Awesome things - Friday 5/13:
Today's topic is to write about something awesome that you have done despite diabetes.
Of course the thing that comes to my mind first is my transplant. But I did that more to spite diabetes. So I'll write more about my venturing into the online world.
I began looking at online discussions when I began using Symlin about 5 years ago. It was scary to try something so new and it really helped finding people who blogged about their experiences with it. It was good to know that the nausea would eventually go away. The package insert and other information I had made me believe that it would dissipate in days, not months.
Next, when I started using my continuous glucose monitor, I was able to learn on line that you could use the sensors for longer than the 3 days that I was led to believe was their entire life. And here I also learned the how to part of making them last which saved me hundreds of dollars. At this point, I was paying for them myself.
Then once I learned these things, my skills increased to reading articles about diabetes in general. And this is when I saw that picture of the pig(at the left on my blog) that eventually led to my transplant.
Because my online experience began with my discovering the value of reading about other peoples' experiences, I was compelled to share my islet cell transplant journey. I get comments and messages from people that lead me to believe that it has helped some other people to learn more about the process. It has been very rewarding for me. And by far, the best part has been the relationships that I have built with some of the people that I've met throughout the course of this. I never gave much credit to online relationships before, but now have experienced some deep friendships with some of these individuals. I have been lucky enough to meet a few of these people in person. You would think that it would be so strange to hug someone the first time you have ever laid eyes on them, but it feels very natural. I have been involved with the pancreatic islet cell recipients page on Facebook and think it is an extremely valuable resource for anyone who is looking for more of an inside perspective on islet cell transplants. For me, it is a great place to share this experience with others who truly can understand. My only question is: How did we ever live without this resource before?!
Today's topic is to write about something awesome that you have done despite diabetes.
Of course the thing that comes to my mind first is my transplant. But I did that more to spite diabetes. So I'll write more about my venturing into the online world.
I began looking at online discussions when I began using Symlin about 5 years ago. It was scary to try something so new and it really helped finding people who blogged about their experiences with it. It was good to know that the nausea would eventually go away. The package insert and other information I had made me believe that it would dissipate in days, not months.
Next, when I started using my continuous glucose monitor, I was able to learn on line that you could use the sensors for longer than the 3 days that I was led to believe was their entire life. And here I also learned the how to part of making them last which saved me hundreds of dollars. At this point, I was paying for them myself.
Then once I learned these things, my skills increased to reading articles about diabetes in general. And this is when I saw that picture of the pig(at the left on my blog) that eventually led to my transplant.
Because my online experience began with my discovering the value of reading about other peoples' experiences, I was compelled to share my islet cell transplant journey. I get comments and messages from people that lead me to believe that it has helped some other people to learn more about the process. It has been very rewarding for me. And by far, the best part has been the relationships that I have built with some of the people that I've met throughout the course of this. I never gave much credit to online relationships before, but now have experienced some deep friendships with some of these individuals. I have been lucky enough to meet a few of these people in person. You would think that it would be so strange to hug someone the first time you have ever laid eyes on them, but it feels very natural. I have been involved with the pancreatic islet cell recipients page on Facebook and think it is an extremely valuable resource for anyone who is looking for more of an inside perspective on islet cell transplants. For me, it is a great place to share this experience with others who truly can understand. My only question is: How did we ever live without this resource before?!
2 comments:
I can't imagine how I lived my life with diabetes before I found the diabetes online community either. I have picked up some of the same tips and tricks that you have!
D blog is a assume. It help me to blog comment.
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