My need for a good support system — Where do I find one?

REPOST from former blog My Type 2 Diabetic Life ©

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February 9, 2020

As soon as I found out about this new diagnosis, the very first thing I did was to say a prayer to God to help me through this thing.  Then I told my sweet husband. I needed to start building a support system to get through this. 

I love this man SO MUCH.  He is my Rock of Gibraltar whenever things get tough.  We have so much fun just being together.  It doesn’t have to be anything special – it can just be hanging out at the house, out shopping, or whatever.  I still feel butterflies in my tummy when I think about how much I love this guy.  

We met at the Galleria Mall here in Houston.  I was watching him ice skate and thought he was cute.  I asked a friend who he was, and the guy’s response was “That’s Danny.  He’s got abs of steel.  Want to meet him?”  We laugh about that now.  It was instant attraction for both of us, and didn’t take us long to realize that this was the real deal.  Sorry for going off on a rabbit trail.  Back to my main point — my husband is my main supporter in this journey.  He has helped me to figure out what we can eat that is healthy, as well as going with me to the gym and working out hard, and by cheering me on the day that I realized I have lost 20 pounds since my diagnosis.  

I also have a greater than fabulous cousin who’s also a T2 diabetic.  Wendy has answered lots of questions that I’ve had, pointed me in the direction of finding information that I needed, and in general, soothed the fears that I have.  Not only is this gal a T2, but she is a breast cancer SURVIVOR!  I just love her to pieces!

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Of course, my new endocrinologist and her team are fantastic!  She spent well over an hour, going on two hours with me at my first appointment.  I go back in about 6 weeks, and then will set up an appointment with their nutritionist.  I’m looking forward to adding the nutritionist as part of my support system!  

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I also went searching on social media for support groups.  I am here to tell you, that was an eye opener.  Yes, I have found a couple of groups and communities that have been helpful, but there are also some weird and crazy groups on social media claiming to be supportive.  I joined a couple of groups that were supposed to be “recipe” groups for Type 2 Diabetics.  Well let’s just say many of them were full of people who just complained constantly and bickered among themselves. No thanks.  

Another thing that concerned me about those groups was that people were giving medical advice to each other – about medication dosages and such.  That was scary.  No doctors or nurses among them – just doling out medical advice and the crazy thing was that people were accepting the advice and acting on it.  I got out of those groups as fast as I could.

It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that you need to be careful when using social media as part of a support system!    

I did find a couple of good groups on social media – one is a local diabetic support group that has some very kind and positive members, and the other one is a recipe group that follows low carb and low sugar.  Some of the members are on the KETO diet, some are diabetics, and some who just want to keep weight off. 

I’ve not mentioned my parents in my support system. My father passed away when I was in college, and my mother now lives in an assisted living center with an assortment of health issues, so I don’t want to burden her. I just try to be positive about things when I am with her or talking to her. 

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So today’s post is going to be short.  I really wanted to take a chance to write about my support system — I think it’s very important to have a good one.  

What’s your support system like?  If you’ve got any suggestions for me, please feel free to share in the comments below.  

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