{"id":17864,"date":"2011-07-11T03:00:14","date_gmt":"2011-07-11T07:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=17864"},"modified":"2015-12-27T15:47:24","modified_gmt":"2015-12-27T20:47:24","slug":"once-again-tonight-answering-every-diabetics-favorite-question","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=17864","title":{"rendered":"Once Again Tonight: Answering Every Diabetic’s Favorite Question"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Just one of the amazing meals we have at Sunday Suppers after the Sunday evening service at my church<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

It happened again tonight. \u00a0I’ve only had diabetes for about 16 months now and I’ve probably been asked upwards of 50 times. \u00a0And now, tonight, you can make that 51. \u00a0I was at dinner, after church, and I pulled out my super posh insulin\/meter kit<\/a>, tested, and started to calculate what I was about to eat. \u00a0An acquaintance said to me, “You have diabetes?” \u00a0I recited my brief explanation for how it’s actually what brought me to Seattle<\/a>, blah blah blah. \u00a0And then, of course, he asked:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“So, is it hard having diabetes?”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There was a pause. \u00a0I suppose it’s getting to where I feel like I’m pulling up a script and reading off the page. \u00a0You know, it’s the scene where the diabetic turns to the audience and gives her monologue on what it’s like to live with diabetes. \u00a0This was especially true tonight because now my other friends at the table had turned to listen to my response. \u00a0The question brings to mind so many things: \u00a0the old Peggy McIntosh piece<\/a> where she describes (#21) how unfair it is to ask any one person to speak on behalf of some minority group made up of individuals who see the world in different ways; all people with diabetes, but especially my brother, who lived with Type I for 16 years before I was even diagnosed and whom I never thought to ask how hard it was; and the amazingly accurate summary provided by fellow blogger, Sam Gellman<\/a>, who wrote the following:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n[pullquote]Perhaps you\u2019ve had my typical conversation: \u00a0\u201cYes, I give myself shots, no it doesn\u2019t really hurt, yes it\u2019s ok if I eat cake, yes I can drink that beer, well I wouldn\u2019t say having the disease is\u00a0no big deal<\/em>, but no you shouldn\u2019t feel sorry for me\u2026\u201d \u00a0Next topic.[\/pullquote]\n

 <\/p>\n

Maybe I could just start reciting Sam’s monologue–it’s short and sweet and conveys the message I need to convey.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Instead, I started into my own monologue. \u00a0I mean, this guy meant well and was simply trying to learn about my daily life, I’m sure. \u00a0For these past 16 months, I have almost always lived my diabetes “out loud” and I really don’t mind answering questions or even diving into detailed explanations of beta cells–if that’s what’s requested. \u00a0I actually like talking about diabetes and my clinical trial and how you never know where life will take you and blah blah blah. \u00a0Sometimes, though, enough’s enough. \u00a0I can’t even imagine how many times you Type I vets out there have had to answer this question, but I’m already tired. \u00a0 \u00a0There have got to be some good, brief, polite<\/em> answers you use that I can memorize for later.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Or print out on a small card that I will hand to people when they ask.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Suggestions?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":53098,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1501],"tags":[1084,1085],"yoast_head":"\nOnce Again Tonight: Answering Every Diabetic's Favorite Question | ASweetLife<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=17864\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Emily Patton\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=17864\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=17864\",\"name\":\"Once Again Tonight: Answering Every Diabetic's Favorite Question | ASweetLife\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=17864#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=17864#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ASL-Social-Big-Square-3.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-07-11T07:00:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-12-27T20:47:24+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/d93ca5fa324e746461ce240205011f59\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=17864#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=17864\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=17864#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ASL-Social-Big-Square-3.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ASL-Social-Big-Square-3.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":1280},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=17864#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Once Again Tonight: Answering Every Diabetic’s Favorite Question\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/\",\"name\":\"ASweetLife\",\"description\":\"The Diabetes Magazine\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/d93ca5fa324e746461ce240205011f59\",\"name\":\"Emily Patton\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4af7229c97f9d84141e10d61282a8ff0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4af7229c97f9d84141e10d61282a8ff0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Emily Patton\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?author=10\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Once Again Tonight: Answering Every Diabetic's Favorite Question | ASweetLife","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=17864","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Emily Patton","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=17864","url":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=17864","name":"Once Again Tonight: Answering Every Diabetic's Favorite Question | ASweetLife","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=17864#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=17864#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ASL-Social-Big-Square-3.jpg","datePublished":"2011-07-11T07:00:14+00:00","dateModified":"2015-12-27T20:47:24+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/d93ca5fa324e746461ce240205011f59"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=17864#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=17864"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=17864#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ASL-Social-Big-Square-3.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ASL-Social-Big-Square-3.jpg","width":1280,"height":1280},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=17864#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Once Again Tonight: Answering Every Diabetic’s Favorite Question"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/","name":"ASweetLife","description":"The Diabetes Magazine","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/d93ca5fa324e746461ce240205011f59","name":"Emily Patton","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4af7229c97f9d84141e10d61282a8ff0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4af7229c97f9d84141e10d61282a8ff0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Emily Patton"},"url":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?author=10"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17864"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17864"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17864\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/53098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}