Starting this blog back in 2005 wasn’t for page views or for advocacy efforts, to be honest. It was because I didn’t know any other people with diabetes, and I felt alone. I was the only twenty-something I knew who shot up before breakfast, the only one with a bottle of juice in the shower. I wanted to find some people who did this diabetes to do list every day, like I did.
This website is not my financial livelihood. But it’s my health umbilical cord – a livelihood of a different sort. It has connected me to my peers, people who really know what it’s like to have a pancreas that crapped out, and their support has made life with diabetes easier. Better. Less lonely.
More life-y.
Susannah Fox (formerly Chief Technology Officer at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) created this video with her team and it really resonated because peer-to-peer support, for me, is why I write. It’s why the diabetes online community is crucial to my good health.
Do I value the DOC? You beta do.
“The internet isn’t magical and it is certainly capable of bias and partial information but it can also be a source of information that is open 24/7. The advice is not always life-changing, but is often life-improving. In the dark of night you may find not only a friend, but a fellow advocate and you may feel less alone. Information and camaraderie help.” – Peer to Peer Health Advice video (see below)
Our community is our super power. No doubt.
I normally hate, I mean hate these videos. However I like this one a lot. Bravo to Susannah Fox and her team for capturing it perfectly.
I liked this video, I always thought doctors rolled their eyes when a patient said that they saw something on the the internet.
My story is similar to yours except I was diagnosed with diabetes in my 20’s. Since then I’ve been reading and searching for cures but they seem so far away. I’m very happy to have discovered your site Kerri cause it gives me hope and puts a smile on my face 🙂
Kenny