For many of us who are writing medical blogs and reading blogs like this one, we're patients every day. Being a patient isn't something we chose, and it's not something we can avoid.  But we can do is share our experiences with one another and show our readers how life as a patient can really be.  And that is a powerful experience.

This is where Patients for a Moment comes in.  This new blog carnival, started by Duncan Cross, puts the focus on patients, and lets us tell it like it is.  I'm honored to be hosting this week, and thrilled to have to many diabetes bloggers, both new and old, representing!!!  Here we go ...

• Robin at Survive the Journey talks about how no matter how good our doctors are, they don't always see the whole picture.  Most of the time we, the patients, are the ones who put it all together. 
  
• Laurie Edwards at A Chronic Dose writes about her PCD and bronchiectasis and how an illness, even when invisible to others, deeply impacts the people living with it in her post On Invisible Illness.
• This post at TuDiabetes has a video of founder Manny Hernandez talking about the impact a donation to the Diabetes Hands Foundation (at any level) can make to help connect people touched by diabetes and raise diabetes awareness.
• Rachel at Internal Sweetness writes about the pursuit of a lower A1C and her experience with the diabetes drug Symlin.  She's looking to hear from other diabetics who have experience with Symlin, so if you're a fellow diabetes patient, please offer your perspectives to Rachel!
• Steven at Minnesota Fugue takes on a tough topic, writing about his 20 month old son's genetic inclination to develop type 1 diabetes ... like his father.  
• At Diabetes Mine, Amy Tenderich writes about the 'revelation' that healthcare is about human interaction, and stressing the importance of an actual conversation between doctors and patients.
• Barbara at In Sickness and in Health writes about the power of laughter on the life of a patient, and how a good giggle contributes to good health.  
  
• Alison and Tim use Shoot Up to talk about the lighter side of living with diabetes, but when Alison's pump felt it wasn't getting the publicity it deserved, it hijacked the blog to tell the world what it's really like to live with a diabetic.
• At Nerdy April's Space Adventure (NASA - clever title!), April tackles the concept of invisible illness and talks about "where her diabetes is hiding."
• Traci, blogging at DiabeticParents, writes about the Seven Bad Habits of a Spouse of a Diabetic, showing that the people who care for an illness aren't always the ones who have it themselves.
  
• Rachel at Tales of my Thirties touches upon fall traditions of her patient life, like football, fall leaves, and dusting off the ol' light box to help her deal with seasonal affective disorder.
• Jill, a blogger at the dLife Community, writes about her personal experiences with low blood sugars, and how they impact her emotional health as well as her physical health.  
  
• Leslie at Getting Closer to Myself writes about her experiences with lupus and rheumatoid arthritis at her blog, and her submission takls about how the "enemy" is not, in fact, our bodies, but a medical system that treats young people as second-class citizens. 
• And finally, Barb at FlorenceDotCom has a terrific list of Twitter profiles that every patient should be aware of.  Her "Top 25 Tweets for Patient Safety" is a must-read for patients and their caregivers.