Your Biggest Supporter

Living with diabetes requires support. Sometimes we don't want to ask for it. Sometimes we get too much of it. Sometimes we don't get enough. But support is very important. Family, friends, medical professionals; they are all play an important role in our diabetes management.

After I got to a certain age, my friends and family pretty much trusted me to do what I should.
And trusted that I knew what I was doing. I didn't always honor that trust and went through some times in my life when I didn't take care of myself. Peaking at a 12.1 a1c in college, I had a doctor who called me on it and basically presented me with my options: take care of myself, or waste my time in college because I was on a fast track to death.

After I went through some changes in my insulin management, I tried to take better care of myself, I still wasn't doing everything I should be. But I was making more of an effort. College graduation came and went and with my first "real job" I had health insurance. And I started looking into pumping.

I had met a couple of people in college with insulin pumps. Prior to that, I was basically terrified at the thoughts of having something attached to me all the time (I laugh a little as I type that, seeing as how I've been "attached" for 4 years now and I barely noticed it after the first couple of days). The people I'd talked with loved their pump. And I was curious.

Eventually, I was able to get an insulin pump. And less than a year after that, I found the online community. When I started blogging, I was introduced to my biggest supporters. You. It doesn't matter who you are. But if you are reading this, you are my biggest supporter. The online community gave me something to be healthy for. Sure I had friends and family to take care of myself for. But having a whole community of people that LIVE what I'm living? Wow. That's enough to make me want to take care of myself.

I can guarantee that I can always find someone to talk to. It may not be the same person every time, but there is always someone I can shoot an e-mail to, or sent a tweet, or leave them a message on facebook. And they will be there to tell me what I need to hear. Which is usually just "I understand".

Sure, I still have my days where I don't want to take care of myself. The days when I just wish diabetes would go away for 24 hrs, so I could have a break. But all of you guys give me the strength and the support to keep going. To know that the 200 I woke up with this morning will be okay later. That the 54 I hit yesterday afternoon is just a little snag in my day. That the next time I hit the perfect 100 will make it worth it.

And that's why I consider the online community my biggest supporter.