{"id":26619,"date":"2012-04-22T09:00:33","date_gmt":"2012-04-22T13:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=26619"},"modified":"2015-12-27T15:47:23","modified_gmt":"2015-12-27T20:47:23","slug":"hotel-diabetes-warning-contains-bloody-images","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=26619","title":{"rendered":"Hotel Diabetes (warning: contains bloody images)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I\u2019m not exactly afraid of blood, but I don\u2019t like the sight of it.\u00a0\u00a0 It makes me a little panicky, probably because generally speaking, blood is a sign of injury, illness, the potential of diseases being spread, dying, death… I think I can say that the blood aspect of diabetes might be the hardest aspect for me.\u00a0 I can deal with food restrictions much better than I can with pricks and pokes. \u00a0And I had a particularly bad prick a few weeks ago. \u00a0I was testing on my forearm with a new lancet, and the intensity of the lancet was set to 2, same as always. \u00a0Nothing was different, but when I pricked, a giant drop of blood came out. \u00a0Being a devoted diabetes blogger, my first thought was not to stop the bleeding, but to photograph it. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Given the shock I felt when I saw too much blood on my arm, I realize how much I haven’t come to terms with all the pricking. \u00a0It’s something complicated, I think. \u00a0Something that might require years of therapy to fully get out! \u00a0For now I’ll just say that diabetes care, for me, is loaded symbolism. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

I was thinking about this a few days ago when Emily Patton wrote a terrific post about being a \u201cwiper,\u201d someone who wipes the blood off her finger after a blood sugar check<\/a>.\u00a0 Mike is not a wiper. \u00a0He refers to himself as a \u201csucker,\u201d someone who puts his finger in his mouth after a check.\u00a0 But sometimes, despite our efforts to be neat about these things, to be wipers and suckers, an extra drop of blood sneaks out unnoticed.\u00a0 These blood smears<\/em>, as I call them, then show up on doorknobs, pillows, keyboards, t-shirts, and even on the kitchen drawers. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>There was a time, after Mike had a severe hypoglycemic episode, that I found blood smears all over the place. \u00a0I don\u2019t know why, but as I walked around cleaning them up, the Eagles song Hotel California popped into my head, and I began to sing Hotel Diabetes\u2026 Livin it up at the Hotel Diabetes…<\/em> and then I sang the line \u201cmirrors on the ceiling\u201d as \u201cblood smears on the ceiling,\u201d kind of laughing to myself because I felt like the ceiling was the only clean surface in the apartment. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

I have since rewritten that entire verse of the song. \u00a0(Original lyrics below followed by Hotel Diabetes<\/em>).\u00a0 It\u2019s a work in progress.\u00a0 Feel free to make suggestions. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mirrors on the ceiling, \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

The pink champagne on ice\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

And she said “We are all just prisoners here, of our own device”\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

And in the master’s chambers,<\/em><\/p>\n

They gathered for the feast\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

They stab it with their steely knives,\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

But they just can’t kill the beast<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Blood smears on the ceiling,<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The insulin on ice<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

And she said, \u201cWe are all just diabetics here of our own device\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

And in the master\u2019s chambers,<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

They bolused for the feast<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

They stab it with their pumps and pens<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

But they just can\u2019t kill the beast<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Come to think of it, the closing line of the song is kind of fitting, too:\u00a0you can check-out anytime you like, but\u00a0you can never leave<\/em>…<\/p>\n

[youtube]http:\/\/youtu.be\/9Ig-rgeXpF8[\/youtube]\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"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":[],"yoast_head":"\nHotel Diabetes (warning: contains bloody images)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Being a devoted diabetes blogger, my first thought was not to stop the bleeding, but to photograph it.\" \/>\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=26619\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jessica Apple\" \/>\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=26619\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=26619\",\"name\":\"Hotel Diabetes (warning: contains bloody images)\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=26619#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=26619#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ASL-Social-Big-Square-3.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-04-22T13:00:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-12-27T20:47:23+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/1f33fe649de04a31a493d746b6e72607\"},\"description\":\"Being a devoted diabetes blogger, my first thought was not to stop the bleeding, but to photograph it.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=26619#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=26619\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=26619#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=26619#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Hotel Diabetes (warning: contains bloody images)\"}]},{\"@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\/1f33fe649de04a31a493d746b6e72607\",\"name\":\"Jessica Apple\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c10409e04c60ee9e1a01fbe9c4a704b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c10409e04c60ee9e1a01fbe9c4a704b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jessica Apple\"},\"description\":\"Jessica Apple grew up in Houston. 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