I'm considering starting a diabetes support board, any interest?

[blondeatlast]

I know I'm not the only DB in the Underground. Both of the top two MBs have departed this cyber-plane; WebMD and Diabetes Portal, this one truly a loss. I've found online support very helpful in the past and it really saddens me that these great resources are no more.

If you or someone you know would be interested please reply to this post.

Any advice would be appreciated as well.

Thanks!

Edit: Please kick this for a couple of days, if you would be so kind . . .

Thanks again.

[REP]

1. What Kind of Support?

I personally want something with information, not "I Wuvvies My Splenda!"-type things (that was an actual thread on alt.support.diabetes). It seems on usenet, at least, some of the side-effects of diabetes is becoming stupid and/or mean!

[blondeatlast]

2. Yeah, I know what you mean.

Problem is, at least in the beginning, I can't enlist the help of a medical professional (I'd be very specific about that in the rules). I want something very free, like DU, with a very few different topic headings. The kind of place where one can rant about doctors, ignorance, learn about treatments, etc.

Surprisingly, WebMD had a great support board and the moderator was a real gem. The discussions were very free and very informative. I started on it for real life info about the insulin pump and wound up hooked for several years. I've periodically checked to see if it has been revived but it seems gone for good. "Portal" is rather recently removed (I'm hoping it's temporary) so I'm going to keep checking.

Actually, the best place I've found for info is

www.childrenwithdiabetes.org

but they really do devote it to children. I want CWD for adults, I suppose.

[REP]

3. That's Another Rant!

I am so tired about every disease-site being childcentric! I have FSGS, a kidney disease that's fatal in adults, but not children - and there are far more sites for kids. I have ovarian cysts, and all I can find is goddamn infertility pages! Argh!!

Once that's all gotten through, then there's the boneheads who were told 15 years ago that low-protein diets are absolutely necessary with DN (yes, I also have that, though it's the very early stages) despite current research showing that normal protein intake + equivalent of loss through proteinuria is the way to go. I made the mistake of posting that my nephrologist told me not to lo-pro and you thought I'd said that diabetics should go kill themselves and their families!

[TreasonousBastard]

4. I'm in.

The usenet groups are pretty well trolled up and a few older boards have disappeared.

[blondeatlast]

5. UndergroundRailroad PMed me with a great idea:

I'm going to start up a weekly "meeting" in the, you guessed it, Meeting Room, at least for now.

I'll shop for some free hosting services, if anyone has ideas, either pm me or reply here.

Thanks--see you in MR!

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

6. I am not diabetic and wouldn't join but offer my encouragement to you

Making sure diabetics are eating properly and managing their diets as well aas treating even minor skin abrasions and the like is very important. Anything that encourages people to manage this disease while making it easy to comply with programs designed to maximize their body's use of insulin is a good thing.

If you were to make this happen, I would give the site to every diabetic I know. In fact, NuttinshocksMAMAanymore might participate:D

[azrak]

7. I have both websites

and I can go to both. As of this morning both were still active on my computer. You aren't using AOL are you?

[blondeatlast]

8. Really? I got WebMD, but the MB was down.

Diabetes portal just doesn't come up at all, and that's my favorite.

I have Cox at Home, no AOL. I'll try again.

Hallellujah! Diabetes Portal is up again! Thanks.