Deb Update

As some of my readers discovered, last Thursday, the chat with Deb Butterfield had to be rescheduled at the last minute. Details on what happened were not readily available other than we were told that Deb ended up at the hospital Thursday night. We were told she was reportedly alright.

I wanted to let everyone know that Deb e-mailed on Sunday, and she apologized profusely for missing the chat Thursday evening. She said she was very excited to catch up with old friends and for the opportunity to share her thoughts. But as it turns out, she had a serious reaction to penicillin that had been prescribed (she had never been allergic to penicillin previously), so she drove to the ER and they put her in ICU. She was released from the hospital on Sunday.

The good news is that Deb is fine healthwise, and would like to schedule a chat sometime soon, so we're working out the details and I'll keep everyone posted.

However, I would like to remind you that we have another "Meet the Author" chat scheduled for next Tuesday with fellow d-blogger Amy Tenderich, which will be held in in the DiabetesTalkFest.com chatroom. Details on that program are below.

Chat with Amy Tenderich

On Tuesday, May 22, 2007, 9:00 PM EST, meet Amy Tenderich, co-author of "Know Your Numbers, Outlive Your Diabetes", and fellow diabetes blogger at diabetesmine.com.

Amy Tenderich is a freelance journalist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She holds a BA in Journalism from California State Long Beach and an MA in Communication Studies from University of California Santa Barbara. She began her career as a journalist, and has experience in magazine editing, marketing and public relations. Following two stints overseas and 13 years of communications work in the Silicon Valley technology industry, she was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in May 2003, and subsequently launched DiabetesMine.com, "a gold mine of straight talk and encouragement for people living with diabetes" - for which she recently received the LillyforLife Achievement Award™ for diabetes journalism.

As a relatively new type 1 diabetic and mother of three, Tenderich takes an unusual "cynically optimistic" view of the trials of living with diabetes. She speaks creatively and from the heart - to people with diabetes and their family, friends, and community - on topics ranging from inside looks at diabetes research and breaking news to daily life with diabetes to uncovering the diabetics’ deepest hopes and fears. And she can make you chuckle.

Tenderich and DiabetesMine.com have been featured in The Wall Street Journal, the UK Guardian, TechCrunch, NPR's Future Tense, and a number of other influential blogs and publications. DiabetesMine.com itself was named one of three most influential blogs in healthcare at the 2006 Healthcare Blogging Summit.

Tenderich recently collaborated with Dr. Richard Jackson, a leading physician from Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston to co-author the new book, "Know Your Numbers, Outlive Your Diabetes" - hailed as the first-ever straightforward guidebook providing a clear strategy for living well with diabetes and avoiding the long-term health damage it can cause.

Finally, I should also mention that another chat will be held the first week in June with Lisa Roney, author of "Sweet Invisible Body: Reflections on a Life With Diabetes" which was first published in August 1999. I'm speaking of none other than Lisa Roney. As some d-Bloggers may recall, Kerri interviewed Lisa back in February. Once the date is finalized, I'll be sure to get it on the calendar and post it for everyone.