Diabetes Speak IRL: Soda Talk & Real People Sick

I find myself using DiabetesSpeak in conversations with non PWDs/type 3's all the time.
I don't even think about it, the words just flow out of my mouth because Diabetes Speak has become my native dialect/vernacular.  and yours too. 
Then I have explain what the heck I'm saying in D Speak and people learn something - Or they think I'm weird. 
But mostly they learn something about D because they already know I'm odd, but in a good way!
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So I was at my friend’s house a few weeks back and somehow we started talking about soda. My one friend drinks copious amounts of soda - like he’s addicted to soda. 
I used to be addicted to diet soda - I drank it for decades, but I don't drink it anymore - haven't since I was senior in college - FOR THE MOST PART.
Anyway, I was like: I used to LOVE Diet Pepsi and Fresca and Diet Pineapple Fanta - Don’t even get me started on Frank’s Diet Wishniak Black Cherry Soda ( they stopped producing it in 2009ish, RIP my wonderful and tasty old friend,) but yeah, I don’t drink soda any more - I’m an water/iced tea gal. 
BUT, every once in a while (and only when the temps get above 100 degrees,) I might buy a Stewart’s Diet Root-Beer in the brown glass bottle and chill it until it’s almost frozen - And then I drink the whole bottle in two minutes, flat. 
The first one is great, but the second one makes me stomach hurt and I feel gross. 
Friend/Soda Addict: That’s nuts, Kel! I can’t stop drinking it! 
Me: It was hard to give it up, but I don’t miss it anymore (except for the Franks Diet Black Cherry Wishniak,) I drink boatloads of water and when I feel like I need some bubbles I drink seltzer water (a.k.a., club soda/soda water) Black Cherry Seltzer’s my favorite. 
The only time I want/need to drink a soda is when I’m real people sick and can't stomach anything else.
And then my Friend/Soda Addict was like: Real people sick? 
Me: Yeah, real people sick. You know like down for the count because of the flu or a nasty stomach virus. Not related to diabetes or blood sugar issues, just normal old human, real people sick. See official definition, HERE. Thanks Kerri!
I always keep a few bottles of ginger-ale on hand just in case I get the flu or a nasty stomach bug  - and NO to both this year, PLEASE & THANKS TO THE FLU/STOMACH BUG GODS IN ADVANCE.   
I just feel really safe having ginger ale in my house at all times. I live alone and having it on hand means I don’t have to schlep out and buy some ginger ale when I’m hacking up a lung or laying on the couch next to barf bucket.
Friend/Soda Addict: Wow, I never thought about the whole ‘real people sick,’ thing before, but now I won’t forget it. Kel, if you do get ‘real people sick,” (and I really hope you don't,) just call us and  G or I will schlep out and buy you some ginger ale - And some matzo ball soup, too. Anything you need - just let us know. 
Me: Thanks my friend, that's great to know - and I really appreciate that. 
Also: You're such a mensch! 
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And now I thought I'd share a moment of my childhood/adolescence that has been been burned into my brain forever!
Earworm courtesy of Patti Smith & Co - "Is it Frank's? THANKS."

Stop The #Dstigma & Run With The Diabetes Advocacy

There’s been a lot of talk about the stigma associated with diabetes as of late, a.k.a. #dstigma. On June 15th there was a PFDC, Johnson & Johnson twitter chat moderated by #DSMA discussing DStigma at this year's ADA that addressed the subject head on. 
Diatribe put together a great Storyify re: the #dstigma panel discussion they participated/presented on last week at FFL & why we need to discuss it.
I was helping in another FFL session so I missed this & I'm so grateful that Diatribe storified the session!
And #dstigma was brought up multiple times in regards to #DiabetesAdvocacy last week during Diabetes Hands Foundation's #MasterLab at #CWDFFL14.
Speaking of #Masterlab - Diatribe breaks down the #Masterlab via Storify, HERE.  
And Kim has a great #Masterlab debrief today over at Textingmypancreas.com and so does Sue over @ Diabetes Ramblings ~
And the following is my 2 cents on the subject~
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I Googled the word “stigma, and this was the first thing that came up: 

Sound familiar?

Add a “d” or the word diabetes in front of the word 'stigma' to the definitions above & you’ve got #Dstigma. 

Look, none of us should feel shame because we have diabetes - but we do. 

All of us living with diabetes and regardless of the type, shouldn't feel disgraced because we bear the scarlet letter, D. But we do. 

None of us should feel that we’ve dishonored ourselves or our families - but we do. 

No PWD should feel Ignominy & opprobrium (OK, I’ll admit that I had to look both of those words up), but we do. Ignominy means public shame or disgrace & opprobrium means  harsh criticism or centure. Sound familiar? It should because I know that we’ve all felt shame, discraced or centured  - A.K.A.: Why are you checking your blood sugar in public?!” 
All you need to do take a look at how diabetes is presented in the media 90% of the time and you’ll feel shame and disgrace - Not to mention anger. 

And none of us should feel like we've we’ve failed because our pancreases and metabolisms have - But we absolutely do.
 And none of us should feel humiliated by our diabetes and what our diabetes requires us to do - but there are moments when we've all felt that.

How many times have we said “I’m sorry” to the people we love because our diabetes is behaving badly - even when we do everything right? 
And how crappy does always feeling like we have to apologize for our diabetes feel? 

The diabetes guilt and the #Dstigma it causes is an anchor around all of our necks, one that many of us have become so accustomed to wearing that we actually forget it’s there - But it drags us down none the less.  

And even if you’re not familiar with mythology, each of us can relate to Atlas, the man who carried the weight of the world on his shoulders for eternity, because we continually carry the weight of diabetes on our shoulders for what seems like an eternity. 
We perpetually find ourselves playing the role of  defense with diabetes and #dstigma - And it wears us down and beats us up on a daily basis - If we let it. 
There’s dstigma within our own community - the us verses them when it comes to type 1 verses type 2 and acknowledging that LADA 1.5’s exist. 

Here’s the thing: Every single person living with diabetes  or loving and or caring for a person with diabetes is part of the same Diabetes Family Tree, no matter the type. 
Regardless of the type, we are all part of the same D Tree - Just difference branches. 
And if we’re going advocate for diabetes and elevate #dstigma  successfully, then we must stop with the #dstigma within our own community. 

We need to unify and act as one community. 

We must work together and use our powers collectively as Diabetes Advocates to create real change on all levels re: the public, private and governments perceptions of diabetes and what living with diabetes entails.  

WE ARE IN THIS TOGETHER.

Lastly, if you want to stop #dstigma, educate others and advocate for real change,  

then embrace the KISS of Diabetes Advocacy , a'la Christel!
ALSO: #RockOn

Insane With Diabetes Brain

Diabetes Brain: When you see and or hear something that has nothing to do with diabetes and some how relate it to a thing(s) having to with diabetes.

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I have Diabetes Brain - And I've accepted that fact about myself and can admit it freely.
Like last night I wrote the following as my facebook status: Salad with tomatoes and scrambled eggs with fresh basal and provolone cheese - It's what's for dinner!
And it took fellow Diabetes Blogger and busted pancreas alum Jacquie from Bad Pancreas to point it out to me!
Jacquie wrote: You know you're a diabetic when you spell the spice like the insulin dose. :)
And I just about ROTFALMFAO right then and there!
Then there was the time last week when I was watching the Olympics and there was a segment on the U.S. Women's Relay team and how phenomenal those ladies are. And not only are those ladies lightening quick, they are physically sculpted like nobody's business. Those athletes have amazingly chiseled abs and all I could think of when I saw them was: WOW, if I was as cut as those ladies, would I still be able to wear my pump on my abdomen??
When I watch a crime show on TV and they say the suspect/victim/roommate is "high," I immediately think they're talking about bloodsugars instead of illegal substances.
When the detectives talk about "trace amounts of evidence," I always think about the diabetes dark ages and urine testing and clinitest tablets. Back then "Trace" was Hunter Green in color and meant that you only had trace amounts of sugar in your urine.
And yes, whenever I see the color HUNTER GREEN, I think "Trace" as in urine, and really bad color schematics from the 1980's.
Last week I received an email from LivingSocial.com alerting me to a major discount on a Tubing (white water rafter) trip and I immediately thought: Wow, I didn't know LivingSocial was in the insulin pump biz!
Then there was the time a few years back when my friend bought an new car and it came complete with a built in iPod docking station. She was all excited about the fact, but when she showed me the docking station I was like: Hey, an insulin pump docking station!
I've experienced Diabetes Brain anytime and anywhere - How about you?
Have you ever found yourself insane with the diabetes brain?

"Oh Stewardess, I Speak Diabetes" Or Why Face Book Needs To Speak Diabetes

I had another post all ready to go today, but then was inspired by a wonderful Face Book conversation and wrote and ran with this instead.

Thanks for the inspirations friends!

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"Oh stewardess, I speak diabetes!"

So as I mentioned on my Face Book status this morning that I’d tried to add Diabetes on my Face Book profile under the option: “Languages You Speak.” And FB would have none of that – and that just annoyed me to no end. Because seriously, anyone who has diabetes or whose family member has diabetes, knows for a fact that "Diabetes Speak" is a language unto itself!

The status generated a whole FB discussion and the comments were pretty darn hilarious - and almost all of them were written in, or referred to, the language of Diabetes.

Some, like Meri, called what I refer to as “Diabetes Speak” the Language of the Pancreas.

Others like Wendy Rose call it Diabetonese- and on a personal note, Wendi sometimes has trouble with the pronouns but can still speak Diabetonese like a pro!

Regardless if you whether you speak Diabetes Slang or Diabetes Speak proper, in order to achieve Blood Sugar Nirvana and have an acceptable #bgnow, every day, including #bgwed - not to mention an acceptable A1C that will make the harshest member of the Diabetes Police smile with joy and allow you to dine on a “totally bolus worthy” cupcake sans the guilt.

PWDs (people with diabetes) and their Type 3s have no choice but to understand the language of diabetes and all it’s many incarnations and subtle nuances.

We must not only be fluent in the Language of Diabetes, we must live the language of diabetes daily.

After fooling around with the language options on Face Book, I realized that they had so many freaking language options that it could make your head spin faster than Lynda Blair in The Exorcist.

But just to skim the tip of the FB language Iceberg, FB does recognize the following languages:

The Languages In Starwars: Yes, plural George Lucas based languages are recognized on The Face Book. And for some reason, I'm not surprised.

Texas German: A near extinct dialect that stemmed from german immigrants settling in Texas and combining German/American english with Texas colloquialisms.

Hinglish: A combined version of Hindu & English

Surrealism: To all of those who graduated college with a Literature degree, you were correct, Surrealism is indeed it’s own language!

PitKern: The Language created from the Descendents of Mutiny on the Bounty fame. It'ss a creole language based on an 18th century dialect of English and Tahitian. It is a primary language of Pitcairn

Pig Latin: “Esyay, Igpay Atinlay isway away ecognizedray anguagelay”

Dutch Sign Language: The Dutch version of Sign Language.

Playero: Please note, this is not the language of "Playas!" Playero is Guahiban language that is spoken by about 250 people in Colombia. Speakers are bilingual in Spanish - for the most part.

So for real Face Book, if Surrealism is recognized language, why isn’t Diabetes?

Diabetes can be totally surreal at times and we even have our own dialects. And I know for a fact that more people speak Diabetes than both Playero & Texas German- Not that I have anything against Playero or Texas German, bcause I don’t!

So, do you speak diabetes?