In Laura Kronen’s new book, Too Sweet, the not-so-serious side to diabetes, she comes to terms with a Type 1 diagnosis while keeping a sense of humor. In this excerpt, she runs down 10 common experiences that people with Type 1 diabetes might recognize in their own lives.
You Might be a Person with Type 1 diabetes if…
1. You secretly like to see the reactions of strangers standing next to you when you say you are “high.”
2. You ask for diet tonic and other sugar-free mixers at the bar.
3. You try on clothing in sitting rooms, not to see if the clothes fit but to see if you can hide your pump while wearing them.
4. You have the best candy drawer on the block or in the office, and people are constantly hitting up your stash.
5. Your refrigerator has a special section reserved just for insulin, and you have at least one kitchen cabinet dedicated to diabetic supplies.
6. You buy handbags or backpacks according to their ability to carry all of your medications, snacks, and devices.
7. You are an expert at dividing anything by fifteen, and you can count the carbs of just about anything you eat. It’s as though you are a human Weight Watchers reference book.
8. People compare you to their diabetic cat.
9. You become slightly annoyed and oddly jealous at little kids gobbling up Halloween candy and birthday cake.
10. You have said some abominable things when your pump tubing has gotten caught on a doorknob—more than once.
You can purchase Too Sweet at http://amazon.com/.
