Friday 3rd May: Live guest Bart from Livewire

[Bart-Livewire]

Sorry to hear you're not feeling well @mspaceK

[ecla34]

@Bart-Livewire that's really interesting, i've heard of livewire before, but only the online version! What kind of online chats do your run? (we're having an online chat about online chats....chat-ception )
i really love the idea of everyone being able to play games in real time together

i hope you feel a bit better @mspaceK

[WheresMySquishy]

Hope you get well soon @mspaceK!

[gina-RO]

Hey @WheresMySquishy !

Oh awesome - what a good initiative to use the live streaming for people online. 
The meeting of both IRL and online in one space ! 

We had a great question come through related to this : 

What kind of impact do you think online communities have for teens living with serious and chronic illness? Do they help people stay connected when they might be unable to attend school etc?

[Bart-Livewire]

Yes, it's a Starlight program. In the hospitals we run congruently with the Captain Starlight program, but online is all for adolescents, 12-21, unless you become a mentor and you can stay a little longer

[Bart-Livewire]

Hi @ecla34,
Our chats are totally run by members. The chat room is open from midday to midnight and the chat host is just there to make sure everything runs well. I try to encourage the members to run as much as possible.

[mspaceK]

Thanks everyone. My stomach is killing me for about a week now. Digestive upsets for what seems like no reason. Hopefully it goes away soon because it is really impacting my mood and work. 

I have heard of Starlight but not livewire. It sounds like a really good organisation. 

@Bart-Livewire @gina-RO @WheresMySquishy @ecla34 

[gina-RO]

@Bart-Livewire  Awesome - I love that the members run the chats primarily. 

I want to mention that we have a lot of people in the RO community who experience ongoing serious or chronic illness- both physical and mental, and will probably relate to the people you work with.

I also have a chronic illness - Type 1 diabetes, and know from my experience just how hard it can be to juggle life, with complex health care needs -   having a safe space where people understand, must be really valuable for people. 

[Bart-Livewire]

Great question:
What kind of impact do you think online communities have for teens living with serious and chronic illness? Do they help people stay connected when they might be unable to attend school etc?

Online communities are life savers for certain people. Although everyone takes something positive from the site. We have members with social issues who can't really connect or make conversation when they join, and a year later they are practically running Livewire with us. We have oncology patients who can connect with other oncology patients and generally its a great space to talk about procedures and things that other friends don't understand. The community is really important for members who are in the country also.

[WheresMySquishy]

I agree @gina-RO! It's really important to have social support and understanding when you or someone you know has a chronic illness.