#tbt - Dear Lady Sitting In The Magnolia Bakery

I originally wrote this post on September 8th, 2009 - and it's about how awesome  Diabetes Meet-ups are - even when you don't know they happened until it's over! 
Hope you enjoy!
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Dear Lady sitting in the Magnolia Bakery:

You kept looking at me and I wasn't sure why.
I was waiting in line with my friends in cupcake anticipation and wondered why you kept staring at me.

I thought it might be because I laugh way to loud- - you know, from my belly.  
Or maybe you thought I was being to silly for swooning over my cupcake like a giddy little schoolgirl, which of course I was!

My friends and I were laughing and recovering after three days of wedding activities. 
N (the bride) was still glowing from her wedding the night before.

We were a chatty, happy, and tired group looking forward to our cupcakey goodness and final moments with friends, both old and new.

My weekend had been truly bolus worthy, on every level. 
A whirlwind of wedding activities, and a flurry of meeting all types of wonderfully interesting folk.

I’d had lunch with a D Blogger Shero on Friday (a post and pic on that VERY soon) and had experienced diabetes moments of bonding with other guests of the happy couple, but I digress.

The line to pay was long and I was DYING for just one bite of the sprinkled frosting- it was torturous to hold my cupcake topped plate and act like an adult. 

Cupcakes me happy and I want the world to know it!

There you sat, a party of 1, at a table for 2-with and with a plate full of crumbs and a folded up Metro Section of the New York Times.

I caught you staring at my pump, YET AGAIN.

I thought maybe you were going to reprimand me, tell me that I shouldn’t indulge if I wanted to be healthy. Maybe you’d say “NO DIABETICS ALLOWED,”unless they behaved.

I looked away and then looked at you again, and you were still staring. Then you smiled and said: I’m leaving, take the table and enjoy your cupcake.

Me: Thanks, but we need a bigger table. 

You glanced at my pump one last time and got up. 

You grabbed your handbag and Times & turned to leave, but just before you walked out the door you turned, looked straight in my eyes, and flashed me your insulin pump and a smile.

You were gone before I could say anything and my friends (who had missed the whole lightening quick exchange because they’d been debating between Vanilla Banana pudding Vs cupcakes) and had missed it all. 

I could have run out and tried to catch-up, but I still hadn't paid for my cupcake. 

I smiled and said nothing. It had happened in a matter of seconds, in a crowded Cupcake bakery of all places.

It was unspoken moment of D-bonding at the Magnolia Bakery on 69^th and Columbus, in the city that never sleeps.

Another beautiful moment in a weekend of many.

Thank you for sharing, without even uttering the the "D WORD." 

Kelly K

#TBT: Diabetes Life And Calling All Midvale Alum ~

Originally posted the following on 2.14.08, back when the blog was all sorts of new. 

As of late my life has been a series of occurrences right out of The Far Side cartoons and captions in real life, so I thought I'd revisit this post - Hope you dig.

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OK - favorite"Far Side" pic ever!

The above carton reminds of me of this life of mine. 

While I'm an excellent dancer when the music is on, I'm a bit clumsy in real life...on occasion. Sometimes the blatantly obvious, is not so very for those of us who are Midvale alum.

For instance.....I've actually put my my pump battery in backwards and then wondered why "the damn thing wouldn't work!"

I've walked into, and almost through a screen door - with coffee in hand. No damage to the screen, but I ended up wearing my coffee.

I've put my test strip in the machine upside down and then wondered where the area was to place my drop of blood.

Once, in High School when I was deep in conversation with my 3 best buds, I actually walked smack into Stop sign because I was enthralled over my friends latest escapades, I looked at them instead of looking ahead. I don't know which hurt more, my head or my pride.

I used to give my insulin shots through my clothes to save time - andto secretly impress my friends. Of course, only when I was wearing white or some other light color, would a drop of blood decide to appear. Ironically it never once happened when I was wearing black, purple, or blue.

We all know about pump tubing and doorknobs. It's a global issue, nuff said.

I won't even tell you how I broke my arm a few years ago. Let's just say it involved preventing a cordless phone from falling down a flight of 16 steps - by blocking its descent at the top of the stairs,
I inadvertently caused myself to fall and ended up at the bottom.

We all push when we should pull at times, but we learn and move forward just the same.
It's very similar to dealing with our Diabetes. Just when we think we know it all about this disease, it throws us curve ball or two, forcing us to learn yet another set of rules regarding the Big D.
And we do, because we can....And because we must.

#tbt: Kids Say The Darndest Things - And Now She's 16!

I originally wrote this post on August 11, 2008. My niece Oliva, aka, Livvy/Oblivia was just shy of her 9th birthday back then and she was all about The Jonas brothers and Hannah Montana. 

Today, Olivia turns 16, she's taller than I am, she's still a force to be reckoned with, and Nick Jonas is no longer a teenager - he's like, a man. 

And all of a sudden I'm feeling really old. 

In honor of my amazing Sweet 16 niece - I hope you enjoy this #tbt post! 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LIVVY!! 

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Sending the Jonas Boys & the the folks in dBloggville kisses

So I spent the weekend with my 8-year-old Niece Livvy, (sometimes called Olivia or O-blivia, depends on my mood - and hers) who will be 9 in September. 

She flew in from the “wild west” with my brother, (her Dad) to visit the family.  To put it mildly, Livvy is a pistol: A.K.A., a piece of work, a TOTAL TRIP. 
She’s turning 9 in September, but I’d say she’s really 8 and 11 months going on 17. Very hip, very funny, and dare I say, quite the Tweener in training! 
We went to dinner, and the beach, where she showed off her expert boogie boarding skills. She was quite the pro for a girl born in the Mountains. 
We played with Photo Phone Booth on my MAC (you're actually seeing a very small portion of the photos in this post), and went to Lucy The Elephant & sat a top her howdah. 
We actually named the freckles on one another's faces - she has 5 and I have around 100 - all named Livvy.

I introduced her to Mad TV, which she now loves – sorry mom & dad, good comedy has no age limits!
We had lots of girl talk, which mostly involved Livvy talking about her favorite Singers and crushes. She knows every Hannah Montana episode/song verbatim and is a HUGE FAN of The Brothers Jonas! We spent way too much time looking those boys up on the Internet, and Livvy actually taught me who was who.



To quote my darling O-blivia:

“Nick is the cute and sensitive one and he has diabetes (like you Kel,) - He even wrote a song about diabetes. He was in the movie Camp Rock! He is my favorite and I love him. 

Joe is the cute funny one. Joe is the star of the movie Camp Rock! He is the middle kid and he’s too old for me to love. He also looks like my cousin Anton.

Kevin is the cute romantic one. Kevin is the oldest. He is also too old for me to love. He was in the movie Camp Rock!

I love the Jonas Brothers – THEY ARE SOOOO AWESOME! THEY TOTALLY ROCK!!”

Like I said, LIVVY IS A TRIP.

Liv was also very interested in learning about all things diabetes. She knew it ran in our family, and that her favorite JB had been diagnosed with it as well.

Liv: Can diabetes be cured?

Me: Nope. 

Liv:  I thought the insulin in your pump fixed it.
Me: The insulin in my pump I take is to survive, but the organ in my body that makes insulin (the pancreas)  doesn’t work. That part that is supposed to make insulin, (The Islet of Langerhans) is damaged & doesn't work anymore.
I have to inject hourly with my pump and change the site every few days. I also take my blood sugar’s all the time, like when we had our treats earlier and when we have dinner later.

Liv: Kelly, will I get diabetes someday?

Me: I don’t know, I hope not. It runs in the family, but that doesn’t mean you’ll get it.
Liv: Oh, so you mean it’s ‘in the genes', like our sense of humor and my red hair?

Me: Yes, exactly (OK, on a side note, "It's in the genes" is family saying regarding both diabetes and our occasional flakiness - obviously this kid has a mind like a steal trap - she forgets nothing!) How’d you get so smart?

Liv: Me? Oh, I know a guy… But what if I do get diabetes Kel?

Me: Then you’ll deal with it every day 24 X 7, wear your pump, take your blood sugars, and have a great life. Diabetes or not, someone is always worse off that you. 

Liv: Yeah, my friend had cancer! But he’s OK now. And we’re keeping our fingers crossed – toes to. So you and Nick Jonas both have t1 Diabetes? WOW.

Me: Yeah, so do somewhere between 1.7 million to 3 million other folks.

Liv: WOW. Hey, Do you know him? I’M JOKING Kel.

Me: No, I know of him – I’M TOTALLY SERIOUS Liv.

Now, I’m sure this comes as no shock to you, but Livvy is a total Disney Channel freak. Which means that we spent a lot of time watching Hannah Montana and using the “On Demand” feature to watch Hannah Montana AGAIN AND AGAIN. Livvy would act out each scene for my viewing pleasure. I don’t “get” the Hannah Montana thing, and I told her so. She still thought she could convert me, and I let her try. 

Ironically about an hour after our JB conversation, while watching the dreaded d (Disney) channel, we were privy to a behind the scenes Rockumentry about The Jonas Brothers.

They actually featured a good bit of time on Nicks Diabetes. Viewers watched Nick take his blood sugar - his target range is 178, but he’d been 400 earlier in the day. Personally, I liked the fact that they showed the blood sugar roller coaster ride, especially among hormonal teens. From what the parents in dblogville have taught me, blood sugars and hormones make for a bumpy ride at times.
NJ also showed us his “Pod,” (Omni Pod must have LOVED THAT) and talked about counting carbs and taking blood sugars in between sets.

The Jonas family was also interviewed about dealing with Nick’s diabetes. It was really quite good documentary - and very interesting.
Many a citizen of dBlogville has written about The Brothers J – Nick in particular, and all of us in dBlogville know that Nick wrote a song about diabetes, “A Little Bit Longer”.
My Livvy knew every word and sang along – VERY PROFESSIONALLY, AND VERY LOUDLY. She also kept saying (VERY LOUDLY) “This song’s about diabetes Kel, LISTEN…LISTEN! KELLY THIS SONG IS SPEAKING YOUR LANGUAGE…. LISTEN” 

So I did. 

Near the end of the program, Nick was backstage, talking to children with diabetes, slapping them “5,” shaking hands, & telling them it would be “OK.” Then, he gave them each a pin.
Now, I’m not sure if they were special t1 Jonas Brother pins, or just JB pins in general, but I’m sure those kids were shaking in their boots. Livvy was, and she was watching in her grandmother’s living room.The kids backstage all wore insulin pumps, they all loved Nick, and one little boy who was spoke for the group said, ‘ Nick inspired them regarding their diabetes.’ 

I have to say, I was impressed how open he was regarding diabetes, & how he took the time to explain his daily routine, etc. But what really impressed me was how strongly the children with diabetes reacted to him. I’ve never been on the Hannah Montana bandwagon, but I’ll tell you what folks. l give the Jonas family a lot of street cred for spreading the word about the Big D, and I’m not talking Disney.
Musically, I like the song he wrote regarding diabetes, and yes, those boys can put on a show! 
And while I am in no way the caliber fan that Liv is, I do respect Nick as a Diabetic spreading the word, and the Jonas brothers as performers who are blessed that they get to do what they love, daily.

The doc was over and we needed to get ready for dinner. 
Neither one of us moved off the couch, and Livvy had her arm around me and her head on my shoulder.

“Kel,” she said and looked up at me smiling with her big hazel eyes and pretty smile.’

”Yes, O-blivia.”

“If I do get Diabetes (I mean I really don’t want to get it,) but if I do Kel, IT’S OK. I mean, you and Nick have it, and you guys are doing great. It could always be worse. I told you my friend had cancer.”

Me: looking her square in those big hazel eyes: “That’s a great attitude Livvy, but I’m hoping and praying you never have too deal with Diabetes – EVER.

Livvy: “Me too. I love you Kel & I miss not seeing you!!!!!
Me: I love you too O-blivia….And I miss you something awful!!!!!

Livvy: Now, let me tell you about Hannah Montana, Kel….

tbt: Dear Kelly In the Past.....

The following  TBT piece was originally on the blog way back when, on September 15th, 2008  and back when my blog was less than a year old!

I wrote this post for all sorts of reasons, but explaining those reasons would take up to much time and bandwidth.

Bottom line, we are imperfect people in an imperfect world - Diabetes or not....And we are magnificent!
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Dear Kelly in the Past - 

It’s Kelly from the future. I’m writing you for several reasons. To remind me just how far I’ve come whenever stress and sadness start to creep in regarding life with the big D.
And how far I still need to go in order to achieve all that life has to offer.
And to remind others that life goes on and happiness happens, regardless of diabetes. That there’s stuff (shit) that you to need to move past in order to indeed, live and flourish - d related or not.

And that as a child or adult with diabetes, you need to live and experience ALL life has to offer.

First off Kelly, please remember no matter how tough life gets with diabetes or otherwise – you deserve the best life has to offer you.  
Your not damaged goods because of a faulty pancreas. And every time that voice of self doubt speaks regarding your self worth and what you deserve, remember that everyone – diabetes or not - is never born perfect, no matter how they appear on the outside.

Everyone on earth is born with imperfections and issues and that’s part of life. 
Don’t think you deserve less because a very small part of your pancreas doesn’t function.

Only the dead are perfect, and that’s because our memory allows that in order for us to get past the grief. 

You deserve it all. To be loved, accepted, and respected. You deserve to reach your dreams, instead of worrying so much about your health and what the future holds, that you actually hold yourself back in the present.

Look to all the positives your diabetes has given instead of just the negatives.

Would you truly be such an empathetic, funny, intuitive person had diabetes not entered your life?  

To that gangly 8-year with the face full of freckles - You don’t have to be so brave about it all. It’s OK to cry in front of your family regarding your diagnoses. Your family is scared and sad too.  

Continue to look to the funny as way to handle your diagnoses. You’ll be tempted to rebel and embrace the angry side of things. Don’t. It's wastes energy, confidence, and precious time that you’ll never get back. 

Your first Endo Dr. Baker was right, “you’ll only hurting yourself.” 

Adolescent Kel, I know your parents drive your crazy, especially about your diabetes.
Please keep in mind that they are suffering and stressing themselves. 

But because they love you, they aren’t going to show you how horrible your diabetes makes THEM feel!  
Now, they might need some persuading to let you do a few things (like wear contacts) but they really let you do so much more than they really were every comfortable with.
They’ve let you go on sleepovers; they’ve sent you to camp, allowed you to dance and perform on stage, and always had orange juice waiting in the wings. They let you work and earn spending money and as a child, they never let you wallow in anything even resembling diabetes self pity. They didn’t let anyone else to allow you to wallow in it either. 

They prepared you to be an independent adult. Some day, you will appreciate it more than you ever thought possible.

There will come a time in your life when you’ll realize all they did with the knowledge that was available to them, which at the time – wasn’t much. You will be thankful.

I know your scared about your sister. I also know your really angry. That’s OK.
Talk to someone.

Speak up when someone hurts you, instead of being stoic. Stoic is for the birds - it's bullshit. Taking in all that hurt and anger only hurts you in the long run, no one else.  

To quote Don Henley (whom you will have a major crush on in your late teens) said it best.  “Carrying all that anger, will just eat you up inside.”

Kelly, this is a hard one. Forgive and move on. Let things and people go who have hurt you, no matter how difficult it might be. Remove the weight of sadness from around neck and surround yourself with those who not just embrace you, but who embrace positivity as well. You will learn so many wonderful lessons from them!

Don’t fight diabetes, OWN IT. Because the minute you start to accept your diabetes, you will find that many of the issues that you struggle with regarding diabetes, will fall to the side as you begin to become empowered by ownership of your disease.

What you will be left with is a feeling of control regarding not just your disease, but also your life. 

Forget what’s popular with masses and go with what your heart knows is right. 

Teen Kelly, Remember that those kids who made fun of you because of those horrible glasses (and maybe your diabetes, but not so much,) you had to wear, might have been picked on for reasons that in actuality, had absolutely nothing to do with you.
Most likely their parents didn’t understand the whole diabetes thing and children learn from their parents.
Maybe (and just as likely,) they had problems at home much greater than your 14 year old self ever imagined. Problems that were even bigger than your diabetes.
Problems like parents divorcing; eating disorders, sickness in their own families, and struggles within themselves that they shared with no one. Perhaps they suffered from such a poor self-image that picking on your visible imperfections helped them to ignore their own.

Instead of thinking that they might be right, know that they are wrong and are unhappy.  
Ignore them and focus on the positive. 

And stop wanting a nose job for god sakes – trust me, you’ll grow into your nose and be grateful that your not one of those poor people who are walking around with minuscule nose on large featured face.


Kelly At 16: When someone compliments you, look them straight in the eye, with a smile on your face, and say “Thank-you.” Regardless of whether you think you deserve or not.
A compliment is two fold. Yes, it’s given to make the receiver feel good, but it also makes the person giving the compliment feel good.
Don’t diminish or belittle the persons attempt to be nice and confident by brushing it aside and being embarrassed by the kind words said on your behalf.  

And remember those compliments, they will get you through the self-doubt.

Listen, I know you don’t want to hear this, but shoulder pads and helmet hair are indeed a "Glamour Don’t," regardless of what Teen Magazine says.

And yes, your mom and was right - Bangs are not your best look, and iridescent lipstick might work for some, but is just makes you look sick.

Kelly at 20: You will be so happy you started with the whole 30 & 50 sunscreen thing, and your 7 year skin plan – TRUST ME. And FYI, the tan goddess bitch who called you "Casper' when you were dating her ex boyfriend – her face looks like a Catcher's mitt now.

Don’t try so hard to prove how normal you are “in spite” of being a diabetic.  
You will realize that what’s normal for some, is completely abnormal for others, and that’s ok. What I’m trying to say is, your normal is different that someone else’s, and your normal works for you. So run with it!


Kelly in your 20’s: Embrace ALL of who you are.
Go after your dreams, instead of listening to what others think you should do or be. 

22 year old Kelly: Remember to tell those you love, that you do indeed love them, no matter how much they might drive you crazy. The people you love won’t be around forever. And trust me, you will miss them terribly when they’re gone. 

Kelly, good call regarding your parents. You will be incredibly grateful that you started to say “I love you” every time you said goodbye. They learned to say it back, and they began to say it first, and often. Soon, it flowed more freely than beer at a bbq - and all of you will know how deep the love really was, and is.

To 27 yr old Kelly: You are NOT fat, and no, your not rail thin. But your parents were right, you are beautiful, inside and out! Please see that instead of only the imperfections. 

I know that your scared that history will repeat itself - it will not. 
Your doing what you have to do, put whatever mistakes you made with your diabetes in the past, and learn from them. It will not only lead you to good health – but to a wonderful world regarding the diabetes community. I world that you’ve tried to shut out instead of embracing for a very long time. 

Let the guilt go regarding Debbie. You did the best you could. 

To 33-year-old Kelly: Someone who has no love or self- respect for them self, will never have any for you – no matter what they say. If they don’t love, like, and respect who they are, they can’t love, like, & respect you.  

Don’t surround yourself with people who won’t do the work on themselves, they’ll only blame you for what they lack from within.

Kelly in real time: Remember too keep loving yourself – all parts of you.

Hold your head up, continue to learn, continue to laugh, and most definitely continue to love.  
You are older and wiser. Life has been full of changes, and going with the flow gets a bit tricky at times, but you are lucky to be in the world, and the world is lucky to have you. 

#tbt: Calling All Midvale School For The Gifted, Alum~

The following #tbt post was originally published on 2/14/08.  

Here's the thing, in life and life with diabetes, we all push when we should have pulled every now and then - we are imperfectly perfect - and that's OK. 

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Calling all Midvale Alum

One of my favorite"Far Side" cartoons ever!

Reminds of me of this life of mine at times. While I'm an excellent dancer when the music is on, I'm a bit clumsy in real life...on occasion. Sometimes the blatantly obvious, is not so very for those of us who are Midvale alum.

For instance.....I've actually put my my pump battery in backwards and then wondered why "the damn thing wouldn't work!"

I've walked into, and almost through a screen door - with coffee in hand. No damage to the screen, but I ended up wearing my coffee.

I've put my test strip in the machine upside down and then wondered where the area was to place my drop of blood.

Once, in High School when I was deep in conversation with my 3 best buds, I actually walked smack into Stop sign because I was enthralled over my friends latest escapades, I looked at them instead of looking ahead. I don't know which hurt more, my head or my pride.

I used to give my insulin shots through my clothes to save time - andto secretly impress my friends. 

Of course, only when I was wearing white or some other light color, would a drop of blood decide to appear. Ironically it never once happened when I was wearing black, purple, or blue.

We all know about pump tubing and doorknobs. It's a global issue, nuff said.

I won't even tell you how I broke my arm a few years ago. Let's just say it involved preventing a cordless phone from falling down a flight of 16 steps - by blocking its descent at the top of the stairs,
I inadvertently caused myself to fall and ended up at the bottom.

We all push when we should pull at times, but we learn and move forward just the same.
It's very similar to dealing with our Diabetes. Just when we think we know it all about this disease, it throws us curve ball or two, forcing us to learn yet another set of rules regarding the Big D.
And we do, because we can....And because we must.

#tbt: So.....I Kinda Misplaced My Insulin Pump This Morning ~

#tbt, I originally wrote the following post 7 years ago, on October 8th, 2008.

I can't believe it's been that long because I remember writing the post and I swear to God, it feels like it was yesterday - with that being said, I think many of you out in Dblogville will relate to the subject matter- because if you wear an insulin pump - there's a good chance you've misplaced it at least once! 
Ditto for CGMs & meters! 

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SO....I Kinda Missplaced My Pump This Morning

Am I the only one in dBlogville who, in the rush to get on with the day has inadvertently misplaced their insulin pump???

Look, we wear the pump almost 24X7, sans the shower or a romp in the hay – and even then we have the option to keep on. Since we always wear our pump, it becomes an actual part of us.

But there have been moments in my early pump life life, like the time I had a 7:30 a.m teeth-cleaning appt - where I actually forgot to put my pump back on after my shower. Then there was the time I left the Chiropractors office in New Jersey and left my pump behind in the adjustment room.
I had to turn around in rush hour and drive back...from Philadelphia. I was frantic to get there before they closed & I had to literally beg them to stay open. Both instances happened early on, when I was very new to the pump. Since then, I have really become quite OCD (almost to the point of annoyance) as to where my pump is on and off my person, at all times – NORMALLY.

But you know once we throw the word normal into the mix, our world becomes even more abnormal!

This morning in the mad dash to start my day, I took off my pump; jumped the shower – cleaned all my parts, jumped out, got dressed, combed my hair out and dabbed on some styling product and blow-dried my hair. Before I put my” face on,” (hey, I never once claimed to be a natural beauty – I welcome any and all help in that department) I went to the bureau (where I always place my pump pre-shower to avoid the craziness of misplacing it) to grab my trusty pump – and it wasn’t there.  WTF?


“Where the hell did I put it? IS it on my bed or on my nightstand? No. Could it be under the bed, under the covers, under the pillows? No, No,NO. By the coffee Maker? Unfortunately, no – but I did take a moment to refresh my cup. I looked everywhere and then looked in these places again, and time was ticking by. Work would literally be calling in 46 minutes because I had a phone conference at 9 am. Plus, it had almost been an hour since I disconnected.

I tried to listen for the pump alarm, but damn if that thing only went off every 15 minutes. Had I missed it? Would I have to wait another 15 minutes? I just didn’t have time for to figure out the whole pump alarm math of it all.

I started to get really upset.  WTF? THIS IS JUST THE WRONG TIME FOR THIS TO HAPPEN. “Think Kelly, THINK!” So…I did. I calmed myself down and retraced my steps since the alarm (as in clock, not pump) went off this morning. OK, lets see - I got up and made coffee, took my blood sugar and bloused. Drank coffee, drank more coffee, and had some Greek yogurt with honey, cinnamon, and ¼ cup of frozen wild blueberries - which in case your wondering, is a really tasty breakfast & you should totally try it – but I digress. Then I went in the bedroom; stripped down, tossed my pj’s on the chair, grabbed my towels & went to the shower.  Wait a second, let’s back track to the tossing of the Pj’s on the chair part.

I sprinted back to the bedroom, to the corner where my chair was. I removed (OK, more threw them on the floor) the towels that I had also tossed on top of the chair after my shower, found my PJ’s, and clipped to said PJ bottoms, was my super trusty pump.

I reconnected immediately and was relieved to say the least. But I was also really mad at myself for the pump misplacement. How could I have been so stupid? I mean, I knew better. But then I started to laugh...like really laugh, because you know – it was pretty funny after the fact!  I mean, THANK GOD my head is attached - or I'd be in big trouble!

Shit happens, and so does diabetes. I found what I was looking for and life went on.
Life always goes on, curve balls and all. We need to go with the flow and appreciate the lessons learned and victories gained...no matter how great or small.

#tbt: Weeding out my Family Tree Diabetes Style & To the Tune of Dr. Pepper ~

#tbt, (throw back Thursday,)  diabetes style and to the tune of the Dr. Pepper theme song. 
I originally wrote and posted the following on December 27th, 2007 and about 7 weeks after my very first blog post. Hope you dig it! :) 
######

SO, I was going over my whole Type 1 family history in my head the other day......

I'm a T1
MY Dad was a T1
My sister Donna is a T1
My sister Debbie was a T1 and died because of it
My Aunt Pat was a T1
My Aunt Jo-Anne was a T1 and died because of it
My cousin Bernadette is a T1
My cousin Denise is a T1 - I think
My Nephew Brendon is a T1
My mother's Grand Mother was a T1
My mother's uncle was a T2 - she thinks - he might have been T1 but for the life of her she can't remember because he died like 50 years ago.

I start humming the theme to the Dr. Pepper Commercial from the 1970's.
You know the one, where the dark haired guy is by himself and starts to sing the following:

"I drink Dr. Pepper cause I'm Proud
I used to be alone in a crowd
But now you look around these days
There seems to me a Dr. Pepper craze
CAUSE......
I'm a pepper,
Your a pepper,
He's a pepper,
She's a pepper,
Wouldn't you like to be a pepper to?
Be a pepper, drink Dr. Pepper, Be a Pepper, Drink Dr. Pepper.

Us peppers are an interesting breed
an original taste is what we need
Ask any Pepper and he'll say
Only Dr. Pepper tastes that way
CAUSE......
I'm a pepper,
Your a pepper,
He's a pepper,
She's a pepper,
Wouldn't you like to be a pepper to?
Be a pepper, drink Dr. Pepper, Be a Pepper, Drink Dr. Pepper.
COME ON!!"

At the end of the commercial he's dancing and singing with a whole crowd of "hopped up on the Voo Doo Dr. Pepper," freaks.

NOT TO SELF: YOU WATCHED WAY TOO MUCH TELEVISION AS A CHILD
I immediately change the words to suite my family history.

I basal & bolus insulin accordingly don't ya know,
Cause if I didn't..... it would really blow
If my blood sugar is super high or super low
Two places I 'don't really want to go

One extreme I'd start to sweat and shake

The other could knock me out
And put me into a Diabetic Keto Acidotic state...

Cause, I'm part of Diabetic T1 family Craze!

OH......
I'm a T1,
Your a T1,
He's a T1,
She's a T1,
Wouldn't you like to be a T1 to?

Us T1's are an interesting breed
New Islets of Langerhans are just what we need

Ask any T1 and she'll say
I'm waiting for a cure to come my way....
Cause...

I'm a T1,
Your a T1,
He's a T1,
She's a T1,
Wouldn't you like to be a T1 to?
Be a T1 - just like your Daddy
Be a T1, my family DNA Double Helix is pretty batty

COME ON!