Jane Kokernak
Jane Kokernak

Jane Kokernak teaches in Northeastern University’s College of Computer and Information Science as communications specialist, working with graduate students and faculty on writing and speaking to different audiences. She lives with her family and dog near Boston. In 1992, as an adult, she was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes; in 2003, she switched from multiple daily injections to an insulin pump and has stayed with it. A contributing writer to ASweetLife since 2010, she is especially interested in how having a chronic illness affects self identity and perceptions of health.

pasture art 1

It’s Hard to Break the Ties that Bind: Marlin Barton’s Pasture Art

Sentimentality is missing in Marlin Barton’s Pasture Art (Hub City Press, 2015), a collection of eight stories set in the Alabama Black Belt, yet pathos is in great supply. Barton assembles unlikely characters who play out the hidden logic in their connections: why an old man protects the young girl who is stealing from him, or why an itinerant photographer apprentices a deaf woman to guide him around the town he is documenting.
0 Shares
Coconut Flour Cookbook

New Ingredient, Familiar Foods: The Healthy Coconut Flour Cookbook (Review)

Other recipes I am eager to try are Scallion Pancakes with Soy Ginger Sauce, Cake Brownies, Garlic-Cauliflower Breadsticks, and Matzo Ball Soup. The pictures and Kerwien’s commentary entice. For these and all the recipes, she suggests additions (frosting for the brownies!), side dishes, and substitutions.
0 Shares
Caffeinated

Caffeinated: How Our Daily Habit Helps, Hurts, and Hooks Us (Book Review)

Carpenter traces the world history of caffeine, which is foundation for his argument that we have been hooked for a long, long time. The first documented habitual use has been traced to the Soconusco region of Mexico, a sweltering, rainy plain region along the Pacific coast. Archaeological evidence 3,500 years old indicates that the Izapans, Mayans, and Aztecs relied on chocolate in ceremonies (including human sacrifice), as currency, and in warfare.
0 Shares
photo (12)

Type 2 Diabetes Diagnosis Leads A Woman to Lose 100 Pounds and Make Lasting Changes – Part 2

"To go on a liquid weight loss plan and closely monitor the amount of food that you eat really requires a lot of focus on yourself, a very conscious effort… It can feel like a very selfish act if you're not used to doing that.” In the health changes she has made, Maura has had to carefully think about “who is supportive of that type of change.”
0 Shares
Type 2 diabetes diagnosis and weight loss - Before and After

Type 2 Diabetes Diagnosis Leads A Woman to Lose 100 Pounds and Make Lasting Changes

She described her diagnosis with Type 2 diabetes, decision to join a clinic-based weight loss program, and gradual incorporation of new activities and attitudes into her life. I was struck by the thoughtfulness of her approach, honesty about her relationship to her body and health, and persistence at re-shaping her habits and thinking.
0 Shares

Book Review: Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls by David Sedaris

When his most recent collection, Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls, was published last spring, the title made me wonder if Sedaris, who is over 50, was newly diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes or if it was his boyfriend Hugh or father or siblings – all people who make frequent appearances in his work – with a diagnosis.
0 Shares
In the Waiting Room, A Dance

In the Waiting Room, A Dance

Often what motivates me to care for my diabetes is the thought of living a long and able life so that I might enjoy my children’s adulthoods, not tethered to dialysis. I hold on to a belief that I have a great deal of control over my outcome. I have also believed – and I suddenly realize that this is folly – that, by having one chronic illness, I am somehow exempt from more threats to my well-being and longevity. My anemia is a sign, however, that my body is much more complex than a basic system, with inputs and outputs, I can understand and control.
0 Shares

A Review of VerioIQ, New Blood Glucose Meter from OneTouch

Testing my blood sugar is a task I have done faithfully, frequently, and yet without much enthusiasm every day for more than 20 years. It has been like brushing my teeth – I know it’s good for me, so I do it. I’m like a robot. And that’s the problem: I check my blood sugar (at least six times a day), I make a decision in the moment (e.g. take insulin, or treat a low), and then I put the number out of my mind (it’s stored in the meter, right?).
0 Shares