A Start...

So, a little while ago, I was obsessively trawling the interwebs for useful diabetes and insulin pumping related information (not the dry and sterile stuff you find on the medical sites, but actual helpful information, such as other people’s opinions and experiences) to help me in some decisions I’ve been trying to make. And I came across a blog. By someone with diabetes. And he was blogging about diabetes, and his insulin pump. Awesome, more-or-less just what I was looking for. And he included a link to this other diabetes blog. Which had links to other blogs, which had links to other blogs, which had links… all about diabetes, and life, and life with diabetes!

At first my reaction was along the lines of “What the-??? These people are blogging about diabetes??? Why??? What on earth could people possibly have to say about diabetes? Why not, you know, just shove it on the back seat, tell it to keep quiet, and just get on with life?”  Cos, well, that’s what I’ve been trying to do for the last 20 odd years.  But it turned out to be really cool to read about other people’s experiences with diabetes, the fears, problems, survivals, how incredibly funny living with diabetes can actually be, and to be able to completely relate!

And then the reading may have turned into something approaching a mild obsession. I may have drowned my Google reader with D-blog subscriptions. I may have become a lurker (and been appreciative to discover that there was even such a term for me, lurking on all these D-blog sitesJ).  And I noticed that, just in reading these blogs, and seeing the support everyone offers each other, I’ve found loads of information and I’ve been encouraged, and hugely helped in the small steps I’ve been taking recently to actually, well, try take better care of my diabetes. And I’ve become more open and outspoken about it- answering people’s questions, and standing up to fight for (about? over? against?) it when necessary. And that has been really cool. And I think I want to be a part of something like that. I want to be a member of this community, online, and offline…

And so… here is this blog.

It’s a little bit daunting to me to be honest- I have a tendency to start stuff, with loads of enthusiasm, only to let it fizzle and die in a corner shortly afterwards. But, lets look at it as an experiment. And a tool. An experiment- to see if I can actually write anything worth reading, that people may actually want to read, with anything approaching regularity.  A tool- for me to be able to connect with other people with diabetes (I don’t actually know any other PWDs, I’m hungry for communication) and to add my voice to the others out there, telling their stories and sharing their lives (and I do have some specific stories that need telling; like the war I’m currently waging against my soon-to-be-previous medical aid, and my hopefully-imminent-and-exciting transition from MDI to a pump). And, because, despite my trawlings through D-blog land, I have come across very, very few  D-blogs from South Africa (two not-very-active-ones, to be precise). No, this is not Caron’s South African D-blog to the rescue! But maybe I can start something on this side, or at least be a hit that crops up when other PWDs in this part of the world google for the relevant support they’re looking for.  And finally, this blog is an experiment AND a tool because, to be honest, I need the accountability. I’m working hard at getting my diabetic-act together. But, given my previously mentioned tendency to start with a bang and fade rather quickly, I’m scared this fades too. Hopefully by putting myself out there, and making a thing out of my diabetes care, I’ll be more motivated to sustain it. So, for all my ramblings, this isn’t just me saying I want in on the D-blog party. I need this blog.

Um, other than that, I’m not too sure what I’m going for with this. I’ll make it up as I go along. Life on a learning curve, right? And sure, as much as I need to write about diabetes, that’s not all (by along shot) that goes on in my life, or in my head. So no doubt topics will vary occasionally. I may even post photos.

For now, please please comment! Say hi, or something- let me know you were here! Despite my long ramble (sorry), I’m a little shy, and perhaps a little socially inept. This is me putting myself out there, instead of just lurking. But besides this I have no clue how to start conversations. Can I leave that up to you?

… oO