Last night, I participated in a DiabetesSisters' PODS meetup for the first time. I've seen them online and always wanted to join, but there hasn't been anything in my area and I'm not in a position to add anything to my plate right now. I noticed it on the list last week and spoke with the woman leading the group.

So I made the trek (it's about an hour's drive for me) to the meetup and enjoyed an hour and a half of diabetes related conversation (with a little life mixed in) with three other diabetic women. Three of us were type one and the other type two. Two other women are supposed to join next time (one of them being a friend of mine who I met at JDRF).

It was nice to just sit and talk about lows and highs and doctors and all that goes on. For DiabetesSisters, there are some "guidelines" supplied for these meetings. The facilitator goes through a training to even host the meeting.

These guidelines are general rules that are aimed to keep the focus on the women in the group and allow everyone an open forum. They include things like openness to hearing about all types of diabetes' experiences, consideration for everyone when they share, respect, a strong connection to DiabetesSisters and your connection to it, and that PODS meetings are only open to women with diabetes (not caregivers, friends, children, etc).

It reminds me a little of Alcholics Anonymous except that you use your full name. There's confidentialty, relatability, and respect. Maybe there are even confessions.

Overall, I was pleased with how the evening went. There were definitely a variety of us and I'd like to see some younger women join, but overall, we are all living with diabetes and that's what matters most. Some of us are newly diagnosed, some are long standing veterans. Some are married, some aren't.

I'm always looking for ways to better connect with the diabetes community. After almost 19 years with this disease, it gets tiresome. Sometimes I just need to talk to someone who understands the frustration, the joys, and the in betweens.

Last night was mainly a get to know you about how long we've all been doing this and what our basic experiences are. For me, it was about the lows I've been having and my past with seizures/black outs. It was about my struggle with PCOS and the recent frustrations with my endo. It was an hour and a half that I could nod my head and go "oh yea I've been there."

I'm hopeful that future meetings will include the emotional side of this disease as that's what I most want to talk about with other women in this life. I want to tell about the fear of living on my own and having lows. I want to get out the anger at living with this for so long and having so long to go. I want the frustration of dating and relationships and how they affect this so much and how this affects them so much.

I'll keep going and who knows, maybe if there are enough women to move the location closer to home, I'll even start leading. I'm just glad to have this connection for now. A few more women to add to the "insulin/strip emergency" list, a few more who I can ask about doctor's referrals, a few to be myself with whenever I need to.