{"id":18984,"date":"2011-08-18T09:09:41","date_gmt":"2011-08-18T13:09:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=18984"},"modified":"2016-01-06T05:06:10","modified_gmt":"2016-01-06T10:06:10","slug":"the-smart-womans-guide-to-diabetes-a-review-of-amy-stockwell-mercers-new-book","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=18984","title":{"rendered":"The Smart Woman’s Guide to Diabetes: A Review of Amy Stockwell Mercer’s New Book"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Last week I was shopping for new running shoes and brought home a pair that markets itself as, \u201cmade for a woman\u2019s foot.\u201d How smart, I thought. After all, men and women are built differently and move differently, so it makes sense I\u2019ll be more comfortable and perform better in a shoe made for women. Amy Stockwell Mercer employs the same wisdom in her new book, \u201cThe Smart Woman\u2019s Guide to Diabetes.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0 Amy’s exhaustive guide covers the issues a woman with diabetes faces, including issues of self-image, body image, identity, and self-esteem through puberty, adolescence, menstruation, dating, dieting, pregnancy, motherhood, work, travel and growing old.<\/p>\n

Amy\u2019s voice acts as the book\u2019s rudder. She introduces each chapter with her own story -Amy got type 1 diabetes twenty-five years ago at the age of fourteen and is now a wife, mother of three boys, athlete and writer – and accompanying facts. A host of women with type 1 and type 2 diabetes share pieces of their stories, how they felt or dealt with their issues, from heart-wrenching difficulties with food to questions over child-bearing and child-rearing. Female medical professionals provide tips and recommendations. What shines through the book is the honesty with which the women share their successes and struggles.<\/p>\n

\"Amy<\/a>
Amy Stockwell Mercer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One woman shares in the chapter on motherhood: \u201c[When lows happen] my husband says, \u201cMommy is silly right now\u2026They [my kids] are old enough that they even ask me how my blood sugar is doing, and if I act even a little weird, they ask me to check my blood sugar. I know they are scared but they also love me and want me to be around.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another offers: \u201cI felt different because of my family [growing up in an alcoholic family] and my illness. So I kept diabetes a secret \u2013 which turned into a life-long pattern\u2026 I was ashamed and \u2026 afraid boys wouldn\u2019t want to date me or marry me because I was either going to die or be sick with all kinds of things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amy shares in \u201cWorking Girl: Diabetes at Work and School\u201d a story that reminded me of my own experience. She was working at Saks where she could retreat to her office if she needed to test her blood sugar or have a snack. But when she left Saks to work at Banana Republic she was expected to be on the floor at all times. While relentlessly redesigning the store layout with no break she began to stumble and fall, yet didn\u2019t ask for help. She managed to get to the bathroom where she downed some sugar, feeling ashamed and stupid.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wonder how many times I\u2019ve made situations worse because of my pride or my shame about diabetes,\u201d Amy says. \u201cI realize now that it would have not been a big deal that day to be upfront about needing help but I was unable to ask for help or seem needy; because to me, being needy was a horrible sign of weakness.\u201d<\/p>\n

I had a similar incident the year I was getting married. I was walking with my fianc\u00e9 to the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. I was low, yet I was embarrassed to say so or ask him for help. I kept watching for a place I could buy some juice or candy, but street after street there was nothing. Finally, just outside the museum I saw a pretzel vendor. I bought a pretzel and my fianc\u00e9 never knew how badly I needed that pretzel until I told him a few years after we married. That same sense of shame and weakness prevented me from asking for help when I needed it.<\/p>\n

It was motherhood that made Amy want to truly be healthy for the first time in her life, so that she could take care of her children. For me it was not to be a burden to my husband that powered my drive to live as healthily as possible. So while we may each experience diabetes differently, as women we share remarkably similar feelings. And that is the strength of this book.<\/p>\n

I would have liked more meat on the last chapter \u2013 \u201cAging Gracefully.\u201d Maybe that is because I am 58! After having diabetes for almost four decades I find myself wondering, what will it be like when I\u2019m 80?<\/em> But for now I\u2019ll follow the advice Judith Jones Ambrosini dispenses. Judith is 68 and has lived with diabetes fifty years. \u201cSmile, laugh, have lots of friends and continue to learn about diabetes. Be involved with the things in life that make you happy. Don\u2019t worry.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the things I enjoyed most about this book was reading about the stages I\u2019ve passed through, reliving my own experiences in black and white.\u00a0 I also learned what others experience.\u00a0 I gained greater insight for the stages I haven’t gone through, like motherhood. I am amazed at what it takes to take care of yourself while taking care of young children.<\/p>\n

There is much to learn from in “The Smart Woman’s Guide to Diabetes,” but there’s one thing Amy says that I think everyone with diabetes should take away from the book, no matter what their experience:<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter 25 years of living with this disease, I still make mistakes\u2026So I\u2019m gathering as much information as I can offer to my readers, but I\u2019m also laying my own cards on the table and saying, I screw up all the time, don\u2019t expect perfection.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amen to that no matter what stage you\u2019re in.<\/p>\n

This book makes a great addition for those who already have the nuts and bolts of diabetes down. It\u2019s also a good read for men to better understand their partner\u2019s issues.<\/em><\/p>\n

To read an excerpt from “The Smart Girl’s Guide to Diabetes,” click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To buy the book click here.<\/a><\/p>\n

To read Amy Stockwell Mercer’s blog, click here.<\/p>\n

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

After 25 years of living with this disease, I still make mistakes\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":18600,"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":[1432,1566],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Smart Woman's Guide to Diabetes: A Book Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Amy's exhaustive guide covers the issues a woman with diabetes faces, including issues of self-image, body image, identity, self-esteem....\" \/>\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=18984\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Riva Greenberg\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=18984\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=18984\",\"name\":\"The Smart Woman's Guide to Diabetes: A Book Review\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=18984#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=18984#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/The-Smart-Womans-Guide-to-Diabetes-Cover-Home.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-08-18T13:09:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-01-06T10:06:10+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/6d40cd415a87ce047f388a30aa8d50e4\"},\"description\":\"Amy's exhaustive guide covers the issues a woman with diabetes faces, including issues of self-image, body image, identity, self-esteem....\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=18984#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=18984\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=18984#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/The-Smart-Womans-Guide-to-Diabetes-Cover-Home.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/The-Smart-Womans-Guide-to-Diabetes-Cover-Home.jpg\",\"width\":600,\"height\":340},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=18984#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Smart Woman’s Guide to Diabetes: A Review of Amy Stockwell Mercer’s New Book\"}]},{\"@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\/6d40cd415a87ce047f388a30aa8d50e4\",\"name\":\"Riva Greenberg\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/11ff306bd3be1d6947826b8bf3f71898?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/11ff306bd3be1d6947826b8bf3f71898?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Riva Greenberg\"},\"description\":\"Riva Greenberg is finally doing what she set out to do in high school \u2013 writing her observations of life and human behavior \u2013 little did she know then that diabetes would be her muse. 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