Diabetes Blog Week - You Down With DOC?

For Day 3 of Diabetes Blog Week, I’m supposed to write about my biggest supporters.

Thinking about this topic made me really sad. I can’t help but think back to when I first started getting sick. I can’t help but think back to the time when all I could see was the people sickness had taken from my life. Before I was even diagnosed, someone I've loved since I was 18 told me I wasn’t the same girl anymore because I was sick and had limitations. It became my goal to try to prove that I was still the girl he'd fallen for. Friends gradually got sick of hearing me say I didn’t feel well enough to do x, y, and z but would love to take part in one of the three and stopped calling. People were getting frustrated with me and giving up without realizing that, as frustrated as they were, no one was as frustrated as I was. My body was betraying me. I had no control over it or my mind. The harder I tried to get a handle on things the worse things became. I had no idea what was causing it or why it was happening.

There's nothing quite like a diagnosis to help point out the people who truly want to be there and support you, and the people who only want to be around when things are carefree and simple.
Immediately after my diagnosis, I went to the internet. I found a social network for diabetics and got involved for a few months but then I shied away. If the people who were in my life were giving up, how could I expect anyone who’d never met me to care? A year later, thanks in large part to diving back into the community and to Twitter I know how wrong I was. The DOC (Diabetes Online Community) is a constant source of support and inspiration for me. I can’t possibly list all of you, but you know who you are. You make each day a little easier just by letting me know that no matter where I am on this journey, I will never be traveling it alone. I tweet about a bad bg (blood glucose) and within minutes someone’s checking in. I tweet about a great doctor’s visit and someone shares in the celebration. Whenever Glee is on, we're all present and accounted for having an all out party. It’s amazing to me that people I’ve never met (although I’d LOVE to someday) can “get me” the way that all of you do.

Of course, I have my offline support, too. My parents, my trainer, and my amazing doctor who never gave up on trying to get to the bottom of what was wrong are all sources of support for me.Today though it’s all about the DOC. You guys make each day a little happier and each rough patch a little easier. You’ve helped me in more ways than I could ever say and I appreciate every single one of you for it.