One of the mixed advantages of living far away from family is that when you do finally get home, there's a lot of catching up to be done. Because we've been away and not in all that close touch, we're considered the "neutral third parties", and the updating comes chock full of dish.

Nowhere is this more apparent then when diabetes comes into play. Siblings who'd never "rat" on each other in full-court, whole-family press, will each take you on the side and let you know that the other's numbers are being kept "too high" or "too low", that s/he doesn't test (enough), or that s/he keeps forgetting how many of which pills need to be taken, when. Sometimes one will say another's medication dosages have been increased "because s/he's not watching what s/he's eating". It's Diabetes Police by Proxy (DPP).

Except that it's less like the Diabetes Police and more like the Diabetes Sheriff. As educated, enabled, empowered, engaged people with diabetes (e-diabetics?), we know what ideal numbers should be, what generally acceptable numbers are, and what are some of the best practices for achieving glycemic control. While we may be concerned about our relatives' health, we are far enough removed from their everyday lives that attempting a radical diabetes intervention -- in the short period of a visit home -- would be ill-conceived at best. We also know that (as Nicole Johnson has said on some of dLife's earlier episodes) "Your dLife is your own." Diabetes -- especially Type 2 diabetes -- is considered a progressive class of conditions; increases in medication and changes in medication type over time are to be expected. Other medical conditions may require pharmaceuticals that interfere with getting -- and keeping -- those ideal numbers we all strive for. And there is always the "ringer" of a general-practice physician who would seem to be well behind the curve regarding diabetes education and management. Regardless,we don't have enough information to warn, indict, or sentence them. We do not need to serve our loved ones papers or play proxy. Diabetes will judge them on its own.

So,, where does the truth stop and the embellishment begin? This is family. It is all truth; it is all embellishment. And it is all love. So, here's to the half-dozen varieties of cookies we will be serving -- some made with real sugar, some with Splenda-- and to the spiced pecans and Hershey Kisses in the nut bowls placed conveniently within everyone's reach. Here's to the meat-filled biscuits, and to the JD-and-Cokes that will be passed around (though I will, as usual, be drinking black coffee or cold water). And here's to hoping that when we are sought out and brought up-to-date, we can help our loved ones find the tools to help them better evaluate what our other loved ones are (or are not) saying, and to be able to support every family member in his (or her) quest for better health.