Oh Twitter, how I have missed thee!  I bought a fancy smart phone to tweet, anytime and place, yet I allowed my hectic schedule to keep me from logging in.  Oh what to do now?  I cannot even remember my password anymore! 

OK, so here is the deal. I used to be the Twitter Queen and I was able to stay in touch with my DOC buddies all the time.  I let life get in the way and at first I stopped tweeting during the day but I would tweet at night and on the weekends.  Then I got too busy at night with paperwork for my job and late night therapy sessions in homes so I stopped tweeting at night. Weekends were for catching up on chores, work, and clinical supervision so no more tweeting on the weekends  DSMA started and because I wasn’t connecting to the DOC in anyway anymore, I didn’t even know about it at first!  Cherise of DSMA is my friend so this was indication of how disconnected I had become, I wasn’t even talking to her regularly!

I have decided no more! I must reconnect with Twitter. But how should I do it?  Just jump right back in?  Let the site being announced be my catalyst?  Make a Facebook post saying I am coming back? What to do?  I have to admit, I feel embarrassed for being so connected and then just disappearing off the face of the earth.   All those connections severed and so many new people in the DOC who I haven't even met yet, I feel kind of intimidated to even try to come back.

So keep an eye out for me on Twitter, I am coming back soon!   I just need to figure out how I can reconnect in a realistic way for my life.  I can’tbe online all the time, it just won’t work for me.  I have to find a balance so I am really looking at how I spend my time, during the day at work and when I am home so I can be realistic in the way I tweet this time. 

It's all about your attitude,

Suzanne

The Best Way To Help a Diabetic? For every diabetic, there's a different circumstance. Each diabetic will require different needs. A diabetic's needs can depend on a variety of things, i.e., medications, personality, and sometimes even our emotional state. No one diabetic is the same, regardless of the type of diabetes. For a few years now, I've been involved with the diabetic community (as well as being diabetic myself), and I think it's safe to say that for most of us, the best way to help a diabetic is to just simply ask, "How can I help"?

Speaking for myself, to "ASK" is a very important keyword. Some diabetics welcome unsolicited advice, and some diabetics despise it. To help a diabetic, is to understand the "invisible diabetic line" between your opinions, and a persons right to live their life. To ask, is to allow that diabetic, to have a choice as to whether or not, they'd like to receive your thoughts, instead of dealing with uninvited opinions. By asking, it also avoids risks of any developing tension, or unintentionally making the diabetic person feel less then competent.

Lastly, the best way to help a diabetic, is to become informed yourself, in order TO help. Read about diabetes as much as you can. When I say read, I don't mean an old article in "Women's Day magazine", "People magazine" or even a "new cure" in "The Enquirer". Purchase a current & relative book on diabetes. The American Diabetes Association has many great books, for both the newly diagnosed, and loved ones who are trying to learn.

Understand that not every diabetic is doomed to have life threatening complications. As long as he/she is controlling their blood sugars, they can lead a very healthy and happy life. Diabetes is an extremely complex disease. Diabetes is so much more than just eating fruits, vegetables and exercising. Diabetes is interconnected along with our emotional, psychological, as well as our physical state. So please keep these things in mind, when dealing with a diabetic loved one.

Yogi

I have been diabetic a very long time.  When I was first diagnosed, my mom and dad helped me with shots and tests for the first year.  After that they were not involved other than shopping for food for me, they believed it was my job to manage the disease.  This was a blessing and a curse all at the same time for me.  I get that they were trying to teach me to be independent and be able to manage diabetes by myself but it made it very difficult for me to ask for help when I needed it.  Over the years I never asked anyone to help me, even when I really needed help.

Fast forward to about two and a half years ago.  Not taking care of my diabetes finally caught up with me and I became seriously ill.  My poor husband wanted to help me get control of my diabetes and I pushed him away, telling him "I can do this, I don't need your help!"  He watched me struggle to get control of testing, eating, and shifting my diabetes care focus.  And he stood by me, ready to help with anything at all if I would just ask.  But I didn't ask.  Then I got the pump.  He learned how it worked, read all the documentation, and gave me the space I demanded since I wanted to do it all by myself.  I guess I hadn't realized that my diabetes was a family issue, it didn't just belong to me.

When I got the DexCom last spring, once again I didn't want any help.  I could master this on my own.  My husband watched helplessly as I got angry over pump and CGMS issues, biting his tongue and letting me rant.  A few months ago I was reading some old blog posts of Kerri's over at Six Until Me.  She had pictures of her DexCom sensor in her arm and she said her husband helped her put them there.  My poor abdomen needed a rest from sensors so I decided it was time to ask for help.  I asked my hubby to put a sensor on my arm for me.  I think he understood how hard it was for me to ask for help.

So the first attempt at my hubby putting a sensor into my arm didn't go well.  He was nervous, I was really impatient and kind of mean to him.  Don't get me wrong, the sensor worked fine but I was terrible to him!  We don't fight often but we did fight that day.  I thought alot about why I was so angry with him when he didn't do anything wrong.  That is when I realized how hard it was for me to ask for help.  We talked it out and I promised the next time I would be aware of my behavior.  So yesterday we tried it again and guess what?  When I relaxed and just let him help me, the sensor insertion went fine!  I thanked him for being patient with me and understanding.  I am starting to get how much my diabetes is part of his life too.

So do you find it hard to ask for help?  Do you get angry sometimes?  I would love to get your feedback!

You can be 1happydiabetic too, it's all about your attitude!

Suzanne

Hooray!  We did it.  We have over 100 members on1HappyDiabetic in little over a month with our new site design.  I want to thank all of our members for your great comments, forum posts, videos, and pictures that add value and smiles to everyone that views them.  Our enthusiasm for positive diabetes education, social value, and change has reached many diabetics and their families.  It’s nice to laugh and feel welcomed with the struggles we face every day. 

A very special thanks to Suzanne Watts who has helped with the development and creation of this amazing site.  I am so lucky to have found such a special and talented friend that was willing to put her time and effort towards an idea that started a little over 2 years ago.  Thank you.

I also wanted to thank everyone who has helped spread the1HappyDiabetic message around the internet and contributed towards the contentof this site.  Thanks to; Kenny Kellner, Michael, Lorraine & Caleb, Katherine Marple, Clark V, DlifeMamma, Dene, Leon, Andy, Colette Henry, MelindaMonks, Fred, whatever1210, Argarcia1, and Cecilia.  I know I have left many out, but thank you all for adding your thoughts and creative videos.  Suzanne and I are truly honored.

1HappyDiabetic.com is growing and spreading that positive attitude we all need in our lives.  This little community is growing and I am so excited.  We hope to progress even further in the years to come.  With justa little help from our friends with Diabetes I am sure we can.  We look forward to hopefully expanding our “1HappyDiabetic” name and logo in the future (we are saving up as we speak) so we can be a recognized entity in this amazing Diabetic Online Community we are involved in.

We always welcome any ideas, suggestions, and involvement onhow we can make this site better.  One of our members Fred asked for a way to display his involvement in the JDRF to share with others.  So we created our new events calendar to display events and diabetic engagements our members would be attending.  Hopefully we will be able to have 1HappyDiabetic meet ups in the near future.

So cheers to 100 and hundreds more!

Your Diabetic Buddy,

Bill

Today has been a pretty awesome day for me and it got me thinking about what I am thankful for. So here is my list (in no particular order) of what I am thankful for.  What are you thankful for?  If you haven’t done it lately, take a minute and think about the blessings in your life.

1. My health.  I have had diabetes for the past 23 years but I am doing pretty darn good on this front.  A few bumps in the road so far but I am stronger and healthier now than I have been since I was a teen.
2. My husband.  He is the most supportive person I have ever known and he accepts me as I am, warts and all.
3. My family.  I have the best sister in the world and great in-laws.  I am very fortunate!
4. My DOC friends (DOC=diabetes online communities).  You guys get what it is like to live with diabetes unlike most of my friends.  I value the relationships I have built over the last year and I look forward to the road ahead, with my diabetes buddies at my side!  I love you guys!
5. My school friends.  These are the folks who kept me in check when I needed to be kept in check!  These are my study buddies and friends for life.
6. That I am officially finished with grad school!  I have had my degree conferred as of today, which means even though I have not walked in the graduation ceremony, I do have a Master’s degree now.  I still can’t believe it!
7. That I have an insulin pump.  It took me years to break down and get one and now you will have to pry it out of my cold, dead hands before you get it away from me.  OK, that is morbid, but you get the point!
8. That the world is filled with possibilities and I am excited as to where life will take me next.    
   
9. And finally, I am thankful for my furry children, Chloe the dog and China the cat.  They are always happy to see me and they don’t mind if I am in a foul mood due to blood sugar issues.
   

Be Happy,

Suzanne