The most important blog post yet - My Mom's Cinderella Story

Where am I? I am in the shower and out of the blue a serendipitous thought invades my mind. I HAVE BECOME A REAL LIFE CINDERELLA. Now the best I remember, the storybook Cinderella had a fairy godmother that granted Cinderella's wish to go to the ball at the palace. The fairy godmother waved her magic and adorned Cinderella in a beautiful gown and stunning glass slippers. She even provided Cinderella with transportation to and from the ball. But, there was a catch. Cinderella had to be home from the ball by midnight, or else her dress would again become here customary rags, etc. Well' there's no need for me to elaborate. I’m sure you remember the rest. However, you are probably wondering by now why I feel like Cinderella. It’s because I well understand what it is like to participate in a life bound by a time limit. As an insulin dependent diabetic, my whole life revolves around time parameters. I don’t really have the luxury of being completely spontaneous when it comes to food or experiences. Actually if the aforementioned chronic disease followed precise rules, there would be no feelings of boundaries, but Type 1 diabetes is a very personalized entity. There is no one size fits all course of treatment. So, many variables affect it's path, making it impossible to predict what path it will actually take. As arduous as this sounds, it is possible to have a wonderful quality of life. All one has to do is test, test, test. God bless the inventor of glucose monitors. Constant testing is the key to enjoying life to its fullest. Why do I call Type 1 diabetes a very personalized disease? It is because of a host of variables that are unique to each individual. To name a few - diet, exercise, illness, stress, emotions, fear, anxiety, timing – the list goes on. Now, enough about all that. On to what is good. Living with Type 1 diabetes definitely has its positive sides. When first diagnosed, I felt so deprived in terms of food, but after taking a 3 day nutrition class at Duke, I learned how all people should eat in relation to fats, carbohydrates, proteins, fruits, vegetables, and dairy products, not to mention proper portion sizes. As a result, my energy levels soared. I also really began to understand the benefits of regular exercise. My immune system is phenomenal. Yes, sometimes I fall off the wagon so to speak. I may inflate an insulin injection and eat some sinfully indulgent dessert. I don’t do it often, but when I do, I treat it as a celebration of all that I have learned and achieved. Okay, back to Cinderella. The fairy tale ended happily ever after, and I truly believe that my life has been enriched and lengthened as a result of my diagnosis. I am so grateful for all the positive developments I have seen since being diagnosed 17 years ago, and above all, I maintain hope that there will one day be a cure. For me, even if I were miraculously cured tomorrow, I wouldn't change a thing about the way diabetes has taught me to eat and exercise. I would continue those habits. For me, the freedom would come in the release of the effects high and low blood glucose levels render on my brain. Until that time comes, I am indebted to my real life fairy godmothers---Dr. Ann Brown and P.A. Kathy Peralta for all that they have taught me and monitored in terms of my health. Cinderella is fiction, but I am real, and so is diabetes; however it is not the nightmare so many people seem to think it is. I bestow my sincere thanks to all of the medical personnel that have, and continue to, transform living with diabetes from being a once upon a time true nightmare into a happily ever after reality.

Linda J. Puckett

Waffles and Ice Skating!

Yesterday my fellow "MCHers" and I put away the books and had a fun Saturday outing. We started the day at Ye Ole Waffle Shop on Franklin Street. Have you been? It's amazing and I'm a big fan of the pecan waffles.

Next up, we ventured out for some ice skating. We may not have landed triple axels but we had a blast!

For the past year and a half, we have been so busy studying and working that we have neglected spending as much time doing the fun things as we would have liked. In this, our last semester together, we have vowed to spend more time together having fun. Yesterday was a total success!

Global Health Intentions - good or bad?

As part of my global public health certificate requirements, I have to attend several seminar discussion series. (These used to be the "Dinner Discussion Series" but as budgets were cut, so were our free pizzas.) Tonight I attended my first seminar of the semester and we talked about

Global Public Health Ethics. The discussion was led by Jim Thomas, a professor in the SPH.

Jim started out the evening by reading exerts from Ivan Illich's "To Hell with Good Intentions". (http://www.swaraj.org/illich_hell.htm) Illich, from Mexico, urges American "dogooders" to go home because their "aid" is harming and not helping. Illich says, "You, like the values you carry, are the products of an American society of achievers and consumers, with its two-party system, its universal schooling, and its family-car affluence. You are ultimately-consciously or unconsciously - "salesmen" for a delusive ballet in the ideas of democracy, equal opportunity and free enterprise among people who haven't the possibility of profiting from these."

Ouch! Obviously Thomas wanted a reaction out of us and invited us to join him in a discussion of global public health principles and ethics. What was the most important principle to keep in mind if we are going to go to a "developing" "community" and "help", he asked? Of course we threw out those public health buzz words - sustainability, transparency, collaboration.

This discussion got me thinking about my own work. In order to really do it right, you have to do so much planning and management from the get-go. You have to know your partners, know your communities and be able to work together seamlessly, ensuring ownership by those you are "aiding". You have to consistently and accurately track money and deliverables, all while addressing the needs of your clients and satisfying the demands of your donors. You have to use the right language to document your activities and appropriately disseminate, sometimes thru speeches, other times in journal articles. You have to constantly be planning for the next step while so precisely carrying out your current work, and oh, everything was due yesterday. The point is, there are so many opportunities for things for veer off course and you risk all of the efforts of your "aid" and "good intent" backfiring. It can turn the most optimistic "dogooder" into a pessimist running for the corporate world.

Well you don't scare me Illich. You speak of things that we all need to hear once in a while to light that fire under our belts and push us to succeed in the work we are doing with developing countries to improve the lives of those who live there. I side with the Nicholas Kristof, Jeffery Sachs and Paul Farmers of this world. I have hope and optimism that we, the developed world, have a responsibility and genuine good will to raise up the developing world. I bet the millions of people whose lives have been saved and improved by donor, foundation, and missionary assistance would agree with me.

No new jeans

I'm taking a "Globalization and Health" course this semester. The past two weeks our readings have focused on poverty, trade and globalization (shocker there). Today we had our first class and after a round of introductions (and my oh my fellow students are quite accomplished), we watched China Blue.

http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/chinablue/

The film follows a 17-year old Chinese village girl as she works at a Jeans factory in southern China. You've surely heard of the poor working and living conditions these women/children face. The young girl in the film makes only 6 cents an hour cleaning the lint off of jeans and removing loose threads.

But in addition to following the journey of the young girl, the documentary looks at the side of the factory owner and how the global economic system has forced him to operate his facility. I even found myself empathizing with the factory owner who was responsible for the low pay and poor treatment of his women factory workers. I'm sure if he really had his druthers he would prefer to pay them at least minimum wage but in order to be viable in the competitive Chinese market, faster and cheaper was necessary or he'd lose business.

For a girl who loves her jeans, this was a bit hard to stomach. "Made in America" has a new meaning for me from here on out. I recommend you watching this and promptly adjust your jeans buying habits. Also, you might not be so quick to point the finger at China. It makes you think, what role do we play in global consumerism? The documentary is captivating.

During the preparation for this class, one of our assignments was to watch Leslie Chang give a talk at Google and read from her book Factory Girls. As another suggestion, I highly recommend you watching this. I think I might have to read the book!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhcqoxNhrSY

Let's open our eyes

This week I am mesmerized by the progress of Congresswoman Gabby Giffords remarkable recovery from a gunshot wound to the head last weekend. I believe I must check CNN at least three or four times a day to read progress updates: "she opened an eye"; "she is focusing"; "she squeezed her husband's hand"; "she is sitting up"......

Unless you live under a rock, you know she, along with many others, were shot at a public gathering in Tucson. On Wednesday, my friend Elly and I (cooked an amazing dinner and) listened to President Obama speak about the tragedy. I respect that he eloquently said such kind words about each of those that lost their lives, especially young Christina Taylor Green. Also, I am particularly inspired by our President's message of national "soul searching". I feel we live in such a divided country these days with constant heated debates and disgust around healthcare and taxes. Perhaps the best quote of the week came from 10-year old boy who said, "Gabby opened her eyes, let's open ours".

DC Highlights

Last week I traveled to our nation's capital for four days of work with my CapacityPlus colleagues and World Bank collaborators. The week flew by but a few highlights include:

• Really, I mean really, great synergy with my team including new hire Shaun Noronha. If this is what my "life post grad school" will be, then I have a lot to look forward to. And I have a lot of work to do!
• Meeting my boss's adorable newborn daughter and spending more time with her equally precious toddler.
• Seeing my old college friend Leslie - she is just awesome and I love spending time with her!
• Grand tour of the World Bank. You have to see it to believe it!
• One-on-one lunch with the former World Bank Chief Health Advisor who my team is doing a lot of exciting work with this coming year. What a plethora of experience and knowledge!
• Food! All in a week, my dinners covered the globe (Indian, French and Italian. Yum!)

This week it is down back to Earth. Classes started today - my last first day of class. I had Swahili but the bummer was that my RH seminar was cancelled tonight and my Globalization class tomorrow has been cancelled. Adverse weather forced these cancellations. I'm disappointed but I have a whole semester ahead to make up for these cancellations. I bet in a few weeks I'll be praying for some snow to cancel a class or two!