This is an email I sent to my primary care doctor and CDE

I was cruising the web a few months ago basically looking for other diabetic’s opinions of the Omnipod pump system. While the pod looked too good to be true and the web site made it sound almost too good to be true, I am by nature a cautious person. What I found was this online community of people touched by diabetes. When I searched even further I found a group of over 1200 pod users whom I can turn to with questions if and when the time comes. There are 25000 members of this community, and while some are more active than others, the shared experience is truly empowering and enlightening. I have learned more here online about how to better take care of myself than I learned in 37 years of living with diabetes. Mary, the question I asked you yesterday about the GlycoMark test came from a webcast I watched last Friday with Gary Sheiner who wrote Think Like a Pancreas and is himself Type 1. Diabetes is really isolating and the day to day management of it is challenging to say the least but if I had known about this group a few years ago, the challenge would have been shared, and the result in my opinion would have been a far healthier me.
I hope you will check it out and maybe consider sharing it with patients you think could benefit. As I said it has made a big difference to me.

My CDE got back to me almost immediately and thanked me for the information, she said she would definitely check it out. Baby steps.....

Clare, I'm so glad you found the TuD community, glad you've been in chat, and totally agree with what you've said!

Clare,

Your words are music in my heart! I'm the Diabetes Hands Foundation Program Manager, and one of my biggest goals as such is to help make this the best, most informative, supportive and useful community it can be. I'm THRILLED to read that you are finding it to be those things. Thanks very much for spreading the word, and please point out opportunities for improvement that you see to me or the admin team any time :)

Thanks Emily, from your original "welcome to the community" email to the people I have met here and the things I have learned, there is nothing I would change about this site. As you can read in my email, if I had known about this site earlier, I would have been spreading the word years ago. It's a shame actually that I am a patient at one of the foremost Diabetes Centers in the World (read that as Joslin) and my CDE there has no knowlege of this site or of the glycomark test that Gary Sheiner talked about the other day or that the old pig insulins used to contain C-Peptide. But at least now I can point her in the right direction. Thanks again, Clare

Shawnmarie, I agree with you as far as liability goes. My equally useless diabetic education was in the Boston Floating Hospital nearly 38 years ago. Things have certainly changed for the better. But I think it was just by chance I found this site because there certainly is no handouts available at my diabetic clinic. It should not be that way. Wouldn't you think a "CERTIFIED DIABETES EDUCATOR" would know about this site ? Seriously it's their job isn't it ? OK I am done ranting, I'm off to dinner at Blue Ginger in Wellesley for restaurant week. Already chosen the tuna sashimi to start, braised short rib with creamy grits for entree, and milk chocolate panna cotta for dessert. Don't know how many carbs, but I'll figure it out one way or another.

HOORAY... FOR TUDIABETES...:) JOINING IS THE BEST THING I'VE EVER DONE...

eek, the secret is out of the bag!! LOL! That's great to have told your doc. I've told some people and think they lurk but may be shy?

i also told a couple of medical people who did not know about tudiabetes

Bless the Canadian Diabetes Association , Victoria , BC FaceBook page , where I read , besides on Tu about Gary Scheiner's Live video chat( maybe Emily ad something to do with this :) ) ; Bless the Kelowna , BC Branch for handing out links related to diabetes including of TuD at Expo's ...I could go on ( but we are going to eat fresh salmon ; need to prep )

I learn so much via TuD, and it really has mattered in terms of support. A great resource!

During visits to my endo I have asked if I can put a little something together that he could leave in his waiting room to allow his patients to see this wonderful resource we have here. I even told him that I would put a disclaimer on the material. At first he seemed willing to allow me to place them in his office. He then frowned and started talking about liability so Shawnmarie is definitly on to something.

On a brighter note the members of his staff (labtechs included) do know of Tu and think very highly of it. Just don't know how much they get to mention it.

It was exquisite. Every dish was simply gorgeous and tasted incredible. The milk chocolate panna cotta was the best chocolate pudding I have ever had. I did not however successfully swag my way through dinner though as I was 256 when I got home. A few corrections fixed it slowly but I hate waiting for it to come down, even though I know it will eventually. My worst habit is to overcorrect and I end up crashing later on in the wee hours of the morning when I am supposed to be asleep. This time I took a correction dose of humalog and then just tested every hour until I hit 176, decided I could go to bed. Woke up this morning at 96 so I was happy with that. I am going to 2 more restaurants next week for restaurant week, one steak place that I have been to before, so at least I have a decent idea of what I can safely have, and the other is at the W Hotel in Boston and I am just going to have to wing it there. But I think I will take the dessert home as a treat for my husband who never does restaurant week with me because he is gluten sensitive.