The Corner Booth

I haven't written much here at all for various personal and professional reasons, but over the years I also haven't shared much about my eye health as it relates to diabetes. The main reason: I haven't had much to share on that point of view ( eye pun, totally intended! ). This is a topic that I have visited a handful of times over the years, and amazingly each time it seems a theme is that I've gone too long in between eye health visits. And that things have gone one of two ways: Either they've changed or they haven't. Well, they have. But before delving into that, let's recap my history with Dr. Eye Health (who when I first saw him in February 2016 was referred to as Dr. Eye Roll thanks to his attitude). At the time, he claimed my "eyes were perfect!" and there was no sign of any diabetes damage. Um, yeah.... My first-ever mention of "retinopathy" came in 2007 in my mid-20s, but it wasn't at the point of needing any treat...

As my endo read through the medical chart at a recent appointment, I sat there anxiously waiting for him to tell me my latest A1C. He scanned the notes and rattled off bits of information about prescriptions, before getting to the meat and potatoes (so to speak) of our visit. If you were a fly on the wall at that moment, you would have seen me all jittery, leaning forward in the chair waiting for the words to emerge. After what seemed like an eternity, he spoke: Your A1C is 7.7% My heart sank. While not really much different than my previous result, it was a 10th of a percentage point higher than last time at 7.6. Sure, it was only a tiny change, but in my head a screaming voice of judgement shouted: " Your A1C went up! " I was beyond bummed, especially because I've been putting in a lot of effort over the past few months to do better. Apparently, this A1C was telling me that I was in fact doing worse than before, even if just a little bit. Then I began to doubt... was ...

I remember standing on the school gym floor staring up at the rope I was supposed to climb. My mouth must have been wide open, as I stood gaping up at the ceiling. The top of the rope was so high up there, but for some crazy reason my 5th grade gym teacher believed we should and could climb all the way up -- just to touch the ceiling and then climb back down. I made a choice that day, even though I knew better. Since my diagnosis before I'd even started kindergarten, I had always been taught to "not use my diabetes as an excuse." This time, however, with that rope staring back at me, I chose to claim my blood sugar was Low and I needed to sit down and have some juice. Nope, I wouldn't have to climb the rope this time. That 5th grade experience still stands out in my mind all these many years later, and even now in my 30s I'm ashamed that my younger self made the decision to use my D as excuse. I allowed it to dictate what I could and couldn't do, and i...

Not so long ago, I would've cringed at the idea of getting together and hanging out socially with other people with diabetes (PWDs). Seriously. Why would anyone  want  to wear diabetes on their sleeve or get together  because  of diabetes? Especially when you have to live with it every day. But now, I crave these connections — the chance to meet up with friends, where diabetes may come up in conversation but it doesn't have to... And when it does, you know the others at the table understand. You know the sharing is all in fun and there won't be any judgment or "textbook" advice coming your way. It's a place where pumps and CGMs beep (not only yours!), and blood meters and questions about carb counts aren't outside the norm but rather the "cool thing" because everyone else has those topics on their minds, too. That's the beauty of a D-Meetup. And it's a key connecting thread of the Diabetes Online Community, which offers lots in-p...

It's not often you get to meet someone who actually worked directly with Dr. Elliott Joslin, "the father of diabetes care," back in the day. But that is Dr. Fred W. Whitehouse, a gentleman who's made an incredible impact on treating diabetes for more than seven decades. You might call him an Endo for the Ages, someone who connects the past to the present and moves us toward the future in the world of diabetes.  For Dr. Whitehouse, his first encounter with diabetes came at the age of 12, when his 8-year-old brother was diagnosed during a family car trip from Arizona and California. This was long before the idea of adding "Dr." to the front of his name was even on the mind -- before a career in diabetes, and before he'd find a place in the diabetes history books as an endocrinologist who's been at the forefront of D-care for more than a half-century. Now 85, Dr. Whitehouse practices three days a week at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. He t...