A few thoughts about Roche SMS 2011

So I realize this post is several days late, but it’s taken me a while to process all of my thoughts and emotions surrounding my attending the 2011 Roche Social Media Summit. The experience was incredibly exciting, yet also physically and mentally exhausting. I can say, however, that it was an experience for which I’m thankful to have had.

Looking back, the whole experience was really comprised of a series of firsts for me.

– This was my first year attending the Roche summit. Many thanks to those responsible for my being invited.

-Attending the summit provided me with the opportunity to meet so many of my DOC friends and family in person for the very first time. I had already met Mike Hoskins and Cherise Shockley in person, as we all live within a couple of hours each other in Indiana, but I hadn’t met any of the others. And I can honestly say that it was overwhelming to finally have that happen.

And while I’m thinking about it, I’d like to point out an interesting fact about the attendees from Indiana. The three of us, Mike H., Cherise, and I, each represent a different type of diabetes. Mike H. has type 1; Cherise has type 1.5 or LADA, and I round out the group with type 2. Maybe I’m weird, but I think that’s kind of cool.

-Being in the room with all of the DOC folks provided my first chance to witness the passion for diabetes advocacy that I’ve come know and love first hand. It’s one thing to read the words put on a page by a screen name, but quite another to actually be in the same room with the real, live individual, and see the expressions on their face and hear the emotion in their voice.

We are real people, living with a real disease, doing the best we can to not only get ourselves through each day, but also to educate others and advocate for a cure.

And last, but not least…

-This wasn’t just my first time flying since diagnosis with type 2 diabetes and congestive heart failure, it was my first time flying, Period! As surprising as it may be, I had never set foot on an airplane before June 22,2011. And those who followed my tweets that day know how close that experience came to not happening at all.

I’ll probably have another post or two about the summit eventually, as I have plenty of thoughts floating around upstairs. For now, though, it’s nearing the 4:00 a.m. hour, and I’ve yet to sleep. Ciao!

Disclaimer:
Roche paid for my flights, hotel accommodations, and meals associated with my attending the 2011 Social Media Summit in San Diego, California.
I was not asked to write about the summit, nor was I coached on what to say and not to say. My thoughts are just that..my thoughts.