Nothing beats a live, in-person connection when it comes to feeling understood—especially when you just want to meet someone who understands your disease because, “YOU HAVE IT, TOO!?!”

But, let’s face it, a lot of times when you need support—when you need to know that you’re not suffering the pain-in-the-a$$ness of having Sjogren’s alone—it’s 3 AM.

Now, you may be one of those lucky people whose friends really mean it when they say, “Call me any time, day or night!” But if you’re not quite up to doing that, you might do what I do: search out Sjogren’s blogs.

I admit it. I’m an introvert who likes feeling connected to people… especially people I don’t actually have to show up to see and talk to! Blogs let me feel close to someone and feel comforted by our shared experiences.

But not all blogs are created equal.

I’ve found one I really like however, and you might like it to: Sjodry & Parched. From the get-go, I liked the play on sounds/words in the title. It’s HARD to come up with a good title! Sandy Burkett is the author/creator. She started writing the blog in January 2012—AND HAS KEPT UP WITH IT!

Sandy is, as she writes on her blog, “the Creative Engineer, President and Owner of Vital Signs—a certified Native American/Woman-Owned custom sign and graphics company located in Carnegie, PA.”

Her blog covers the gamut: humor, solid information about Sjogren’s, lists of products she and/or other people with Sjogren’s have found helpful, and a delightful category of idiotic and hurtful things people say to patients called, “REALLY..you just said that?”

And she’s dog crazy. In other words, I love her!

So when you find yourself needing a friend at 3 AM but you don’t want to wake anyone up, stop in at Sjodry & Parched and spend some time with Sandy. You’ll be glad you did.

Do you have a favorite Sjogren’s or patient-support blog? Tell us about it!