This is a tough one to start off D-Blog Week!
Admiring our differences – Monday 5/9: We are all diabetes bloggers, but we come from many different perspectives. Last year, Diabetes Blog Week opened my eyes to all of the different kinds of blogs (and bloggers) out there – Type 1s, Type 2s, LADAs, parents of kids with diabetes, spouses of adults with diabetes and so on. Today let’s talk about how great it is to learn from the perspectives of those unlike us! Have you learned new things from your T2 friends? Are D-Parents your heroes? Do LADA blogs give you insight to another diagnosis story? Do T1s who’ve lived well with diabetes since childhood give you hope? Pick a type of blogger who is different from you and tell us why they inspire you – why you admire them – why it’s great that we are all the same but different!!

If I had to pick a specific type of blogger who was different than me and write about how they inspire me, I wouldn’t know how to choose just one type. And that’s because even the other people with Type 1 diabetes are different than me. Going back to the infamous saying that your diabetes may vary – each and every one of us living with any type of diabetes, even the same type, have a different kind of diabetes.

So that means …….. I admire all of you. And I’ve learned so much from all of you too, even after having diabetes for almost 30 years. Major pieces of education I gained that stick out in my mind:

• Going back to the days of Myspace where I first met other PWD online like Lee Ann, Tricia, Tina and Elizabeth to name just a few. I learned so much about the insulin pump from them that I finally took the leap and got one myself.
• Learning more about the Dexcom.  After having a failed experience with the older Paradigm MM CGMS, I found out about the Dexcom from some of you.  And I’m so glad I did!
• Learning more about what my parents went through when I was growing up from people like Sherry, Leighann, Lorraine and Scott.
•  Getting motivation for #sweatbetes (that I struggle so much with) from so many of you.

All of this information, the friendships, the inspiration, are priceless to me.

I honestly wish I could mention everyone individually but all in all I admire the entire blogging diabetes community for how we each live with diabetes in our own way yet come together to share the same passion of educating and advocating for those living with diabetes. And each and every one of you hold a special place in my heart.