Five Lessons From Five Years of Diabetes Blogging

It’s hard to believe that it’s been five years since I summoned the courage to hit ‘publish’ on my first blog post five years ago. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing at the time, or what kind of purpose this blog would serve. In total honesty, I never thought this would last longer than a week or two.

Yet here I am today, five life changing years later and a great deal wiser.

Writing about diabetes is a lot easier than I once thought. When diabetes is a part of your life 24 hours, 7 days a week, 365 days of the year, there’s no shortage of material to share here. It’s pretty easy to flesh out the tiniest thing. Like that low blood sugar that hit me this afternoon, or the stray test strip that I found on the floor of my hotel room.

Writing about diabetes has also been hard. Moreso than ever during the past year. Life, and taking care of myself definitely comes first and I’ll never apologise for that. But I’d be lying if I said that I don’t have this ever growing feeling of looking behind my back, waiting for someone to get angry at something I’ve shared here. Wondering if what I’ve written is even worth sharing.

I don’t have to be doing exactly what everyone else is doing. I’m still here, blogging, and doing it somewhat old-school, because this is the platform that is…me. Diabetes bloggers have largely migrated to Instagram these days, but at this point in time that’s just not me. Posting my landscapes and Cannoli feels far more natural than posing with my Dexcom, pump or pen.

I don’t have to be here, or anywhere else within the DOC, all the time. It’s easy to feel somewhat obligated to post and participate when there are so many corners within the DOC that are active 24 hours a day. Taking care of myself comes first and foremost. I’ve actually just spent 95% of the post Christmas period logged out of social media. With the exception of Twitter for news on the bushfires here in Australia. I always want my interactions to be fun and not forced. I always want to participate only in those spaces that I feel most comfortable in.

Peer support is truly life changing. I acknowledge just how much privilege I have had in being able to build such a great tribe of people with diabetes around me. I still think about where I would be in my life with diabetes today if I had not found such amazing peer support from the DOC and broader diabetes community. I don’t think I want to know the answer to that question.

9 Comments

    • Happy New Year, Alex! I haven’t been on social media much lately, but hopefully those affected will reach out to the DOC if they need some help. I can’t imagine what it must be like.

  1. Please don’t give up blogging on this platform. I know there is Instagram etc but this a much better platform. I’ve enjoyed reading your posts, always good to know there’s someone else out there facing the same issues you are, plus your posts make me smile always a good thing 🙂 keep on blogging….

  2. Trish Greer

    Hi Frank. I look forward to reading your blog whenever it arrives in my inbox:) Since my husband and I visited Australia the summer of 1999 to visit my brother and his family, I was wondering where you took that photo of the kangaroos in a park. We landed in Perth and traveled the Outback up to Darwin and back. I recall walking through a park that looked just like your photo. T1D for 55 years now and still working as a traveling teacher serving Deaf/HH students in Topeka, KS, USA.

    • Thanks for reading, Trish. It was at Pinnaroo Valley Memorial Park, a 20 minute drive north of Perth city. I don’t know of many other places where you’d find so many kangaroos!

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