The Diabetes Fairy

We’ve been talking a lot about the tooth fairy lately because Guy lost his first tooth last week, and his second is going to fall out any minute.   [I put money under Guy’s pillow, which he was VERY happy to receive.  He thanked the tooth fairy for it and then said, “even though I know it’s you, Mommy].   Anyway, all of this fairy talk got me thinking…  the world needs a diabetes fairy, some kind creature who knows whenever a diabetic has gone out to dinner and forgotten her insulin or her glucometer.   Or what if there were someone who could magically make diabetic test strips appear when the test strip bottle is empty?  Or someone who could make a glass of juice appear just at the moment when you start to feel beads of sweat on your hairline?

Since tomorrow is my birthday, and my glucometer is still missing, I’ve decided to make a wish to the diabetes fairy to see if she will bring me my very own CGM (continuous glucose monitor).   I don’t really expect to wake up to a gift-wrapped CGM under my pillow, but – hey- a diabetic is entitled to some fantasies!

My apartment is full of birthday flowers – irises from Mike, an orchid from my mother-in-law, a giant bouquet from my good friends -thanks so much, Jen and Anat!  And my sons got me cyclamen.  This year I share my birthday with the Jewish holiday Tu B’shevat aka the “new year of the trees.”  Happy birthday, Trees!

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)