|
What is Waltzing the Dragon?
WaltzingTheDragon.ca is a Canadian website for families dealing with type 1 diabetes, created by two parents of children with diabetes: Danielle, a former Registered Nurse, is a mother of three teens (one of her sons has had type 1 diabetes since 2001); Michelle holds a Masters degree in Psychology and is mom to two young children, including a 6-year-old son (who has had type 1 diabetes since 2008).
Anyone whose life has been affected by diabetes will recognize the dragon: diabetes can be fearsome and overwhelmingly large; it can scorch us when it breathes its characteristic fire; we would love to ride in on a sturdy steed and slay the dragon so that our children, our families, don’t have to live with this troublesome beast. And yet what we sometimes fail to recognize is that, even though we cannot slay the dragon (there is not yet a cure for Type 1 Diabetes), it is tameable. We cannot tame it by burying our head in the sand and pretending it does not exist. We cannot tame it by screaming and yelling and stomping our feet and rebelling against it. Instead we need to learn to interact positively with it, to take control calmly and
confidently... to dance with it.
As two mothers of children with type 1 diabetes, we started this project when we realized the incredible value in talking with other parents about how to live day-to-day with diabetes - we learned things from the community that made us stronger and more capable in managing diabetes within our families, things that augmented the valuable service our sons each received from their health care providers. We also gained perspective and learned how to cope with the fears that come with having a child with a chronic, potentially life-threatening disease. We decided to create an online educational resource that mirrored this experience, a "one stop shop" where parents could go to find the information they need on their journey with the diabetes dragon, to live well with both the physical AND emotional
aspects of this disease. Our goal is to empower parents to make choices that fit best for their family, at any stage of diabetes education (beginner to advanced), by presenting a range of available options.
The articles on WaltzingTheDragon.ca have been reviewed for content accuracy by the clinical staff at the Diabetes Clinic at the Alberta Children’s Hospital, ensuring the material is grounded in science and best practices. Then, as parents, we provide the practical, experiential layer, sharing “tips from the trenches”, sharing what has worked well in our families. At WaltzingTheDragon.ca, we strive to make the dance a little easier by sharing with you the science of effective diabetes care, as well as the art that makes one truly successful. We hope that, as a result, all of
us can focus less on the dragon and more on life.
|
