President Obama has nominated Judge Sonia Sotomayor (diagnosed with diabetes at age 8– she’s a ‘Betes Babe!) to the Supreme Court.
Breaking news: Sotomayor chosen by Obama
May 26th, 2009Glee!
April 19th, 2009Whee! Tonight was the pilot episode of “Glee!” I love it! But I can NOT believe they showed it to us, got us interested … and now are taking it away until the fall. What the?!? Dang! And I could NOT believe the line the skinny wife had, implying that mayonnaise on her sandwich would bring her diabetes back and render her unable to get pregnant. Um, bring diabetes “back?” From mayo? Preventing having children? Ridiculous! It’s frustrating when shows spout things about diabetes that just don’t make sense.
Raw for 30 Days
January 15th, 2009Have you heard about this movie? Looks interesting. It’s a documentary about how eating a raw food diet may help reverse diabetes.
http://www.rawfor30days.com/themovie.html
It’s playing at the library tonight; I’m going to check it out. I’ll let you know what I think after I see it, but right now … I think the fact that their site distinguishes type one as “genetically inherited” and type two as “adult-onset” says maybe they still don’t *quite* get what diabetes is. And yeah, once you basically eliminate the FOOD factor …
Check the link … I got some ink!
December 15th, 2008Wow– what a great way to wake up this morning, with an email message from a friend congratulating me on an online article featuring yours truly!
Last week I was interviewed by Leslie Dinaberg for Noozhawk, so I knew there was going to be a write-up, but I didn’t know what day it would come out. Surprise! It was today. Such a nice way to start the week!
One woman’s never-say-”die” attitude leads to a diabetes fashion statement through Betes Babe.
Diagnosed with diabetes as a teenager, Ann Peyrat didn’t like the sound of the word diabetic — especially the “die” part — and quickly declared herself a “betes babe” instead. Now she’s developing a fun and fashionable line of accessories called Betes Babe to help others wear their “betes” in style…
ADA Walk: Part II
December 1st, 2008In October I celebrated my birthday by participating in “Step Out: Walk to Cure Diabetes,” to raise money for the research, education and advocacy efforts of the American Diabetes Association, whose mission is to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes.
Walk participants signed the Banner of Hope, which was presented to Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital for them to display in their lobby.
It was a gorgeous day for a walk! About 1,400 walkers and volunteers came out to Bridgeport Park in Valencia for this important cause. Unfortunately, the youth ambassador, Kevin Covais (of American Idol fame), was sick and couldn’t make it, but families were there, kids, dogs, the mayor … it was all very inspiring.
The one thing I did notice, though, was that the booths on display were pretty dry. I mean, it’s hard to get excited about talking to some guy who’s sitting behind a table with brochures about health insurance policies. There was one vendor that had some nice glucose meter cases. But for the most part, it really just accentuated how desperately the diabetes world needs cute, colorful, FUN accessories like I’ve got at ‘Betes Babe.
I want to send a big THANK YOU to all of you who sponsored me. In all, I raised $2,155 and was the #2 top fundraiser (not on a team)! Your amazing support has taken us one step closer to a cure (together, the Valencia walk raised a total of $209,341)! It’s all because of you and your wonderful generosity and I thank you from the bottom of my … pancreas! THANK YOU!
My official ADA Walk page will be up through the end of this year: http://main.diabetes.org/goto/AnniePey
Alfred Mann Foundation celebrity gala
November 3rd, 2008You know who Alfred E. Mann is, right? He’s the amazing mind behind MiniMed/Medtronic (check the name on your insulin pump, it probably says MiniMed). Well, the Alfred Mann Foundation hosts an annual “Evening of Innovation & Inspiration,” to raise funds for the advancement of medical technologies, and this year I got to go!
Now I’m definitely a girl who loves to dress up, so to be able to attend, rub elbows with celebrities AND get to support the ‘betes cause, was especially thrilling for me.
Me and Amy, all dressed up! If you look closely, you can see a little rectangle on my belly, where my pump fell from my *ahem* cleavage, down to around my middle. Whoops!
Pulling up to Vibiana in LA, where the event was held, we were greeted by a row of valets and a press line with photographers. Inside held an array of vacation packages, jewelry, signed sports memorabilia, etc., in an incredible silent auction during the cocktail hour; we were treated to entertainment and a live auction during dinner.
At our table sat personal friends of Mr. and Mrs. Mann, including Keith Campbell, his daughter Nicole and her husband Frankie Frears; Keith has the distinction of being the person who has worn an insulin pump longer than anyone else. Debbie Allen was the emcee, and the event honored Placido Domingo, Gayle and Edward Roski, and Joseph Schulman, Ph.D.
Vibiana; Hayden Panettiere; LeBron James’ shoes; Nicole/Claude Mann; and me/Keith.
Ellen DeGeneres show
October 30th, 2008My two friends and I went big time; we went television; we went Hollywood. Actually, I guess it’s more accurate to say we went Burbank … because we went to the Ellen DeGeneres show!
It was so much fun, you wouldn’t believe it. And part of what made it so much fun is that within the first five minutes Ellen gave away X-Box 360 Arcades to everyone in the audience! How awesome is that? But it gets even better– a little later we all got $100 gift certificates to Target, my favorite store on earth!
We really picked the right day to go to the show. Zac Efron from High School Musical was on, and you could totally see us in the audience when they came up into the aisle to play the game “Zac or Smack.” (A girl had to guess whether a statement was true or false about Zac.)
There was an appearance by Clint Eastwood (!!!) and then later there was a surprise guest: musician Nick Jonas. You know, the Jonas Brother who has diabetes!
First off, I’m so jealous he gets to wear an OmniPod insulin pump! My insurance still doesn’t cover enough of the cost for me to be able to afford it. OmniPod, if you’re out there listening, hook me up! 
Secondly, it was great to hear him talking about November being National Diabetes Awareness Month. He brought everyone in the audience a “dog tag 4 diabetes” necklace, which sports the winged emblem logo of Change for the Children Foundation and the song lyric, “A little bit longer and I’ll be fine.” Partnering with Bayer on this dog tag, Bayer Diabetes Care will donate half of all sales proceeds to the Jonas Brothers’ Change for the Children Foundation. I got mine from the Ellen show, but you can get yours at http://www.nickssimplewins.com/dogtags.
It was such a great day. I can’t wait to go back to see the Ellen show again!
My birthday wish – ADA Walk: Part I
October 7th, 2008Today, as I blew out my birthday candles, I made the same wish I make every year — to be able to help people with diabetes. It’s something I’m passionate about because it’s a disease I’ve had since I was 16 and I’ve witnessed firsthand the devastating psychological and physical effects it can have on a person.
So, in celebration of another year, I’m taking “steps” with the American Diabetes Association in a quest to cure diabetes. I’ve never participated in the ADA’s “Step Out: Walk to Fight Diabetes” fundraising event before, but I’m excited to be able to support this effort.
Each step I take, each dollar I raise will take us one step closer to a cure and one step closer to making my birthday wish come true!
