Latest in a series of e-patient requests.
Last year in an airport I bumped into a long-ago co-worker. In light of the work I do in my travels it was stunning, because he said he’d been diagnosed with diabetes and he’d felt so alone … he’d never met another person with diabetes.
It stunned me because I’ve long said that diabetes patients are the archtypical e-patients – they have to be engaged in their care, and diabetes has long been the disease with the biggest online communities. But his providers had never mentioned connecting with others.
We parted, and he went back and did so. Today we’re Facebook friends, and now he writes this call for assistance. Kerri, Manny, Amy, Ginger, any of you, what say you? Thanks!
(As I read his notes below about all the things he’s done to be proactive, it’s deeply moving. He’s made a lot of progress but with some embarrassment he’s owning up to what’s not working; still committed to his goal, he’s reaching out for more support. Ain’t that engaged, empowered and responsible??)
So please, DOC (diabetes online community), dish up some advice. I’ll link this discussion on my Patient Communities page for future reference.
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