but apparently Blogger doesn't host PDFs, so I had to convert to a Google Doc. (Do I sound like I know what I'm doing, cause I don't) When I converted, some of the formatting did not come through, but honest, the original newsletter is formatted wonderfully!

Here is the link to open the Google Doc of 'Diabetes Bites,' Gary's August 2011 newsletter.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MfKgAHhclQM-zRFvZ0ArBggeIVrPVfGwSGs-p35s9mI/edit?hl=en_US

Email debbie@integrateddiabetes.com your email address if you would like to receive Gary's monthly newsletter!