Have you ever wondered why people with type 1 diabetes talk about the anniversary of their diabetes diagnosis as if it’s a birthday or a wedding anniversary?  A type 1 diabetes diagnosis is so life-altering, almost no one can forget the day of diagnosis  There’s even a slang word for it: diaversary.      I bring this up now...

Last week for the Diabetes 24-7 Friday series Diabetes Confessions (a kind of Proustian quiz with a slant towards the sugar-free set) I interviewed Jessica Apple and Michael Aviad, a married couple who created the online diabetes journal ASweetLife in 2009.   When Jessica and Michael met, neither had been diagnosed with diabetes. ...

   When my oldest son Tom was about a year old, I accidentally caused him to bump his forehead.  We were in the bathroom and I was using one arm to hold him on my hip, rushing, and as I left the room I misjudged the width of the doorway.  Tom’s forehead met the wall.  It was nothing serious.  He cried for a few minutes...

No matter how routine urine tests are – and for people with diabetes they are very routine – there always seems to be some element of humiliation in holding a warm cup of your own pee.  I used to call the twenty steps from my lab’s bathroom to the place where you hand in your sample “the walk of shame”. ...

  Decades before my wife Rachel and I ever met, our family’s story with type 1 diabetes began. Rachel’s cousin was diagnosed with type 1 as a very young boy.  Years later, in 1985, Rachel’s sister was diagnosed just before she left for college. Having lived so close to diabetes inspired Rachel to take action.  After college...

This afternoon I visited my local pharmacy to pick up some Apidra for my insulin pump. As I waited amidst the Christmas decorations listening to festive music, I couldn’t help but notice the shelves and shelves of diabetes related gadgets, gizmos, and glucose tablets.  I think we all feel nostalgic around Christmastime but I am feeling...

Ken Kotch was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes two days before Thanksgiving in 1988. He was in third grade, and was the only person in his school who had diabetes. Ken says, “When I was diagnosed most people’s reaction was, so now you can’t do _______. Fill in the blank with anything and everything.” Twenty-two...

In honor of ASweetLife’s second anniversary we’ve asked our bloggers to share their diabetes essentials with us, the things they can’t manage their diabetes without.  We think you’ll enjoy the answers we’re featuring, and please feel free to leave a comment and share your diabetes essential with us.  We’d love...

ASweetLife celebrates its second anniversary on October 1st.  As I thought about a way to mark the anniversary, I considered the different parts of ASweetLife and asked myself what makes it work.  What’s the most essential part of  this website?  In no time, I had my answer: The bloggers.  Week after week I’m impressed...

Miles was drinking the bathwater again. I saw him as I walked by the open door of the bathroom, on my way to get the boy’s pajamas from their bedroom. My feet dragged. The end of our long day would be over once I completed baths, jammies, books and bed; then I could collapse onto the couch and read. I was almost there. But Miles...