Greetings everyone!

My name is Mike Durbin, and I am excited to be joining the team of writers here at Blogabetes.  I've been living with type 2 diabetes and congestive heart failure (CHF) since I was diagnosed on December 29, 2008.  I was 24 at the time.

Notice that I said living with type 2 diabetes and CHF. Despite how difficult and scary the last year and a half has been, with adjusting to a new way of living and the near death experiences I've faced, I’ve not stopped living.  If anything, there's more liveliness in me now than there ever was before.  It's amazing how it takes a near death experience to make you realize just how precious life is and how important it is to live each day to the fullest.  We never know when we might reach out last.

At the time of my diagnosis, my A1C was 9.6, and my heart, well, it was only functioning at 30% to 35% of its capacity.  I didn’t know it, but I was literally a walking time bomb.  After my treatment had started, I asked my cardiologist how much longer I would have had to live if my heart problems hadn’t been found.  His answer was simply, “Maybe a few months.”

Today, at age 26, I’m still kicking, and my will to fight on is just as strong as it was when I was diagnosed.  I attribute that to my treatment regimen, the knowledge I’ve gained from web sites like dLife, the support of my family, and the new friends that I’ve gained via social networking and the diabetic online community.

Writing has been one of my primary outlets throughout my ordeal. My personal blog, My Diabetic Heart, came about after reading the stories of so many other bloggers, and seeing how their shared experiences were not only helping me, but were helping others deal with their own diagnoses as well.  It was a way for me to turn a bad situation into something positive.  And it’s how I came to be a part of the Blogabetes team.  Thanks to Gregg, Paula, and Kerri for reaching out.

All the best.
Mike