Your Forum needs you!

[Northerner]

You may remember that recently the forum was featured on the Diabetes UK blog - this led to quite a few new members joining and helped to spread the word about how the forum can help people affected by diabetes.

I was wondering if anyone who has their own particular story to tell of how the forum has helped them would be willing to share that story on the DUK blog as well? It would be nice to keep the momentum going in stepping up the promotion of the forum, and by far the best advert in my book is the actual members telling their own experiences 🙂 Also, we have the forum's 4th birthday coming up, so it would be nice to have something to coincide with that 🙂

If you would like to help, please let me know, or you can email/PM Joe Freeman. Don't be shy!

 

[PattiEvans]

Would be willing to share my story of mis-diagnosis if it's at all valuable. Might help older peeps press for better treatment?

 

[Northerner]

Would be willing to share my story of mis-diagnosis if it's at all valuable. Might help older peeps press for better treatment?

I certainly think you have a great story of determination and persistence Patti and would make a great blog article, but was is this forum that helped support you in that chiefly, or the 'other' one? For this I think they are looking for examples of how this forum has been instrumental in turning things around for people.

 

[PattiEvans]

I certainly think you have a great story of determination and persistence Patti and would make a great blog article, but was is this forum that helped support you in that chiefly, or the 'other' one? For this I think they are looking for examples of how this forum has been instrumental in turning things around for people.

Ahh didn't think of that Alan. To be honest it was a number of forums + an online newsgroup - more or less defunct now I think. From my POV I think the whole online community do their bit to make people feel less isolated and find information that seems lacking coming from the very places that should be ensuring they are empowering people. I've lurked around this forum since it opened, so I suppose it's done it's bit for me as well as the others, but as a primary support perhaps not. It's more about people... some of whom I've known since 2004 - Alan Shanley, Jenny Ruhl and a great number of others.

 

[grahams mum]

hi northerner i was just reading the diabetes uk news letter and i saw your picture realyy nice interview (now graham can do his own injections!!!)

 

[twinnie]

alan more than willing to tell my story of how i became diabetic and the years its taken to be reclassied as type 1 and getting all the strips and courses and the support you guys gave me with what to say to gp and dsn and the meet ups that i been to meeting you guys oh and how when i took the wrong insulin {my short acting one instead of my latus } lots of the forum gave me advice and didnt make me feel silly for making the mistake and stay on line with me untill it was all sorted out that was some night lol

 

[Northerner]

hi northerner i was just reading the diabetes uk news letter and i saw your picture realyy nice interview (now graham can do his own injections!!!)

Thanks Daniela! Well done Graham! 🙂

 

[Northerner]

alan more than willing to tell my story of how i became diabetic and the years its taken to be reclassied as type 1 and getting all the strips and courses and the support you guys gave me with what to say to gp and dsn and the meet ups that i been to meeting you guys oh and how when i took the wrong insulin {my short acting one instead of my latus } lots of the forum gave me advice and didnt make me feel silly for making the mistake and stay on line with me untill it was all sorted out that was some night lol

That would be great Vickie, I'll let Joe know about your offer 🙂

 

[pippaandben]

Would be very willing to tell my story. The forum has been my rock through these past 18 months from diagnosis to injecting - with little initial gp help initially to this week my nurse being in USA a week after starting insulin. Bless you all for being there.

 

[Robster65]

Hi Alan.

Happy to write a few words for the forum. Bit of an absentee of late but no denying how the forum helped bring me into the 21st century (from the 1970s! 🙄). 🙂

Rob

 

[Northerner]

Hi Alan.

Happy to write a few words for the forum. Bit of an absentee of late but no denying how the forum helped bring me into the 21st century (from the 1970s! 🙄). 🙂

Rob

Excellent Rob, thank you 🙂 I will let Joe know.

 

[Robster65]

Excellent Rob, thank you 🙂 I will let Joe know.

Cheers. I may have tweeted at him the other day but might have been someone else at DUK.

I see a lot of people who could benefit by joining here but many are resistant. It would be interesting to know why. I think there's a forum-phobia.

I'll try to remember to ask the next time.🙂

Rob

 

[trophywench]

I had that for a long time. It had to do with seeing so many things that insisted eating cinnamon would cure me! Or only seeing T2's talking about their trials and tribulations, which I don't have because much of the time they have no relevance and I had a specific problem which didn't ever seem to be covered.

Or the websites that weren't saying about cinnamon just said to eat shedloads of carbs willy nilly and even got some of the 'basic' medical facts wrong.

There were only about 4 people on this forum when I looked at it originally and in any case, I firmly expected it - even if it was lively, to push the 'eat more carbs and be a good girl; it's easy' type non-advice I could get anywhere I looked! It wasn't, at the time, frequented by enough people who knew enough about D for me.

So popular misconception is one factor.

The other thing is, a lot of people still think Drs know all the answers, and let's face it although things are changing slowly, a lot of medics think we have to be deranged anyway to give any credence whatsoever to anything we read on the internet even if we've had it from the NHS website LOL Yet they use GP Notebook etc nearly every blooming day.