Shoulders

Brrrrrrr!

You read the blog title and you thought 'He's going to waste my time, talking about frozen shoulders'

You're not wrong! 

But I'll talk about shoulders in a different way, too. 

Let's start with the frozen thing because the cold REALLY bothers me anyway. I heard some friends talking about "Frozen shoulder" a couple of years ago. I didn't really give it a great deal of attention, assuming it may just be a coincidence that they have Type 1 Diabetes and Frozen Shoulder. I also remember seeing it mentioned infrequently on Twitter but didn't think much of it. I didn't have any issues in the shoulders and, after over 3 decades in the T1D club, thought it might be a rare complication that won't "get me".

Yeah. So, I probably have a frozen shoulder. I say "probably" because nobody seems sure and with everything being very virusy right now nobody is really keen to investigate in detail or send me for a scan.

It all started back in August/September 2020. I woke up, feeling very stiff (giggity). The kind of feeling you get if you've slept in an unusual position. The stiffness wore off as the morning progressed but then I noticed sharp "electric shock" pains in my shoulder if I raised my arm or stretched. The feeling continued for a few weeks until I called for medical advice. Physio began, as did Naproxen for the pain - later replaced with Cocodamol.

4 to 5 months later, things have improved but it's "still there". It doesn't often affect me during the day but I do have trouble getting comfortable in bed. It seems to be slowly getting better. I have no advice on how to avoid this happening to you. With other complications, we know to go for screening, get our feet checked and hand a tube of urine to a nurse - those checks are supposed to stop things becoming too bad for various complications. With shoulders? Nope. If you get it then your options appear to be physio or steroid injections. They may or may not help. If you know of things to do to avoid Frozen Shoulder or you just want to share your experience then write in the comments below.

We all need somebody to lean on

The next part of this blog isn't strictly shoulder related. In fact, it has nothing to do with shoulders in the physical sense. However "if you need a shoulder to lean on" is a well used metaphor when it comes to offering yourself in the support of others. So, what I really want to talk about is support and, in some quarters, the complaints about lack of support specifically from the #GBDoc community.

I have no complaints. Absolutely none. From the first few days on Twitter, I have always felt welcomed and engaged by many members of the community. I have become good friends with some. Others have offered valuable advice and direction to me. It's rare that I will go a day without some form of engagement within #GBDoc.

That seemingly isn't (or hasn't been) the case for a few others. At first, it seems inexplicable. Why would people choose to not engage or help specific people? I think I've found one reason. It may not be the only reason; For the ones complaining there is a common theme: Aggression. 

It's not a case of continuous aggressive or angry tweeting. It may not be frequent at all. It happens often enough, though to turn people away. That aggression may materialise more when a complainer doesn't get the desired response or support to their tweets. It can be passive-aggressive in nature or just outright insulting. They feel entitled to responses and when they don't get them their first port of call is to state their achievements. You might remember some, as you read this. Here are a few which come to my mind:

- I've had diabetes for 26 years and I've been tweeting for 5 years but nobody answers me.

- I have a PhD but I'm never listened to.

- I've done all of this to raise awareness of T1D.

Are we, the more mild mannered to blame for their neglect? Should we turn a blind eye to the anger and sense of entitlement and feed their needs? reply to their every tweet? buy their merchandise? offer them a place at conferences to speak?

I think not. 

Nobody is more important than anybody else when it comes to online peer support. We're lucky that it exists! and as previously mentioned in this blog, you only get what you give. Be kind, offer your shoulder to support others in their time of need and you won't ever need to worry when you need a little attention.