Diabetes and SSHS

I don’t just suffer from diabetes.  I also suffer from something I call SSHS, which stands for song stuck in my head syndrome.  Attacks of SSHS rarely occur with a good song, and since I have three little sons, more often than not, I’m plagued by Elmo’s top 40.  An episode of SSHS can last for days.  Fortunately the condition is not as serious as diabetes.  It is, however, even more annoying than hiccups.

I got a bad case of SSHS while trying to think of a title for this blog about life in a household with husband and wife diabetics. The word, ‘double’ kept popping into my mind.  Double diabetics, double the diabetes, etc.  From there my mind went to this old Doublemint gum commercial. (Watch it at your own risk, don’t blame me if you get SSHS, and feel free to comment if you find it as annoying as I do).

But back to double: double the pleasure like the gum… definitely not in the case of diabetes. Though what is true is that being double diabetics (see here to learn the story behind A Sweet Life) means someone is always there who really understands what you’re going through.  And there is something kind of fun about guessing each other’s blood sugar before we start a meal, or before we go to bed.

As of now, for lack of a better idea, I’m calling this blog “The Natural Diabetic.”  Here’s why:  first of all, being a diabetic came very naturally to me, since I already lived with one.  Second, I’m on an incredibly strict diet and eating almost only natural food.  I will discuss the diet with you, the pleasure it gives me to eat so healthily, and also the times when I feel like I cannot survive one more second without a bag of peanut M&Ms.  I’ll tell you about my sons, my pets, my many, many phobias, and more, but now I must go put some good music on and try to cure this doubly bad case of SSHS.

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)