“Back for the third year, let’s show everyone what life with diabetes looks like! With a nod to the Diabetes 365 project, let’s grab our cameras again and share some more d-related pictures. Post as many or as few as you’d like. Feel free to blog your thoughts on or explanations of your pictures, or leave out the written words and let the pictures speak for themselves.”

It’s wildly apparent that those in the diabetes community have a shared tendency to post pictures of our Dexcom receiver. It’s the most efficient way to detail how a day is going, or has been. I do what I can to spice up my Dexcom pictures by adding things to the background. Sometimes it works, other times I’m too creative for my own good. The point is that sharing these images strengthens the community. Sharing the highs and lows empowers others to be open and honest about their diabetes and while I’m no medical professional, I’m certain the effects of experiencing and participating in this openness has a positive impact on one’s diabetes management. Maybe not immediately, but the good will come.

I do my part in sharing little pieces of my world online, often diabetes related in part because I think it’s interesting but also because I know there are others out there that are looking for encouragement. They’ll soon be discovering that they are not alone in the diabetes world and if they come across any of my stuff, I hope to be a proper ambassador for the online community.

So I post good days, and not-so-good days. I post about synergy, and shenanigans but most importantly, I’ll post about stuff that has absolutely nothing to do with diabetes, because sometimes that’s just as, if not more essential to a happy and healthy life with diabetes.

The “Last Test Strip” blues. #diabetes

(If you’re on Instagram, you can find me there at iam_spartacus.)