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Dear Oprah,

I used to be a fan. I used to watch your show all the time. Probably every day. That was back when I was in school and was home by the time you were on.

After I got into the real world and started working, I rarely saw your show. And frankly when I did, it was pretty sensationalized. As a member of the media, I pretty much hate sensationalism. I may be in the media minority when it comes to that, but it's a direction that I simply can't stand our industry has gone in.

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Not the numbers of our ABCs -- although there is strength in that knowledge -- but the strength of many people, standing together, for the same cause.

Many people making the same choice made Jesse Ventura -- a third-party candidate -- governor of Minnesota, and Abraham Lincoln -- also a third-party candidate -- President of the United States.

Many people speaking out on television and in the media made everyone aware of AIDS and of Breast Cancer -- even though those two diseases kill and disable far fewer people than heart disease and diabetes.

Why is it, then, that hundreds (thousands?) of Twitter users turned their avatars red for World AIDS day, or green to support the protesters after the Iranian election, but not blue to support World Diabetes Day?

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We've heard about folk stealing one or more of Lance Armstrong's bikes, but a whole team's bicycles -- and not just that, but also their spares, parts, and tools?

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I'll admit: I'm not the most regular contributor to the Diabetes Social Media (#dsma) Wednesday-night Twitter chats, and I don't always get the time to tune into the Thursday-night BlogTalkRadio program (or listen to the archive), but when Cherise announced the first DSMA Blog Carnival, I figured I really should chime in. The problem is the topic: "The Most Awesome Thing I've Done Despite Diabetes". I haven't done awesome things despite diabetes, but rather because of it.

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During the Diabetes Social Media Advocacy (#dsma) session on Twitter last Wednesday night, a lot of the discussion focused on Endocrinologists.  There were lots of great questions, and I enjoyed reading all the responses.

It soon dawned on me that there was a big difference between myself and many of the participants, and that being that I don't have an Endocrinologist.  I only have a Primary Care Physician/Provider (PCP) who helps manage the treatment of my type 2 diabetes.

So, just being curious, I asked the question: "Is it weird to not have an endo, and have everything managed through a PCP?"

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"They all look the same to me!"

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For several months, a bunch of us have taken part in Wednesday night Diabetes Social Media Advocacy (#dsma) chats on Twitter. Run by Cherise Shockley, these sessions are about an hour long and cover a number of predesignated topics ranging from support groups to diabetes-related conferences to relationships to insurance issues. A week ago this past Wednesday, talk centered around the glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) test: how important it is (or should be) in determining our treatment, how accurate it is as a measure of our diabetes control, whether or not we consider current best-practice A1c goals to be realistic or not (and why), and what sort of self-treatment we use to achieve (or try to achieve) those goals.

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Every year, the "blue versus red" argument comes up as diabetes bloggers and patient advocates discuss the relative merits of the American Diabetes Association, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the Diabetes Research Institute, the International Diabetes Foundation, and World Diabetes Day. This week, however, the color of diabetes is pink.

Diabetes UK pink.

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1. To disclose or not disclose: do(es) your employer/school/friends know you have diabetes? Why or why not?

The company which employs me does not know that I have diabetes; several people at work (including my supervisors) do. There is neither place nor reason to mention diabetes (or any disability) on the job application — I believe it's actually illegal in the US to inquire before hiring — and since hiring/firing decisions are made at the store level, accommodations must be discussed and/or made at that level, rather than the corporate level.

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Last night, I participated in #dsma, a Twitter event for the diabetes online community. It happens every Wednesday at 9pm EST. I've joined in a couple of times before, but never gotten into it like last night. I've been really focusing on Twitter the last few weeks and finding connections with the DOC.

#dsma is crazy. It's fast paced. That hour goes by like lightning as you're trying to read all the other tweets, submit your own, and truly make an impact with fellow D tweeters. It's insightful and it's thoughtful. For that hour, you are thinking about the diabetes community, how to connect, how to integrate different ideas, how things apply or don't apply.

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