A Mile in My Shoes

Sometimes the pieces fall in front of you in a way that shapes your path.

Being a sedentary adult had nothing to do with my diagnosis as a child with Type 1 Diabetes of course, but diabetes with the accompanying fears of hypoglycemia and the stress of managing glycemic control during exercise has everything to do with my being a sedentary adult.

The Diabetes Hands Foundation's community TuDiabetes.org helped me understand that I was not the only one struggling with my diabetes when I joined the social network in 2008 and has much to do with my two successful pregnancies and my outlook on diabetes today.

DHF's program Diabetes Advocates has allowed me to become a voice for patients and those touched by diabetes, and my blog Sweetly Voiced has allowed me to extend my reach and tell my story.

But something has been missing. I've still been afraid of exercise. I make a lot of excuses. I am afraid to do it alone, clueless as to how to accomplish being active while caring for two kids under the age of 4 at home alone all day, and always confused about how to manage the delicate balance of insulin and activity.

DHF has another program though - the Big Blue Test - which has proven to me that just a FEW minutes of activity can lower my blood sugar. Type 1 diabetes is incredibly challenging, sure, but if I could take a little less insulin, I'd have fewer hypo excursions. And if I could make my body just a little more efficient, I could have fewer hyper excursions. Just a little.

And that has taught me a lot.

The final lace in my shoe is that, as an attendee of the DiabetesMine Patient Voices Innovation Summit, I received a complimentary Misfit Shine fitness tracker courtesy of Target. Point taken, universe.

For the next 5 weeks, I commit to walking 10 MILES a week. Though it will likely be a well-worn route to and from a local park with my little ones, it will be an emotional journey, a physical challenge as I avoid hypoglycemia (while pushing a double stroller) and as I learn what does and doesn't work in my planning, and it will be the very first time I've done something else - ask for your support. Yes, you.

As I walk these 50 miles, I'm asking my friends, family, and acquaintances to help me reach my goal of raising $1,000 for the Diabetes Hands Foundation. For every dollar I raise, that's another dollar that we at the Foundation can put toward reaching more people who used to be like I was, helping more people who are just like me, and amplifying the efforts of those who are committed to making the world a better place for people who are struggling.

Will you help me put some miles on these bad boys?

Unsung Heroes

Today's Prompt: Spread the Love. Thank a few of your fellow Health Activists for what they have done. Call them out by name or twitter handle. Share your love.

This is one of those "I don't wanna leave anyone out" kind of prompts, but it would be unrealistic for me to just roll out a blog roll for you when there are SO many amazing activists and writers in the DOC (Diabetes Online Community). You can go down any list of patient opinion leaders/torchbearers/etc, and for almost all of the names, I'll nod my head and say mm-hmm and oh-yeah and she's fabulous. Then I'll think of 20 or 30 more who should have been included.

But there are health activists you probably don't know who deserve a little bit of spotlight and I want to make sure they know that what they are doing truly matters.

Ugly Ducklings

Today's Prompt: Health Activist Writers' Choice

Since I am choosing my topic today, I'm going to give a nod to the April Blog Carnival topic from Diabetes Social Media Advocacy, or as we lovingly call it, DSMA.

Describe your ideal diabetes “support group”? What would you discuss?

I attend a lot of support groups...once.

I know that there are type 1 adults in the Dallas metroplex. I run into them occasionally. They go to my doctor, they show up at the odd JDRF event, and I am occasionally contacted by my local Omnipod reps to meet with one occasionally through my consulting agreement with Insulet Corp. I've met some cool women - Carrie, Patra, Cheri, Cindy, Angela.

But when I try out a new support group, instead I usually find myself in a room of people who know a LOT less than I do. Who manage their diabetes a lot like I used to or a lot like our 'ancestors' a decade ago. I meet grumpy old men who stand by their particular treatment or brand of pump. I don't meet anyone like the patient advocates I know from the online community.

What I get from the DOC (Diabetes Online Community) is fantabulous. It's available 24 hours a day and all I have to do is pose a question, start a thread, use a hashtag...and real human beings with honest experiences are there on the other side.

But if my face-to-face meetups with some of those folks have taught me anything, it's that there is something magical about the warmth of a hug from Scott Strange, the sound of Sara Nicastro's laughter, the taste of Bob Pederson's salsa.

These moments where you get to come face to face with people who love you and barely know you. I've written about these people and these moments before.

So I already know what I'd love my local support group to feel like. What it would require to provide me with the support I need to get through rough patches. What I'm not getting from the groups I've been to here.

Accessible. I've tried to get involved with several groups on a local level, but everyone's work schedules and geographic location make regular meetings within a drivable distance extremely challenging.

Sure I'll meet you at that coffee shop. Oh, it's an hour away and I need a sitter for my kids and I get to drive in rush hour? Oh joy!

Most people here don't seem committed enough for a regularly scheduled event.

Knowledgeable. This is going to make me sound snotty - which I am - but I would get more out of local support groups if I felt I wasn't constantly educating many of the other participants.

Okay, yes, that's my problem. I could just shut up (I'd need to sit on my hands with a gag in my mouth.) I do so enjoy having an opinion on everything. I'm not a licensed diabetes educator, but I have an uncontrollable urge to correct misinformation when I hear it. And as they say, maybe in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.

When I get together with other patient bloggers - people with the same or more experience as I have - I feel like we are a bunch of equals. The one-eyed man finds his cyclops village. (oh, the sentences you never expect to type)

Listen, I LOVE sharing what I've learned - especially since I learned most of it recently after a long battle with ignorance, but going to these meetings, I often feel like I offer support that I don't get in return.

To truly find support, I need peers.

Light-hearted. My support group would look exactly like the living room at Jess's house when we went to Kansas City for Simonpalooza.

Spouses chatting it up in the kitchen. A table full of homemade snacks. Couches and chairs full of laughing friends. Becca the alert dog sleeping discretely under a bench.

And my toddler (butt in the air, far left) overturning unmanned red Solo cups of diet soda.

Until I can recreate that, the weekly DSMA chats and my TuDiabetes community will have to suffice.

This post is my April entry in the DSMA Blog Carnival. If you’d like to participate too, you can get all of the information at http://diabetessocmed.com/2012/april-dsma-blog-carnival-2/