The Dessert War (and Christmas Cats)

 We’ve been having a rough few days.  Little Adam has been sick.  And yesterday Mike was hit by a terrible low just as he was on his way out to take Adam to the doctor.  Fortunately, I was home to help.  Following that low, Mike had inexplicable high blood sugar for the rest of the day.  It was only at 2:22 a.m., when I was giving Adam ibuprofen and changing his diaper, that Mike realized there was an occlusion in his insulin pump, which was the cause of all the highs.  He got up to change his infusion set.  I lay with Adam in my arms, feeling a little sick myself, and wishing for my baby to feel better.  And I was also wishing we could just deal with one thing at a time.  It feels like every time there’s something wrong, diabetes shows its fangs and makes the situation worse. 

Speaking of fangs, take a look at my festive feline friends! 

I asked my eight-year-old son what he thought the cats in the photo were thinking about.  “The black one is thinking about dessert,” he said.  “And the gray one is thinking about war.”  The Dessert War.  Could there be a better code phrase for diabetes, especially during the holiday season. 

Happy Holidays!

Jessica Apple

Jessica Apple grew up in Houston. She studied Bible and Ancient Near Eastern Studies at the University of Michigan, and completed an MA in the same field at the Hebrew University. She began to write and publish short stories while a student, and has continued to write essays and fiction while raising her three sons (and many pets).

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Jessica Apple

Jessica Apple grew up in Houston. She studied Bible and Ancient Near Eastern Studies at the University of Michigan, and completed an MA in the same field at the Hebrew University. She began to write and publish short stories while a student, and continues to write essays and fiction while raising her three sons (and many pets). Jessica’s work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Financial Times Magazine, The Southern Review, The Bellevue Literary Review, Tablet Magazine, and elsewhere. She is the diabetes correspondent for The Faster Times. In 2009 she and her husband, both type 1 diabetics, founded A Sweet Life, where she serves as editor-in-chief. Jessica loves spending time with her sons, cooking with her husband, playing with her cats, reading, biking, drinking coffee, and whenever possible, taking a nap. Follow Jessica on Twitter (@jessapple)