Oh look, another joke about diabetes and candy

This is a somewhat serious post about diabetes. Non-d peeps, you're excused if you want to leave and maybe go watch some Family Feud. I hear Steve Harvey's 'got a good one for ya today'.
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Sigh.

Again with the stereo-type. You would think that in this day and age of vast information at our disposal that this would be a non-issue. But once again I come across a post on some social media site where someone makes a joke about diabetes and candy.

Then I weigh my options. Do I let it go? Do I (gently) respond? I usually take every opportunity to educate the un-informed masses about this myth but sometimes I feel like the Diabetes Police.

Sometimes someone comments about "Not having a sense of humor." Hmmm, let's see, holding my son's hand through a scary low blood sugar or watching him prick his finger for the 4th time in 2 hours as he battles high blood sugar is not my idea of funny. A joke that starts with, "A naked blond walks into a bar with a poodle under one arm and a two-foot salami under the other..."is funny.

You wouldn't make jokes about cancer. Hey I'm about to go lay out in the sun, guess I'm getting cancer, ha ha :). No, because that would be cruel and insensitive. Yet that statement has more truth to it based on medical and scientific evidence. Sun and exposure to ultra-violet rays can cause cancer.

But eating candy or sugary foods DOES NOT cause diabetes. That's a fact. So I'm not sure why diabetes continues to be the punchline to all the sugar-based jokes.


Diabetes is not a joke. Making fun of a disease, any disease, that people suffer from is not funny.

I actually do have a sense of humor. Anyone who knows me or reads this blog knows this. I love jokes, pranks, slapstick comedy, and 80's movies with terrific one-liners.

In the end, I did reply to the original comment. I simply stated that eating candy doesn't cause diabetes. I even kept it light by referring to myself as a killjoy to the ha-ha. So far there's been no replies to mine.

You want to send what to my 11 year old kid?: Policing your child's cell phone messages

Last August we bought my son his first cell phone for his birthday. We did this more for practical reasons pertaining to his diabetes. I wanted to be able to communicate with him regarding his blood sugar levels when he was at his friend's house, school, or just out with other family members. This special gift was also conditional on his making and keeping good grades. So far, so good. No complaints and no negatives.

Fast forward to today. I'm in his room tidying some things up while he checks his phone and to his delight he has several text messages. Then he says, "I don't know these people." Now I'm three shades of curious and I ask to see them. The contact name of these texters are a series of letters that resemble a cat walking on the keyboard: dzldjmgskgjgjagnk. I open them to find someone offering to send naughty pics to my 11 year old kid.  

What in the holy hell??

Now, I realize that these  buttheads are unaware that they've messaged a minor. But you know what, I really don't care. I would be just as pissed off if that message was sent to me. And I'm in my 40s! I hate unwanted solicitations. I hate pornographic unwanted ones even more.

Most people would probably have just deleted those messages. But I'm not most people. So I replied with a text of my own that said: This number belongs to an 11 year old. Do not text this number again or I will contact the police.

Then I told my son that if he received another text from either of these numbers or any other questionable texts/voicemails that he should let me know immediately. So far it's been quiet.

The true meaning of Christmas

If you're in search of Christmas magic you should go see what's happening over here . An entire community of people helping those less fortunate provide a nice Christmas for their children. All in the name of a taxidermied boar, named after the 20th President of the U.S. Okay, so you need to be a follower of her blog to understand that last sentence.

It all started on Monday, December 15, with a simple post by The Bloggess: If you need help, or if you want to help. And from there it snowballed.

Some of the comments are heart-breaking. But the offered help and replies are truly humbling and show what Christmas is really about.

Those who have nothing to give are offering words of support and encouragement. Emails and holiday e-cards are being exchanged to those suffering from loneliness and despair. It's awe-inspiring and at the very least has restored many people's faith in humanity.

In addition, donations have been given to specifically named charities that help homeless children and help end world hunger and poverty.

The people (tribe as we are affectionately called) involved at this site have given more warm-fuzzies than the cuddliest of teddy bears. Just reading and watching from afar is like being wrapped in a fleece blanket while sipping hot chocolate. I half expect to hear a chorus of Who's singing Welcome Christmas.

So if you're cynical by nature or feeling Grinchy or Scrooge-like this season, know that there is good in the world. Sometimes you just have to look a little harder to find it. Sometimes it happens without much fanfare and across many miles and behind computer screens. But it's there.

This entire event has made believers out of us all that Santa Claus really does exist. And for the many, many children who will wake up Christmas morning to find presents under their tree when they (and especially their parents) didn't think there would be anything, the magic of Santa can continue.

May your cup runneth over

I pinned this quote a while ago on Pinterest and was reminded of it recently when someone re-pinned it. With all the unrest, hostility, and suffering going on and with the frenzy of preparing for the holiday, I thought it would be nice to take a moment to reflect on this:

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A reminder in light of recent events

Because we could all benefit from remembering this.

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Thank you, Veterans.

This Veteran's Day I want to say a big Thank You to all veterans for their service to our country.

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Hey, what's your hurry?

I was looking at some pictures of Autumn and kind of missing the changing leaves-cooler weather-crispness of it all. Then I came across this and was like Whoa! Everyone and everything is always in such a hurry. Even me, when I'm not putting things off till the last minute, or, maybe because I do, I can be in a hurry. My grandmother had a saying: Everything always gets done. She was right.

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We need more kindness in the world

Because the world is full of tension and unrest. Because life is short. Because it really does make a difference.

I think Abraham Lincoln said it best when he addressed an auditorium full of students.

"Be excellent to each other."

- "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure"

What I'll never forget about 9/11

I'll never forget, thirteen years ago...


looking across the Hudson and watching the City on fire.

worrying about family, friends and neighbors at work in NYC that day and hoping, praying that they made it home safely.

the smoke. It was unbelievable.

watching the towers crumble. It was shocking and surreal. One minute they were there and then..nothing.

the stories on the news of people searching for loved ones. I cried with them.

the eerie silence in the skies as all flights were grounded for a week.

joining my neighbors and others everywhere as we sat outside and lit candles for peace and remembrance in the nights that followed.

worrying about the immediate future. 

feeling so sad, angry, and scared. 

donating food, juice, and what little else I could to the mobile drives that went into the city and re-supplied those working to search, rescue, and give aid.

feeling pride as our country united in strength and love.

A light in the darkness

Lighting a candle for all the lost souls who are struggling to find their way out of the darkness. 

 

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Phenomenally Fearless

Maya Angelou died Wednesday. She's known for being a poet, author, actress, and civil rights activist. She was an amazing woman. She was grace and strength and all the things that make someone fearless.

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An excerpt from her poem, Phenomenal Woman:

'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Diabetes and the Olympics

I've been watching the Winter Olympics. But before they officially began, Chris and I watched the opening ceremonies. He thought it was cool to see all the athletes walk in representing their country. And he enjoyed the dancing, the theatrics, and the lighting of the flame.

But, the coolest thing was finding out that one of the athletes representing the USA, Kris Freeman, is a type 1 diabetic. He also wears the very same insulin pump that my Christopher wears, the Omnipod.

Chris knows that diabetes doesn't stop him from doing anything. He can play dodgeball, ride his scooter, and crack jokes at the dinner table with his old mom, same as any other kid. He just needs to check his blood sugar before meals and dose himself with insulin after.

He's no different from other kids. Diabetes does not limit what he can do or what he can achieve. He's been told this since his diagnosis and many times since then. But seeing this Olympic athlete compete in cross country skiing is a nice reminder. It reinforces what he knows to be true, even if in times of great frustration due to serious highs or scary lows, he may not always believe it.

So this year, we will be watching this fellow type 1, and cheering him on. Because every young type 1 needs something, or in this case, someone with the same auto-immune disease, to believe in.

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You are beautiful

A few months ago I was at the library because of course I was.  We won't discuss how the security guard knows me by sight or that the kind woman who stacks the dvd's on the shelves lets me look through the piles of movies on her cart before anyone else. Suffice it to say I'm there quite often. But that's not what this post is about.

As I was looking through a book I was going to borrow, a piece of paper that I first mistook for a note or receipt slipped out and fell on the floor. It was a small, pink square kind of like a post-it with scribble on it. This is that note:

 

I apologize for the blurriness of it. If you can't read it, it says: Stop! You are BEAUTIFUL. Okay, keep reading.

I paused for a moment and smiled. I thought about keeping this little note and maybe putting it some place where I can look at it when I need to smile. But then I took another book and placed the note inside so that someone else might find it and be reminded that they are beautiful, too. 

Sometimes compliments come at an unexpected moment, perhaps when you need them most. And sometimes you find a sweet note penned by a complete stranger in a library.

Yet another reason why diabetes sucks

You've never really experienced true helplessness until you have looked into the eyes of a frightened Type 1 diabetic child with an unexplained and scarily high blood glucose reading.

But you have to be the Mom, the strong one. You have to hold his hand and reassure him that "No, you're not going to die" and "Everything will be fine" and that "You didn't do anything wrong; it's not your fault" when what you really want to do is cry and scream and curse at The Powers That Be, The Fates, God, and Whoever Else is in Charge. Because it's not fair. It's not fair that someone so young and so innocent must bear such a burden.

I may appear strong for my son, but he is far braver than I ever could be.

Welcome 2014!

Another new year is upon us. What's that Oprah saying that everyone's quoting? Another year to get it right? Well, I'm gonna try.

I read in a few places that some people have a word for the year, like Happy or Motivate and then they try to live the year out according to that word. I tried to find a word but it's hard. Just one word that sums up how I want to honor my life during the year? Can't be done. As a reader and writer I love many words. And then there's the matter of me liking that one word enough. I mean, what if by March I get bored. Or what if life has taken a few detours and it doesn't align with that word I chose? Do I get to change it? Well I started out the year feeling all Inspirational but here it is, Spring, and I'm still a sarcastic-glass-half-empty Schmuck. I'm changing my word to Meh. See what I mean?

I thought about what I wanted to achieve during this year. I would like to walk with more Grace. Be more Mindful. Inspire and Create. Live fully. Love completely. Embrace good health. Be at Peace with myself.

So my search for one word for the year has yielded eight. That's a tall order especially for someone like me with a short attention span who easily gets frustrated. I can only hope for the best.

During the holiday season a friend spoke of an incident in which she encountered an angry woman, who she reasoned had lost all hope. (This is the Reader's Digest version because the actual story is a bit more involved.) My friend's words of wisdom hit me like a mental brick. And that's when I knew my word for 2014 would be Hope.

Renewed hope. Hope for the future. Hope to achieve the goals of those eight words. Without hope, all else is lost. So here's to a happy, healthy New Year. And to Hope. 

When Harry met Sally, NJ style

NJ-Harry met NJ-Sally in college. (Which was located in, you guessed it, NJ)  She had big hair. He was all "Hey, dude, how you doin?" They listened to the same music and started to hang out together. NJ-Harry liked NJ-Sally. And why shouldn't he? She was cool and he liked her attitude (which goes without saying). However, NJ-Sally liked him more than NJ-Harry liked her. He toyed with her emotions. He ran hot and cold. One minute he was sweet and into her and the next he was distant and unfeeling. It frustrated NJ-Sally and hurt her. Actually it stabbed her in the heart and she often wanted to grab him by the balls and squeeze just so he could know the pain she felt.

Then NJ-Harry graduated.  As NJ-Sally finished her final year of school, NJ-Harry would continue to pop in and out of her life. Yeah, I know. (insert eye-roll here) Eventually they lost contact, thanks in large part to him.

So, NJ-Harry and NJ-Sally went their separate ways. Each got married and started a family. Neither one ever gave the other any thought. Well, maybe just in quick passing.  

Fast-forward 20 years......

One day, on a well-known social media website, and thanks to NJ-Sally's, nosy but well-intentioned friend and former college roommate, contact was initiated between NJ-Sally and NJ-Harry.  It was along the lines of  "hey dude, how's it going?" and a quick catch-up. Nothing more and nothing less. NJ-Sally didn't expect anything else cause she was so over him at this point.

Then, three years later and just for the hell of it, NJ-Sally commented on something NJ-Harry had written. A few comments more passed between them and a conversation began. A long, continuous one that involved some reminiscing, updates on life, and many apologies (on NJ-Harry's part). About friggin' time, right?

Anyway, they started to stay in touch and bada bing bada boom, a true friendship between them has been born. Unlike their namesakes, NJ-Harry and NJ-Sally liked one another at first.  And now they've come full circle. They still share a love of music. Oh, and NJ-Sally is still cool and has more attitude than ever. NJ-Harry still finds this endearing.

So, was this meant to be, as some people seem to think? If you believe in Fate, then maybe these two needed time apart in order to mature before reuniting. 

Never forget

Moments of levity

I've posted before about my battles with depression and whatnot but I can say that despite it all, there are moments of levity.  For the most part I'm happy, but there are times when I let go and find myself smiling, almost floating, and I think, life is good.

I had two of those moments happen earlier this week. Monday we took Little Man to an Aquatic Center (think outdoor park with pools and water and 2 water slides) in a nearby town. He had a blast, especially since it was a complete surprise.

At one point I was sitting neck-deep in one of the pools, enjoying the cool water, hot sun, and blue skies. I closed my eyes, sighed and thought, yeah, life, is good.

Wednesday was the 4th of July.  And as last year, Chris put on a fireworks show (ground fireworks are legal here. Those that shoot in the sky, not so much but we had both. ssh!).  We all sat outside at dusk to watch as Chris and several other people on the street set off fireworks.

It was nice. And again, as I sat watching my son and husband shooting off fireworks (and having a blast..pun intended) I thought, life really is good.

So I got to thinking that I should look for more of the good in life and in my everyday, as opposed to the bad, or not-so-good stuff that I keep working to overcome. Maybe, in fact, life really is good and it's just my perception that's bad.  In either case, I hope to have more moments of true happiness and levity.

Feel free to share any aah, life is good moments that you have.

 

A Vegas-style snow day

This morning at 8:00 am my cell phone rang and since I didn't recognize the number I let it go to voice mail.  I figured I would deal with it later. Oh and for the record, nothing good ever comes from an early morning phone call. Usually someone's dead, in an accident, stranded or in need of a change of clothes. Morbid, yes. But true. Good phone calls usually come late morning when you're dressed and on your third cup of coffee and second load of laundry. But I digress.

Twenty minutes later there's a commotion downstairs and my son comes bursting into my room to say there's no school. My immediate thought is did it snow? What can I say? I'm from the East Coast and days off happen when there's bad weather.

Then Billy comes in and tells me the school is in lock down because of a shooter in the area and all kids are being sent home or re-routed to a nearby middle school.

Whoa! Shooter? Lock Down? What The Eff???

This is a relatively quiet area. Sure we have your routine criminal activity but nothing like this. So I immediately go online while Billy puts on the TV news to find out what's going on. Turns out some guy was shooting an apartment in the complex across the street from my son's school. He drove through the garage and holed himself up inside. It was a standoff.

The school's principal called 2 more times this morning with a recorded message updating us on the situation. Oh and the phone call I missed earlier was the school district telling me what was happening.

Just before noon, a final phone call advised us that the lock down was lifted and students could return to the school but we were already on out way out to lunch with the kid. I figured the day was pretty much done and he wasn't going to learn anything in 2 hours (not counting phys. ed. and lunch/recess) so we kept him home. I can't imagine much learning would be taking place anyway.

I'm just grateful it all worked out and the kids are all safe. Unfortunately, the suspect hasn't been caught, yet.

And I'm trying not to get all panicked and freak out about Chris returning to school tomorrow, despite my mother, the Doom-Sayer, who keeps mentioning that the shooter is still at-large. Thanks, Mom. You can go back to your soap box now and let everyone know that the world is ending soon.

Dammit Jim, I'm a doctor not a God!

Doctors. We tend to treat them like gods. We don't always question their diagnoses. We don't challenge them or ask questions. It's like, they're doctors so they should know better. Right? Wrong.

Sure they have lots of higher education and tend to be smart but they're people, just like you and me. They put their pants on one leg at a time. Unless, they're women and wear skirts. Or men who wear skirts, in which case I don't want to know.

I know some people who take a doctor's word as gospel. These same people who would reign down holy terror if the cable guy showed up late, don't even make a peep if the doctor doesn't return a phone call within a decent time frame. They even make excuses. He said he would call me back this afternoon, he must've been busy. And then they continue to wait for the phone to ring. Perhaps when they are carrying their head under their arm they'll consider actually calling the doctor themselves and demanding to speak with him/her.

Recently Bill was talking to a female he works with. She mentioned that she had been feeling shaky all day. He asked her what was wrong. She told him she was just diagnosed as a type 1 diabetic. He said her blood-sugar levels must be very low and got her some soda and a granola bar, which immediately made her feel better.

As they talked Bill asked her what her blood-sugar levels were when she was diagnosed. She said she didn't know, because her doctor didn't tell her.  What the funk?? Bill told her she should find out because it was her right to know. He gave her some tips and advice and other information (which she had not fully received) and lastly he gave her the name and number of our primary doctor. Because clearly her current one hasn't got clue #1 when it comes to patient care or diabetes.

So what is it about doctors that turns normally strong-willed, loud-of-voice, take-charge people into meek, little kids? It's mind-boggling.

You should never fear your doctor. You should always ask questions, seek second opinions and never take anything for granted. It's your health! I'm not saying be a disrespectful assmunch to them. Just don't sit back and put your health on cruise-control. Doctors aren't perfect. Even Bones was wise enough to know his limitations.

Bones: "I'm just a country doctor."

To lighten up an otherwise serious post (not to mention, show off my geekness) here's a brief video montage of  Dr.  McCoy speaking his famous line: "I'm a doctor, not a..."