Hear ye! Hear ye! I have an announcement to make. About 3 months ago, a committee formed to explore the possibility of creating a new conference series for adults with type 1 diabetes. Most conferences are currently geared towards all types of diabetes, but a group of us felt there should be more for the unique challenges that are posed to adults living with type 1.

With that in mind, we are conducting an interest study for the conference. Who would you like to see at the conference? Tell us what is missing from Type 1 diabetes (besides the obvious **cure**). This will help us with programming, as well as securing sponsorships for the event. Besides giving you all you want from the latest and greatest in type 1 diabetes - you have a chance to leave your mark on this revolutionary event. At the end of the survey, there is a question about creating a name for the conference. The committee will choose the winning name. The winner will receive an autographed copy of Know Your Numbers, by Amy Tenderich and Dr. Richard Jackson. The second and third places prizes are a Six Until Me mug and a Diabetes Mine mug, donated by Kerri Morrone and Amy Tenderich.

The survey closes on Friday, September 7, 2007 so don't miss your opportunity to voice your opinion. Take the survey today!!

It's terribly unfair. Your sugar drops. You can feel it. The primitive instincts that do not qualify as being on our best behavior sometimes spill out in the subliminal advertising of a low sugar. When your blood sugar drops to hypoglycemic levels, your body goes into survival mode and only lends energy reserves for the nature of survival-unfortunately social graces and reason do not register high on that list.

dLife has put together a guide to help take the guesswork out of treating a low sugar. Too often we tend to over treat lows and end up on the other side of the 80/120 fence, It's difficult to master the twin deficits: too little sugar or too little insulin. But as Kerri (Six Until Me) points out-there is no such thing as a perfect diabetic...we can only do our best.

With that in mind, dLife suggests a few good ways to treat a low, without going too far. Their Rule of Thumb emphasis the 15 grams per 15 minutes rule. This simply means after consuming 15 grams of a fast acting carbohydrate, wait fifteen minutes before re-testing. If your levels are still too low, repeat and retest. Good sources of fast acting carbohydrates include: Glucose tablets (read packaging for equivalent of 15 grams carb) , sugar-sweetened soda (read packaging), 3 small Smarties rolls , 8 Sweet Tarts, or 1 Tablespoon of honey.

It is with great pleasure that I have the opportunity to blog about someone I consider to be a first string player in the sport of diabetes. Her name is Kerri, and her position is all over the place! Yes, you read that correctly. Kerri is a trifecta of talent. She currently works as an editorial assistant for dLife, where she writes a monthly column, "Generation D." She also finds time to contribute as a co-editor for EXIST Magazine, an online resource of CNN news with an MTV voice. You might recognize her co-editor (who is also her ever-supportive boyfriend) Chris Sparling. But the main event that drew my attention to Kerri was her blog, Six Until Me.

She started SUM in May of 2005 after Googling "diabetes" and finding not much more than a list of complications and the American Diabetes Association website. She was one of the pioneering blogs in the diabetes community. When she first set it up, SUM was one of 5. Nowadays you'll find more than 150 diabetes blogs out there in cyberspace. SUM has become reassurance for Kerri that she is not alone in dealing with diabetes. Having that kind of reassurance means the world to her, as I'm sure it does for those of us reading. Kerri puts her heart and soul into SUM and I invite any of you who spend a few minutes there to prove me wrong.

Throughout her twenty-something years of experience as a type 1 diabetic, Kerri insightfully shares her tricks of the trade in diabetes management. Grab a pen because this girl knows what she's talking about! First, she says to test often. Yes ma'am. You can't argue logic and that seems to be the only avenue open these days to tight control. Her second suggestion is just as important, but far more effective: personal forgiveness. Kerri says: diabetes is a very psychological disease... There is no such thing as a perfect diabetic. But you can be one that tries your best. Don't do yourself the disservice of calling certain foods "bad," because you don't deserve that. If your management takes a tumble, dust yourself off, forgive yourself, and move on. Life is too short to be saddled with guilt. Kerri, your words epitomize the emotional exuberance we all need to withstand diabetes. You inspire me. You share your wisdom in ways that make me proud to have you along for the ride on the D-train. That alone, should win you the Diabetes OC Awards, for which you have been nominated. Good Luck and congratulations on your ever-growing success!

Kerri Morrone, one of my favorite bloggers -- who happens to be living with diabetes without allowing it to define the life she lives -- blogs over at Six Until Me. She also writes a column at dLife, and her latest column Diabetes Can be a Day at the Beach: Integrating Your Pump Into the Summer Season is a reassurance that integrating the pump into summer wear isn't nearly as daunting and formidable a task as one might imagine before making the attempt. Perhaps a little trickier and requiring a little more ingenuity, than say, wearing the pump under layers of winter clothing might require -- but she shows how it can be done, and done well.

Morrone also shares the sometimes amusing and less than astute observances made by the general public. There are, of course, the experts who wander among us, who know everything. Just ask them about anything and they will clarify exactly what you are looking at but might not understand. You will see what I mean after you read Morrone's column. What a pinhead the guy was -- that's all I am going to say. To read her column, go here.

Kerri Morrone, who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when she was six years old, blogs the typical life issues of a bright and full of light twentysomething woman at Six Until Me. The blog tagline reads diabetes doesn't define me but it helps explain me. And the blog is true to the tagline in posts that are filled with a daily life where diabetes is never far away.

Bloggers begin blogging for a number of reasons. Morrone began blogging as a means of creating an online community for herself with other diabetics. As she tells it, one spring afternoon, she goggled diabetes looking for the personal voices in the world speaking out, reaching out, and connecting to others who understood on an intimate level what it means to be diabetic. She found them blogging. Morrone has a delightfully engaging way with words and is a natural-born storyteller. The better blog seems to invite you in with a comforting welcome that makes it easy to stay awhile and come back often. Six Until Me is a better blog.