You Know You Have Diabetes...

...When you get excited about whole wheat pancakes on a restaurant menu.

...When you get unexcited about whole wheat pancakes on a restaurant menu because they have nothing unsweetened to go on top of them.

... When multi-grain hot dog and hamburger buns at the local Sobey's fills your heart with joy and delight.

... When the personnel at the reception desk on the way to the lab light up and smile as you come down the stairs, and cheerfully say, "fasting blood work, right?"

... When the lab techs are drawing straws to see who's going to have to deal with your pathetic excuses for veins as you enter the lab for the fasting blood work.

... When the lab tech who drew the short straw states, "we have a hard time with you, don't we?" and proceeds to get the big syringe to suck the blood out for redistribution into the four smaller vials.

... (When you have to go every three months for blood work, and it's like old home week. Sometimes you don't want to go where everybody knows your name.)

... When the low dose Aspirin the Doctor is making you take (for the heart disease complications) keeps your blood from clotting, and leaves you bleeding where they stuck you with the needle after fasting blood work, and the spots that don't bruise from the needle get bruised from pushing on the hole with the cotton ball. For so long. To make it stop bleeding.

... When the offer of a night at Serenity Spa for two, with chocolate fondue and champaign breakfast doesn't hold much appeal. (Because it's just a little depressing to think of having to turn down most of the chocolate fondue and champaign breakfast.)

... When you get irritable and cranky because your blood sugar is low. Of course that's why I'm irritable and cranky! It is so. Shut up. No, YOU shut up. And go to bed. That twitching eye is driving me crazy.