Guest Post – Christopher Snider

Today’s guest post is from Christopher Snider from A Consequence of Hypoglycemia.

There’s a strange kind of fear or apprehension that overcomes me when it comes to a guest post. Granted, I’m sure most of the people reading this are remotely aware of who I am. When I think about the nature of this or any other post I’ve written it still amazes me that I’m doing this. Opening up was never easy for me growing up, probably due to a lack of opportunity but it’s not like I was really looking to share my feelings with everyone. But then I spent a couple days in the hospital. Then I tried to manage all of this on my own. Then I found Twitter. And the rest, they say, is history.

When it comes to the Diabetes Online Community, I see us all as a very close family of strangers. We’re a list of avatars and unique aliases. We’re 140 character moments of wisdom. We’re 1000-word posts of inspiration. We’re a photo album of blood glucose meters and continuous glucose monitors. We’re the tangled pump tubing and the overflowing sharps containers. We’re a 24/7 pick-me-up. We’re this, and so much more. And it amazes me.

It’s this family of strangers that knows exactly what you’re going through. We are around during those days that are impossibly unreasonable as well as the days when everything is going right and you feel like hugging the world. I know it’s the shared bond we have in dealing with this disease that brings us together. Now that I think about it, it’s a hell of a common interest to bring together a group of strangers (and their families). Do coin collectors send each other little knitted socks for their newborn child? Do MythBusters superfans make music videos together? Do people with peanut allergies rally behind causes like we do? I’m not saying that we’re the best around…actually, that’s exactly what I’m saying.

I can’t speak to other communities, but you all make the day-to-day grind of this disease infinitely more manageable. Just look around and see the retweets, the guest posts, the blog post comments, the twitter chat participation, and even the podcast appearances. Even though I’ll wont meet all of you, I know that you’ll be there for me just as I’ll be there for you. As I review this post I can’t help but notice how cheesy it reads, but I don’t care. Even if we didn’t sign up for this, and I’m pretty sure none of us did, we are family.

~Assuming I didn’t scare you off, you can check out my blog, A Consequence of Hypoglycemia, for other posts, podcasts, editorials and whatever else I find to contribute to the madness.