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Diatribe recently ran an interview with the JDRF's new President and CEO Jeffrey Brewer.  In the interview, as do most new Presidents,  Mr. Brewer outlined his vision for the organization.  It includes "moving away from the over reliance on the cure as the central part of our message and funding" and a new focus on improvements in day to day living for people with type 1 and seeking means of prevention for those at risk for type 1. 

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When I wake up and go downstairs I see an abandoned bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch and what looks like an explosion of medical supplies. Susanne is flicking a syringe when I enter the kitchen.

"It's the worst color I've ever seen," she says.

She's referring to the color chart on a canister of urinalysis strips.

The deep plum color of the strip that had been dipped in Charlie's pee shows the highest level of ketones - an acid that builds in the blood and spills into the urine.  When Charlie's body doesn't find glucose to convert to energy and when there's not enough insulin, his body begins breaking down fat for energy, creating a poison-like substance which, if left untreated, would kill him.

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It may be more politically correct in the diabetes community to say "person with diabetes," but to be honest, I’ve never really had too much of an issue with the term "diabetic."

When referring to Charlie, I suppose I use "diabetic" more in writing than I do in speaking. For example, if speaking, I’d say ...

"Excuse me, gentlemen. If you would be so kind, might you stop holding Charlie down and pouring sugar down his throat? You see, Charlie has diabetes."

I most likely wouldn’t say, "You see, Charlie is a diabetic."

Especially in a situation such as that. I wouldn’t want to make him feel worse.

I don’t know why I use the term more in writing. Maybe because it’s easier to find words that rhyme with "diabetic" than it is with "diabetes."

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Phew! Thank goodness it’s over. It was just a really stressful day. It would have been tolerable if Charlie was just hanging out with me at my desk all day, but that’s not how they do it in my office. The kids are all whisked away for a day of activities and my only time with my kids (in theory) would be for lunch.

But there was breakfast to deal with, a morning snack, an afternoon snack, late-afternoon ice pops, about five false-alarm lows and one legitimate low of 51. I saw quite a bit of Charlie, did very little work and by the end of the day, I’m sure the volunteers were relieved to see me taking him off their hands.

By the fifth phone call from the volunteers, I was starting to wonder if Charlie was simply getting a sick pleasure out of seeing me run repeatedly up the stairs and through the office clutching his puffy rocket ship diabetes bag.

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A man is not dead until he is forgotten. -- African proverb

Saturday night, the vice-president of our Friends of Faire group delivered a well-worded "toast to the immortal memory", in which he named Robert Burns "the Bard of Scotland"  in the way that Shakespeare is "the Bard of England" (not to mention most of the rest of the English-speaking world!). As our festivities were dedicated to a member who had recently and unexpectedly died, her life was also celebrated in this toast, and her passing, mourned.

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It used to be that "back to school shopping" meant two or three new outfits, new shoes and sneakers, and a short handful of "school supplies" -- one or two notebooks, paper and dividers, writing implements, a pencil case, and maybe a ruler.

For good or ill, those days are long gone.

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Seeing the girl with diabetes at the Make-A-Wish picnic made we think. How does one measure who is worthy of a wish?  Kids are afflicted with all sorts of conditions, obviously some more serious than others.

Granting wishes - what an incredible idea and an amazing organization. I was talking to a father of girl who had tumors in her head.

“They’re non-cancerous,” he said.

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Last week, I spent some time at work familiarizing myself with the School Advisory Toolkit. It's a guide for newly diagnosed or new to school parents that walks them through how diabetes plays into education. It also includes sections for the teachers and administrators to make sure all sides understand the issue.

As I reviewed the SAT (School Advisory Toolkit), I recalled my own education with diabetes. Since I was diagnosed in March when I was 4 years old, I'd made it a short way into pre-kindergarten, which also meant that almost all of my school career would be entwined with diabetes.

In pre-K, I had the most understanding and comforting teacher. She took extensive time to learn what needed to be done for me. Although I have no real recollection of her, I know that she was a strong foundation for both my diabetes and education. She was a creative teacher who loved her kids.

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