{"id":35800,"date":"2014-04-23T09:33:31","date_gmt":"2014-04-23T13:33:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=35800"},"modified":"2015-12-27T15:47:20","modified_gmt":"2015-12-27T20:47:20","slug":"happy-birthday-diabetes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=35800","title":{"rendered":"Happy Birthday, Diabetes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>For the anniversary of my diabetes my girlfriend said she\u2019d buy me a cake\u2014and eat it in front of me.<\/p>\n

That would\u2019ve been a good start to a strange celebration. Although, truthfully, it\u2019s not like I have a big party with balloons and a clown. I don\u2019t celebrate it in the traditional sense. Every year I simply and quietly note or mark the date of my diabetes diagnosis, April 19. There are many other anniversaries and important dates, even in my own life, that I forget or only end up remembering after they\u2019ve passed. But, April 19 never passes without acknowledgement. It\u2019s a benchmark. It informs me about how I am doing with my health, and my life overall.<\/p>\n

Five years and one day after my diagnosis at age 11, I ran the Boston Marathon. I recall setting off from the starting line at Hopkinton and thinking about my anniversary. Cresting Heartbreak Hill I laughed to myself about how five years earlier I was in an intensive care unit near death with a blood sugar of 1010, weighing all of 60 pounds, and with my kidneys sputtering to hold onto life. And I will never forget crossing the finish line on Boylston Street and thinking about my diabetes, \u201cBite me. You ain\u2019t all that.\u201d (Hey, what do you want? I was a kid.)<\/p>\n

For my ten-year anniversary I was in college. I was three weeks shy of my 21st<\/sup> birthday. That, however, was not a true barrier to marking my second sort of birthday. I went out with some friends (for reasons not associated with my special day) and got more than a little tipsy, and more than a little sentimental with myself. I sat among people I loved and realized that I felt good. I counted my fingers and toes. I recalled great triumphs over adversity, and chastened myself for some losses, such as having gone to the hospital for a hypoglycemic coma. I raised my glass on my own alone, toasting my own good fortune, and smiling at my own perseverance.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0My 40th<\/sup> actual birthday was sort of cool because it came on the heels of my 29th<\/sup> birthday for my diabetes, so at least the number helped me feel young.<\/p>\n

On the 30th<\/sup> anniversary of my diabetes I no longer had it, having experienced a cure through an experimental islet cell transplant<\/a>. So on that actual day, I had actual cake!<\/p>\n

By the occasion of the 32nd<\/sup> anniversary of my diabetes, the transplant had failed. I had diabetes again. So on that day, I did not have cake, actual or otherwise.<\/p>\n

And this year, on the 37th<\/sup> birthday of my diabetes, I slept late. I did my morning shot. I went for a run. I drank Diet Coke. I counted my fingers and toes. I felt good. My girlfriend got me a cake. It sure looked good.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":35801,"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":"\nHappy Birthday, Diabetes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"For the anniversary of my diabetes my girlfriend said she\u2019d buy me a cake\u2014and eat it in front of me. That would\u2019ve been a good start to a strange celebration...\" \/>\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=35800\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Alex O\u2019Meara\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=35800\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=35800\",\"name\":\"Happy Birthday, Diabetes\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=35800#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=35800#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/cake.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-04-23T13:33:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-12-27T20:47:20+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/39a63c7215ee072a94bbc4a681de116d\"},\"description\":\"For the anniversary of my diabetes my girlfriend said she\u2019d buy me a cake\u2014and eat it in front of me. That would\u2019ve been a good start to a strange celebration...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=35800#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=35800\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=35800#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/cake.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/cake.jpg\",\"width\":225,\"height\":225,\"caption\":\"cake\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=35800#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Happy Birthday, Diabetes\"}]},{\"@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\/39a63c7215ee072a94bbc4a681de116d\",\"name\":\"Alex O\u2019Meara\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d46cda412d65fd79447ff39275a4856e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d46cda412d65fd79447ff39275a4856e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Alex O\u2019Meara\"},\"description\":\"Alex was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes 36 years ago. Since then he has run six marathons \u2013 the first when we was 15 \u2013 and the latest a few years ago. In 2006 Alex underwent islet cell transplant and was, for some time, insulin independent. He now lives in Southeastern Arizona where he is working on a novel, teaching college English, pursuing a Master\u2019s degree, and training to run his first 50 mile race.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?author=4\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Happy Birthday, Diabetes","description":"For the anniversary of my diabetes my girlfriend said she\u2019d buy me a cake\u2014and eat it in front of me. That would\u2019ve been a good start to a strange celebration...","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=35800","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Alex O\u2019Meara","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=35800","url":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=35800","name":"Happy Birthday, Diabetes","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=35800#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=35800#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/cake.jpg","datePublished":"2014-04-23T13:33:31+00:00","dateModified":"2015-12-27T20:47:20+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/39a63c7215ee072a94bbc4a681de116d"},"description":"For the anniversary of my diabetes my girlfriend said she\u2019d buy me a cake\u2014and eat it in front of me. That would\u2019ve been a good start to a strange celebration...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=35800#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=35800"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=35800#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/cake.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/cake.jpg","width":225,"height":225,"caption":"cake"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=35800#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Happy Birthday, Diabetes"}]},{"@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\/39a63c7215ee072a94bbc4a681de116d","name":"Alex O\u2019Meara","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d46cda412d65fd79447ff39275a4856e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d46cda412d65fd79447ff39275a4856e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Alex O\u2019Meara"},"description":"Alex was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes 36 years ago. Since then he has run six marathons \u2013 the first when we was 15 \u2013 and the latest a few years ago. In 2006 Alex underwent islet cell transplant and was, for some time, insulin independent. He now lives in Southeastern Arizona where he is working on a novel, teaching college English, pursuing a Master\u2019s degree, and training to run his first 50 mile race.","url":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?author=4"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35800"}],"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\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=35800"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35800\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/35801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=35800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=35800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=35800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}