I don't think I've ever hidden my diabetes from anyone in my life. In fact, shortly after I got the call that I was pre-diabetic I was standing in my boss's office telling her.

I've never hidden it in public, either. When I was pregnant with No. 3, a friend of mine and I went to a restaurant for lunch. We were at a restaurant/bar type of place and sitting pretty much in the back. I think there was another table of people around us, but, frankly, they weren't paying attention to us. And why should they? We ordered, I checked my sugar and then prepared to shoot up. Now, this was several years ago, but I distinctly remember her saying, "Are you going to just do that here?"

With the pen needle cap in the corner of my mouth and the skin on my right love handle pinched, I said, "Yea-uh. It's not like anyone can see me." I would have done it right there even if someone was watching.

Last week we held our annual building-wide Thanksgiving lunch. Not really knowing what was going to be served (I mean, I had a good idea, but you never really know until you get there) I brought my insulin pen to the downstairs conference room along with my Diet Dr. Pepper. I set the pen next to my oversized paper plate like a utensil. Staring at my plate of potato cornflake casserole, corn casserole, mashed potatoes, gravy and other Turkey Day treats, I held the pen under the table click, click, clicking. One of my co-workers looked at me and joked that I looked like I was in a holiday coma already. No, I laughed, I'm counting carbs.

That's kind of how I do diabetes. I wear my medical ID bracelet proudly, I check my sugar whenever I need to and in front of whoever is around, and I rarely duck into the bathroom to take a shot. Don't get me wrong, there have been times that I have done those things, but in general, no, I don't. I don't know if it's just me or if I haven't gotten past the point when I'm tired of people asking me questions or fighting off unwanted comments.