Thursday, January 8, 2009

Diabetic Rockstar - A Review

I was asked by the admins on Diabetic Rockstar to write a review and was encouraged to post it on my blogs. So, here it is...

I am Diabetic. I was left with little to no information on how to handle and treat my disease. First, I ate whatever I wanted. Then I ate a Low Carbohydrate diet. When none of these was really working for me, I consulted the internet. I subscribed to health blogs, I subscribed to Diabetes blogs. I found some of these helpful, and some not so helpful. Many of them catered to Type 1 – which I am not. The Type 2's that were written about were the people over 60, and I didn't fall into that category either. And then I went on insulin. I was led to believe that now that I was on insulin, I was a Type 1, but nothing that was written seemed to apply to me. I was very confused.

Enter an interview with Christopher Thomas on the Diabetes Mine blog by Amy Tenderich on October 1, 2008. Christopher was promoting and discussing his website, Diabetic Rockstar. It's basically a social networking site for people with Diabetes. Their motto is: Live Life Like a Rockstar. From my point of view, that was something that I could understand.

I immediately went to check it out. I signed up as soon as I looked around. No stranger to the other social networking sites, I took this one with a grain of salt at first. The more time I spent on there, the more I wanted to be in these people's lives. There is an incredible amount of support. People have made friends and have jokes between them. I have yet to see flaming or any kind of rudeness happen. The admins welcomed me within days via comments and made me feel right at home.

Since I joined, I have had the opportunity to really look around the site with much more detail. I am consistently amazed by how well it is run, and how kind and generous people are. There are forum boards, there are a few weekly chats, groups, the list just goes on and on. Every day is like finding something new. I have joined several forums, which have quite a variety of topics – from Pets, quitters, mom's, tattoos and even regional ones. It's a great place to ask for advice or even just to vent. I have seen comments relating to treatment in the workplace, things to talk to your doctor about, and just general support. There are people of all age groups, so you get a nice rounding out of experience. Just reading some of the responses and questions, I have learned much about my disease.

Another fantastic thing that is included on this site: fund raisers. And not just fund raisers, there are cruises, Guitar Hero competitions, tattoo designs, fake tattoos, stickers, clothes, the list is endless. I haven't been able to attend any of the fund raisers, but I am thinking of holding my own in the Portland, Oregon area. Within the last few months, Diabetic Rockstar became tax exempt for for operating as a full charity. The even have a listing for donations of diabetic supplies, where if you really can't afford your own for whatever reason, and you ask, you will be sent one by the management.

There is so much going on in this website, I can't possibly list it all, so I suggest that you check it out. I have recommended it to all my diabetic friends and family and they, too love it. I really commend Christopher on having such an incredible idea and making it come to life and it works! There is a very loyal following. Please, check out Diabetic Rockstar and have a great time meeting new people, learning new things and sharing your experience with us.

4 comments:

Connie said...

Hi Tink! I hope the new year is off to a good start for you. I'm not diabetic, but it sounds like you have found a great place to connect with others who can offer you support and friendship and information in learning about diabetes. I know some people who are diabetic and know how sometimes it is a daily struggle for them just knowing what to do or not to do. I will have to recommend this site to them. Hope you have a good weekend! :D

Tink1272 said...

Daisy, you are so nice. I hope that your friends get enjoyment out of the site. It really is great and all the people are really nice.

My new year is off to a pretty good start, we are happy. :-) I hope yours stated off well, too! You have a great weekend, too!

Shauna said...

I am new here! What a great blog :)

Tink1272 said...

Thanks, Shauna! I hope you enjoy it. I should be posting something else, soon! :-)