Tag Archives : humor

The Cyclist in “Stop Diabetes” Lycra


It was the perfect day for a bike ride for me, and it was an embarrassing one for my wife. At 7 a.m. I clicked into the pedals on my dark blue Specialized Allez road bike and pushed off toward my friend Ed’s house. I looked up at the cloudless pastel blue sky with yellows and reds radiating from the east. Goosebumps appeared…

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The Diabetic Dad and the Delayed Delivery


My wife and I were in the delivery room about to give birth to our first child. Now, before I get too far into this story, I need to explain that my wife, Heidi, is from New Jersey. If that fact means nothing to you, go to Netflix and watch a couple episodes of “Jersey Shore.” Or don’t and be…

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Living Healthy with Diabetes Is Like Mountain Biking


I’ve learned a lot about living a healthy life with type-1 diabetes on my mountain bike. Now, let me be clear. I’m not writing as an expert professional cyclist or an expert endocrinologist. (I’m not a doctor, although my wife does sometimes call me “Dr. Love.” Actually, that’s not true at all, but I wish it was.) I’m just an ordinary guy who…

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Diarithmetic


Diabetes is not for dummies. People who keep tight control of their diabetes must be either mathemeticians or own (and know how to operate) a Texas Instruments calculator like the one pictured on the right. Let’s do the math: That’s one unit for every ten carbohydrates, plus one more unit for every 40 mg/dl over my target mg/dl, minus an expected value of glucose fluctuation based…

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The Year I Was Banned from the Olympic Games


1972 was a big year for me–the year of the Olympic Games, and I was participating. I was 12 years old and won 27 gold medals. At least I should have. The other competitors, Tim Ward, age 11, and Jeff Ward, age 10, competed too. The events all took place in my backyard, garage, basement, and around our neighborhood on…

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Camp Hamwi and THE Shot


Relying on your mom to give you your insulin injections has its disadvantages, especially when she’s mad at you and hasn’t taken (what she called) her “nerve pills.” Like the time when I was 13 and I got mud on her freshly cleaned kitchen floor, and later when she gave me my shot, she wiggled and twisted the needle around…

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How NOT to Teach an 11-Year-Old Boy to Give Himself a Shot


I could give a shot to an orange, a grapefruit, and a nurse, but I couldn’t inject myself. I was 11 years old and had just been diagnosed with Type-1 diabetes. I spent the next three weeks in the hospital, where the nurses schemed to teach me to give my own shot. After three weeks of trickery, deceit, and blackmail,…

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