Face to Face Dia-Meetup

This morning I met @betizuka of http://crankypancreas.com/ for coffee. It was, as Bea put it, awesomesauce! It was the first time I talked to someone who knows what it's like to poke a finger and bleed on a strip. I talked about what Type 1 is like. She told me about Type 2. What I realized right away is both types of diabetes are tough to live with. There is no easy type of diabetes.

There we were, two women who met online hanging out over coffee and breakfast sandwiches. She had her hers with a side of diabetes meds. I had insulin as a side dish. Talking about diabetes, husbands, pets, sharing photos and life, I felt happy in a way I haven't felt in a long time.

My husband and daughter, friends and parents are supportive of me. However, there is a place in my life they cannot enter. A door inside of me that says People With Diabetes Only. The society of bloody fingers, people stuck taking Diabetes and You at the University of Catastrophe, we share an experience and a way of life. Observing someone having low blood sugar isn't the same as having your own body betray you. The internal trembling, the fluttering fear and bewilderment, feeling this is intense. It is also intensely lonely. Well it was. Until I met my new friend Bea.

Face to face, up front and real I had my first Dia-Meetup. It won't be my last. That was Awesomesauce!  I'm glad we met up, Bea. Let's do it again. Soon, OK? And next time let's not get lost in assorted parking lots!