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Insulin Pumpers Canada - Public Presentation: By Barb Chafe |
Insulin Pumpers Canada - Nova Scotia Division
Some Notes On The Evening:
People Attending: Parents of children with diabetes, teen pumpers, type 1 & 2 adults, health care professionals, pump reps. It was a very broad mix of people; challenging for a presenter.
Introductions: I briefly introduced myself, thanked people for coming, and passed the baton to Marie Mirhashem to introduce the topic and the presenters to those in attendance. She did a wonderful job, was positively glowing, and invited people to approach her after the presentation. Which they did of course.
Presenters: Dr. Michael Vallis did a terrific job as usual, and Kris DeVoulyte, although not as seasoned a presenter, did a wonderful job presenting her portion and holding our interest.
Presentation: The presentation was described as being about 'diabetes in general' and 'pumps in particular'. With limited time it is difficult to cover all the bases but Dr. Vallis and Kris Devoulyte did a great job. Questions from the floor made it very interesting and raised some debate. One topic in particular was cause for much chat, and that was the comment that people who chose insulin pump therapy do so because they are thinking about the future and the long-term benefits of intense therapy. Although that is certainly a major reason for the choice of insulin pump therapy, members of the audience expressed their opinion that insulin pump therapy can be instantly gratifying for user. There was much agreement from the pumpers in the audience!
I would highly recommend that anyone who has an opportunity to hear Dr. Vallis speak on the issue of dealing with chronic illness take advantage of it. His refreshing take on dealing with diabetes is a relief to both the person with diabetes and the parents of children with diabetes.
Feedback from those in attendance: It was very positive. Personally, I got to meet a few of our members that I have been corresponding with via our 'newsletters'. Pumpers were pumped up, those considering pump therapy for themselves or their child were pumped up, and there were some nice remarks from the health care professionals.