The power of peer-to-peer connections is not lost on the diabetes community. While insulin remains our strongest medication tool, our mental and emotional health is nourished by connecting with like-pancreased people, making any diabetes burden that much lighter. One of the most amazing peer support cultures in the diabetes community is found at Children with Diabetes’ Friends for Life conference….
Guest Post: My Magical Disney Moment.
Diabetes and Emotions, Diabetes Community, Diabetes Online Community, Psychosocial SupportFlick of the Wrist.
Diabetes Advocacy, Diabetes Community, Diabetes Online Community, Psychosocial Support, Real Life Diabetes, Traveling, UncategorizedIn the interests of getting through TSA in Orlando as quickly as possible and making my way over to my gate so I could find some iced coffee and a banana, I disconnected my insulin pump and put it through the x-ray machine, caring very little if it melted in the transaction because I was melting in the transaction. The…
The Need for Naps … I mean, Self-Care.
Diabetes Advocacy, Diabetes Community, Diabetes Online Community, TravelingTen years ago, if you told me I’d have to bail out of a conference in the middle of the day to take a nap, I’d have laughed in your face because I thrived entirely on insulin, caffeine, and chaos and what do you mean, NAP? I don’t need to nap. Funny how being in my 30’s and hosting almost…
Friends for Life: Madcap Recap.
Diabetes Advocacy, Diabetes and Emotions, Diabetes Community, Diabetes Online Community, Psychosocial Support, Real Life Diabetes, TravelingA bulleted list because that’s what bloggers do. My personal schedule had me running around like a chicken with its head (and pancreas?) cut off, and while I felt really lucky to be so busy, I didn’t have enough quality time with people I love. It’s a nice problem to have, but it was frustrating because now that I’m home,…
During one of the discussion groups at Friends for Life, one of the attendees took a look at their Dexcom, gave it an exasperated sigh, and threw it into the middle of the room in frustration. “I don’t want it near me.” There was a brief pause. “Ante up,” someone quietly said, their own Dexcom case hitting the floor alongside…
In the last ten years, the DOC has evolved from a small pocket of voices to an entire choir that can’t be housed in one town, or state, or even country. I love seeing more hands raised and more people saying, “Me, too!” and providing support and understanding for one another. Patient stories matter. Our stories matter. The DOC is…
FFL: Social Media as Part of the Prescription.
Diabetes Advocacy, Diabetes Community, Diabetes Online Community, Psychosocial Support, Real Life DiabetesAt Friends for Life this year, there was a special panel discussing “Social Media & The Monster Under the Bed: The Latest Thinking on Fearing vs. Embracing Social Media,” focusing on efforts to validate the role of peer-to-peer support in diabetes management. Moderated by members of the diabetes online community, the panelists included: Korey Hood, PhD – Associate Clinical Professor…
Friends for Life Frenzy.
Diabetes Advocacy, Diabetes and Emotions, Diabetes and Family, Diabetes Community, Diabetes Online Community, Real Life DiabetesBringing Birdy to the Friends for Life conference was awesome, because I was finally able to introduce my bonkers Birdzone to my friends in the diabetes community. (And by “finally,” I mean in a way that counted. When I brought Birdy to the conference when she was two months old, it barely counts, because she was more in the “burping…
My Little Orange Bracelet.
Diabetes and Emotions, Diabetes and Family, Diabetes Online Community, Diabetic Mommy, Real Life DiabetesAt the Friends for Life conference, people who are living with type 1 diabetes wear bright green bracelets. Green bracelet’ers are the people who know what my diabetes life is like, from the injections to the blood checks, from the guilt to the successes. They get it. But the orange bracelets go on the wrists of the loved ones of…
Being an Adult at Children With Diabetes
Diabetes Community, Diabetes Online Community, Psychosocial SupportIn the years I’ve attended CWD’s Friends for Life conference, I always came away with this appreciation for what the conference provides for kids with diabetes, and their parents. Kids – a whole bunch of them – running amuck and clad in green bracelets with pump tubing flapping from underneath their t-shirts … it’s a place where these families hopefully feel…
CWD: Parenting With Type 1 Diabetes
Diabetes Advocacy, Diabetes and Emotions, Diabetes and Family, Diabetes Community, Diabetes Online Community, Diabetic Mommy, Infertility and Pregnancy, Psychosocial Support, Real Life DiabetesLead by Korey Hood and Stefan Rubin, the Parenting with Type 1 Diabetes session at Friends for Life was aiming to touch upon the different challenges of being a parent with type 1 diabetes, instead of the concentration on parenting a child with type 1 diabetes that Children With Diabetes was once known for. This was my first year attending this…
CWD: Catching Up
Diabetes Advocacy, Diabetes and Emotions, Diabetes and Family, Diabetes Community, Diabetes Online Community, Psychosocial SupportWith early morning “fun runs” (note: fun never equals run, as far as I’m concerned), non-stop Friends for Life sessions, business meetings, excessive drinking of both the Diet Coke and perhaps a shot of Patron or two (don’t judge – humans attend Friends for Life, too, you know), and a severe lack of WiFi in the Coronado Springs Resort down…
I held hands with Superman. It’s true. He was six years old and missing a front tooth and melted my heart by comparing pumps and trying not to step on any cracks as we walked along the sidewalk towards the Children’s Museum. “Can’t step on the cracks,” I warned, tipping my foot sideways to avoid a fissure. “Got it. I…