Wednesday Spotlight with Brenda Novak

Hello and welcome to Wednesday Spotlight! I have a very special treat today. My featured guest is NY Times Bestselling Author Brenda Novak! And with a gorgeous backdrop of rolling green hills, lilacs, daffodils and red rose bushes, Brenda and I are sitting out in the English garden, talking about her sixth annual auction to raise money for diabetes research. Let’s have a warm welcome for Brenda Novak! Hello, Brenda. How are you on this lovely spring day?


Brenda: I’m fabulous—so glad that spring has sprung. I love the longer days of summer. Having been raised in Arizona for ten years, I also love the sun!


Oliver struts out onto the terrace, pushing a silver caddy full of coffee, tea and hot chocolate, along with a platter of blueberry scones, plump strawberries and Devonshire cream. Gracing Brenda with his most dazzling smile, he asks, “What may I get you, Ms. Novak?”

Brenda: I’ll pass on the coffee but would love a hot chocolate and a blueberry scone or anything that comes with a bowlful of Devonshire cream.


Sharon: And coffee for me, thank you, Oliver. Brenda, your annual auction is such a worthy cause. With diabetes being so near and dear to my heart, I cannot encourage people enough to participate in this event. Can you tell us a bit about it?

Brenda: The auction is such a fun thing to participate in! It runs every May (May 1 – May 31st) in honor of Mother’s Day at
http://www.brendanovak.com/


This will be my sixth year hosting it. Together with my friends, publishing contacts, diabetes research supporters and fellow authors, we’ve raised $770,000 so far. Our goal for this year is to break $1 million.

Sharon: With America in the lead, there are more than 230 million diabetics in the world, and the numbers are rapidly increasing. I was diagnosed as a type 1 diabetic at the age of six and developed diabetic retinopathy in my early twenties. This condition causes fragile blood vessels to grow and rupture in the back of the eye and can lead to progressive blindness. And as much as I kept up with all the latest treatments with my retinal specialist, I still lost the battle ten years ago. Blindness is just one of the many complications resulting from this devastating disease. At least half of diabetics will develop some stage of retinopathy in his or her lifetime. But what’s even more frightening is type 2 diabetes because it can go undiagnosed for long periods of time. Tell us about that.

Brenda: Since my son also has Type 1, insulin-dependent, diabetes I’m not as familiar with Type 2. The good news is that it can very often be controlled through diet and exercise. When it can’t, however, it progresses to Type 1, which comes with a whole host of side effects. Blindness you’ve already mentioned, but there is also nerve damage that could result in amputations, heart disease, kidney failure, etc. Diabetes affects every major organ in the body (and some that aren’t so major).

Sharon: What continues to amaze me is the mystery shrouding the cause of diabetes. When I was diagnosed all those years ago, doctors at Children’s Hospital were quite confident it was a hereditary disease. And while it is a factor, there is still a degree of uncertainty. Some of the symptoms I experienced were an unquenchable thirst, frequent urination and severe weight loss. As it turned out, my body was not producing any insulin, the hormone necessary to convert food and sugar into energy. But this isn’t the case with type 2 diabetes, is it? Can you explain to readers what insulin resistance is, and how new research suggests lack of exercise and obesity may be a contributing factor?

Brenda: My understanding of insulin resistance is simply what you might guess from the words—the body builds up a resistance so that more and more insulin is required to offset high glucose levels in the blood, or something is required to help the body utilize what’s being made. Hormones can cause resistance in Type 1’s. I know that my son’s insulin needs changing often because he’s going through puberty, a particularly difficult time for a diabetic.

Sharon: With your son having diabetes, how do you both deal with it and what is a typical day like?

Brenda: My son must poke his finger to draw blood (in order to test his blood sugar levels) 5-8 times a day. He wears an insulin pump which must be inserted subcutaneously every three days. Since the needle necessary to do that is a significant one, this isn’t always an easy task. Moving it around to different areas of the body is imperative to avoid sores and possible infection, but there aren’t a lot of places where a plastic canula is comfortable (the waistband of his jeans can rub it or bend it such that it doesn’t work properly, etc.). Although doctors often tell me that I should be able to get his numbers stable enough that I won’t have to get up and test him in the middle of the night, I find that I must do this for my own piece of mind—and am often glad I did when I find him dangerously high or low, either of which can kill him.

Sharon: While there is still no cure for diabetes, the risk of complications has gone down considerably due to the treatment. When I was diagnosed, there were no glucometers to keep tabs on sugar levels. Testing blood sugars several times a day is key in determining the amount of insulin needed. This alone made a huge difference in my life, eliminating the guess work. Exercise is vital in keeping glucose numbers at an ultimate level. But there is also a down side. Sugar levels can drop rather quickly, can’t they? Can you tell us what can happen and what to look for with low sugar attacks?

Brenda: When my son goes low he gets very ill and shaky. He can’t think straight and may cry for no reason. It’s almost as if his “emotion bell” has been rung. If he goes *really* low, he can’t see or control his body and could lapse into a coma. The scary thing is that, the longer he has the disease, the less likely he is to be able to determine when he’s “going low.”

Sharon: So balance is the key, and not always an easy thing to achieve. Stress and excitement can cause levels to skyrocket or bottom out. Diabetes presents a challenge every minute of every day. Brenda, can you tell readers what a normal blood sugar should be and how easily one can be tested for the disease?

Brenda: A normal blood sugar should fall in the range of 90-110 or so (some can be as high as 120). A simple urine test can determine the presence of diabetes.

Sharon: Isn’t it time to find a cure for this devastating disease? This is why I commend Brenda for her efforts in raising money for research at her annual auction. Let’s make this year a huge success. What are some of the things people can do to help?

Brenda: I’m all for a cure. The great thing about the auction is that it’s a win/win situation for those who are as anxious as we are to find a cure and those who have no particular tie to diabetes at all. There are so many great items up for auction. Just having people go on and buy the gifts they’d normally buy elsewhere would help a great deal--and it should be exciting for the recipient of such gifts because we have so many unusual items on the auction (like getting your name inside a Christine Feehan book, an author who’s hit #1 on the NYT many times, or maybe lunch with Catherine Coulter or Diana Gabaldon). The auction offers many one-of-a-kind opportunities. It also offers fabulous business opportunities to published and aspiring writers. Every major publishing house has editors who have donated their time to do a read (consider a manuscript for publication). Some have even promised to respond within twenty-four hours—which is unheard of in the publishing world! Another way to help is to spread the word—tell friends and family and encourage them to get involved by either donating an item or shopping at the auction.

Sharon: And can you give us the date and address of your auction one more time?

Brenda: The auction runs May 1 – May 31st at

http://www.brendanovak.com/

Sharon: Thank you so very much for being my special guest today, Brenda! I wish you much success. I’ve donated several copies of Echo of a Raven, the book about my personal struggles with diabetes. Let’s all work together and make it happen.

Oliver waltzes onto the garden with a bouquet of red roses and hands them to Brenda with a sweeping bow and a big smile.

To learn more about Brenda and her amazing auction and books, visit her website:
http://www.brendanovak.com/