I recently ran into Theresa Garnero at the California AADE annual meeting and discovered that Diabetes Health had not yet reviewed her book, Your First Year with Diabetes: What To Do, Month By Month. We regret the oversight because it's a great resource for anyone dealing with the shock of a diabetes diagnosis. And Garnero is the perfect author for a book like this. She's an award-winning certified diabetes educator (CDE) and advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) with board certification in advanced diabetes management (BC-ADM), and she earned an Master of Science in Nursing (MSN). She is also a former national educator of the year, a cartoonist, and the 2008 global recipient of Inspired by Diabetes.

Whether you received your diagnosis three days ago, three months ago, or even three years ago, and you've been trying to pretend it never happened, you can take control of your health by finding out what Garnero has to say. Her book good-naturedly takes you through the first year after a diagnosis of diabetes, starting with day-by-day advice for the first 28 days and then offering week-by-week guidelines for the rest of the year. She covers everything you need to know but don't know enough to ask, and she provides detailed advice, tips, and actions you can take to make small, attainable lifestyle changes. The book explains how to eat a balanced diet to control blood glucose, covers the spiritual benefits of yoga, and discusses proper footwear, sexual health, and the importance of joining a local support group. Every chapter of "Your First Year with Diabetes" empowers you to think of diabetes as a manageable disease rather than an unbearable one and helps you understand the changes you can make to lead a normal and healthy life.

If you know someone who is struggling with diabetes and needs a "best buddy who knows all about it," this book will become, in today's parlance, a "BFF" or Best Friend Forever.

You can purchase Your First Year with Diabetes: What To Do, Month By Month from the ADA online store and other bookstores.