We’re now nearing the middle of 2018, which is simply amazing. How quickly this year is going by!
Of course, the summer months bring a bevy of diabetes conference activity and we’re excited about that, but it’s already been a busy May — from Mother’s Day to Memorial Day — with plenty of banter about life with diabetes.
Here’s our rundown of the great Diabetes Online Community (DOC) posts that caught our eye in May, in no particular order:
Celebrating Moms! Of course, Mother’s Day is a time to honor those made-of-steel moms in our Diabetes Community. We enjoyed reading this Diabetes Daily post by Sarah Schaff, who was diagnosed with T1D at 11 years old and has a special message for her D-Mom, who allowed her to live beyond her chronic condition. Another well-written post at Beyond Type 1 called “Because of Lucy” is worth checking out. Also, this post from D-Dad Tom Karlya is a great one about his wife Jill, or the other half of the D-Parent Crew to their T1D daughter who is recently married (We’re also sending condolences to Tom and Family, who said a final goodbye to his mother this past month).
With May being Mental Health Month, our friend Mike Durbin over at My Diabetic Heart re-shared a moving post about specific things that “bring him down” related to diabetes. We can relate.
This post on the American Diabetes Association’s blog made us smile, as it’s by Lynda Jiminez who works at the org and lives with type 2 diabetes herself. She shared her story of having a healthy pregnancy despite her T2D and being labeled “high risk” by the medical community.
We appreciate those diabetes advocates who spend their time traveling to events and speaking up on behalf of our D-Community, including Ally who recently attended the Lilly Diabetes Blogger Summit. You can read her recap of that meeting here. Spoiler alert: Lilly’s working on a new insulin pump.
Huge kudos to our friends at Beyond Type 1, who this month unveiled an incredible piece of multi-media journalism called “Previously Healthy” — which shares the behind-the-scenes story of how a little girl in North Carolina died from undiagnosed type 1, and how that led to the first state law targeting increased awareness about screening for T1D.
Happy Eighth Diaversary to Frank Sita over in Australia, who recently marked his diabetes anniversary in a special way, by listening to fellow T1D Neil McLagan talk about his recent solo bike ride from Perth to Sydney with a few fellow D-advocates. Kudos to him and the #OzDOC community for supporting each other!
Both advocacy and management in diabetes are very personal things, and we appreciated what Stephen Shaul wrote at Happy Medium with a simple message that pertains to all of our D-stuff in life: You Do You. Because, as the saying goes, Your Diabetes May Vary. Spot on, Stephen!
Diabetes isn’t easy, and it can get even more muddled when big serious issues like body image and mental health come into play. We appreciated reading this POV from Renza at Diabetogenic, who shared some insights on her Real Diabetes and how she does things her way.
We missed this one from April 2018, but in reading it this past month felt strongly it needs to be shared. Thanks to Phylissa at Diagnosed Not Defeated about how T2D is too often seen as a failure, and how she feels about that topic: “As long as I am taking care of myself, I am NOT a failure. I am a success, by any means necessary!”
So that’s what is on our radar for this past month. How about you, D-friends?
Please keep your eyes peeled in June for your own favorite posts of the month, and send us your picks via email. We look forward to hearing from you!