Sunday 19 June 2016

Dear Dia-bestie




Dear Diabestie,



A simple Facebook message. Thats how it started. 

I was nervous. I was meeting up with a stranger who I had met on the internet - this was before I became part of the GBDOC and the only Type 1’s I had ever met were through JDRF Discovery days. 

My parents had always taught me not to talk to strangers, and this one looked pretty dodgy ;)

So the day came and we decided to go bowling. 


10am and we were the only people in the bowling alleys! Do you remember the 10 minutes of awkward chit chat?

‘How long have you been diagnosed?’
‘What subjects to you take?’
etc etc

We finished the game of bowling... after about 10 minutes.

By the end of the day after going for lunch, carb counting, eating ice-cream and walking round the town the initial awkwardness was broken when the ‘disease’ we both have in common completely broke the ice. 

Alyssa - ‘I think Im low’
And in what felt like an alter universe we both could completely understand.




Two weeks later we met again, this time at a Diabetes UK Care Event. It was so lovely to get to meet again, the awkwardness had gone and I felt like I was meeting with a friend I had known for years. You and the other 21 campers made that Care Event which I was very nervous attending one such an amazing experience.

However I'll never forget that moment on the slide when you went low. Im so grateful for that stranger who was strong enough to help pull you from that pool. I cant even put that situation into words because I thought I was going to loose my best friend and I don't want that ever to happen! You do love scaring me with these moments though! ;)




We've been through the highs and lows together (blood sugar wise and life) Always supporting each other along the way. We speak, snapchat, tweet or text lots - I hate that you live so far away. After the Care Event I stayed close with lots of people from the camp but as Skype calls got more infrequent and texts were few and far between the friendships faded, but our friendship remained strong. Our diabetes gave us common ground but now we know that we have so so much more in common.

I think you are so inspiring not just with your diabetes but your general attitude to life. If something knocks you back you come back twice as strong and you are so determined to make a difference! I think its fantastic all the work you do with Just Duk It and I hope one day we will be travelling round doing Diabetes talks together! (The Pumptastic Backpacker?! ;) aha!


Meeting again at the People With Diabetes Conference just confirmed how strong our friendship is. After 2 years apart, even though we speak all the time, you couldn't shut us up, and we tried but failed to hold back the tears as we both went our separate ways again.

Without diabetes I wouldn't have met my best friend and many other amazing friends along the way - thats a very strange thought!

“Friendship is born that moment when one person says to another, ‘What! you too? I thought I was the only one!” - C.S.Lewis

Thankyou for being my ‘Dia - bestie’!

Lyd x




Hope you enjoyed this blog post! If you write a post about your ‘Dia-bestie’ please send me a link! Id love to read it!


Lots of love The Backpacker and the Pod xxx

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