As an engineer by training, I find quantitative analysis -- numbers -- an expression of control. Self control, exercise, body function, health and illness... So while I'm fortunate enough not to have to be "Bionic Betty" with a peripheral pancreas, I still refer regularly to six separate instruments, plus additional Web-based resources, to manage my food intake, exercise output, and biometric information.

Weight. Some folk say weighing once a week is enough, but I find that if I don't weigh in every morning, my weight can go off on very health-unfriendly curves. I log my weight both in The Daily Plate and in my personal Excel workbook.

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As a long-term volunteer at Mile 20 of the New York City Marathon, I have seen many things that runners will do, or put themselves through, to get their bodies through that distance en route to the 26 miles and some odd yards of a marathon. Blisters, cramps, and bleeding are part and parcel for the course. So are dehydration, overhydration, and electrolyte depletion. At Mile 20, most runners visiting the medical station want a quick massage or some Vaseline® before heading back out on the course. While a few runners do drop out, most of those are able to wait for the "sweep bus" to carry them back to the finish line. Exceedingly few runners who require medical aid this far along the course need to be ambulanced out.

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In today's environment of cheap-to-the-patient pills that can cure almost anything from a hangnail to cancer, it's sometimes difficult to make significant and often-difficult lifestyle changes on account of a disease or a medical condition. Rarely is this more evident than in the public appearance of Type 2 diabetes.

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Look! on the skin
The symbol of what lies within.
Now turn red to tempt Snow White
To make her hungry for a bite...

--the Wicked Queen, Walt Disney's Snow White, 1937

There's nothing like a fresh fall apple. Crisp, juicy, sweet or tart, whatever your preference. Think of pick-your-own orchards, fresh apple pie, baked apples, candy apples, caramel apples, apple bobbing at Hallowe'en, Mrs. Prindable's chocolate-covered apples at Thanksgiving and Christmas...

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With all the blood that diabetes care involves, it's no wonder the "vampire" image keeps coming into play. A former T2 co-worker referred to going for blood work as "seeing the Vampire". Kerri's Diabetes Terms of Endearment list includes the entry, "Vampire cannula". For those who live in fear of (fictional) vampires, every time we prick our fingers to test... has to include the scary thought, "Am I inviting a vampire to bite me?"

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When I was in grade school, regardless of whether our Trick-or-Treat costumes were home-made or store-bought, whether we wore masks or make-up, our huge paper loot bags were accompanied by small orange milk cartons stamped with information from UNICEF -- The United Nations Children's Fund. Printed on the cartons were examples of what a small donation might do for a child in a third-world country -- a nickel, for example, might provide a child with a pencil and notebook for school; a dollar might vaccinate him against smallpox or polio; five dollars could get his town clean water. The following school day, our teachers would collect the milk containers. The local PTA would count up the money and submit the school's UNICEF donation for that year.

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