Same-Same

A little same-same for NDAM
(so wishing those tubes were blue)

About 5-1/2 years ago I was searching for information about diabetes and stumbled into the DOC (diabetes online community). To be exact it was Kerri's blog, Six Until Me, that I happened upon. I was hooked immediately...after having my little girl diagnosed just a few months before it was intriguing to get to peek into the life of another person living a healthy, normal life despite a long-standing diagnosis of T1D. Until then, I didn't really know anyone else who had T1. It gave me hope to read about Kerri's life and how she was successfully handling the challenges of D in her day-to-day life. I peeked through her Blog Roll and came across a few others that interested me and would read from time to time. But I was a "quiet reader" rarely commenting on posts...until about 2 years ago when I started finding and reading more blogs written by other parents of CWD. When I came across the first blog written by another parent I felt like I'd struck gold...it was like reading a story that someone had written just for me! With each new blog I found I'd scour through the archives feeling more and more validated as I went...finally a sense of "same-same". I'd always felt connected somehow when reading the other blogs, but the blogs written by other parents pulled me in deeper. There was an immediate sense of community and although I hadn't actually met these other D-mamas and D-papas I felt like I'd known them for years!

About 9 months ago, I decided to write my first blog post...I figured it was time for me to give back to the DOC what they'd been giving to me for so long. And although I've admittedly been a slacker lately, it's been a lot of fun to share our stories...and cathartic at times. I've been pleasantly surprised by support I've received back so far...the DOC is an amazing place!

I wish I'd really delved deeper into the DOC earlier after Charlotte's diagnosis. Goodness knows I could have certainly used some of Reyna's "colorful" stories about mother-birding or Meri's posts about her swelly brain (it's nice to know I'm not the only one with that issue). Knowing that I have felt this way, I've shared info on some of my favorite bloggers with several moms of newly diagnosed children. I ran into one of the moms a few weeks back and she mentioned to me how appreciative she was that I had talked to her about the DOC...she told me she had been "talking" with a particular blogger and had said how my pointing her in the direction of the DOC had really made a difference to her! And I've had a couple other D-related emails from people thanking me for sharing our story and telling me how it's helped motivate them or made a difference in the way they've approached something. It gives me that "warm fuzzies" to know that I helped make a difference to those people....and to know that the DOC is out here helping to provide the much needed "same-same" to other families living the daily grind with D!