It’s not the low so much as the high. The 220 mg/dl at 4 am. I don’t eat much pasta and when I do I usually eat half a portion to keep my carbs lower. But someone else picked the restaurant and I feared as soon as I heard the name, “The Spaghetti House.” Sure enough, the menu consisted only of 7 different spaghetti and ravioli dishes.

Did he know I have diabetes? Yes. So does his sister. But we can say his knowledge only goes so far. There were no other restaurants open to change venue, so I decided to take a ‘diabetes vacation.’ I ate with abandon, almost the entire plate of spaghetti and mussels and one bruschetta.

As you can also see around midnight my blood sugar was bottoming out. So I ate a bit of fruit to raise it. Oh, Lordie. I can only guess the pasta, doused by me in olive oil was giving me a slower than slow rise due to the fat.

The moral of the story: it’s always a new day. Some days you clinch it, some you don’t. But let’s all take a breath, admit to the complexity of having to be a nuerobiologist, dietitian, mathematician, sociologist and archeologist to manage this condition. In my book, that’s flowing with the numbers, as they rise and fall, doing the best I can to keep guiding them back into range.

This also comes with the caveat that there’s no self-blame. I’m responsible for being familiar with my patterns and how various foods and activities influence my blood sugar. But that’s it, I make my best effort, most of the time, and adjust given the outcome. And the occasional diabetes vacation deserves to be on the playlist given all we handle.

I was reminded of this while recently at the EASD. Medtronic has been running this campaign for a few years now. It’s called the Big Blue Challenge. Post a video of yourself on social media balancing a blue balloon, while doing an everyday activity, and Medtronic will donate $5 to Life for a Child. Life for a Child is often the only organization that gets much needed insulin and supplies to children in need around the world.

The Big, Blue Challenge has raised $200,000 since 2020 which has been donated to Life for a Child.

All the instructions you need, like how to upload your video, how to let Medtronic know you’ve done it, are here. Medtronic will even send you a balloon.

The main goal of the #BlueBalloonChallenge, is to change people’s perception about diabetes by creating a recognizable metaphor:

“Living with diabetes is like doing everything you do in your daily life while keeping a balloon in the air. It’s a constant balancing act”

I can certainly attest to that, as can we all. Take a look: what can you lose, while you benefit those less well off?

Bastian Hauck above, founder of #dedoc who sponsored my trip to EASD last week.

While at the EASD conference (European Association for the study of diabetes) last week in Hamburg, Germany, diabetes stigma was a large topic of conversation. Not in the scientific programs, of course, but for those of us there as #dedoc voices and several health professional who also realize the damaging consequences of stigma: shame, burden, burnout, guilt, giving up one’s self-management.

Chantel Mathieu, President of EASD, whom I didn’t know before but now so admire, also gave a committed passionate talk why this has to end.

If you would like to contribute to the effort to end diabetes stigma, you can read more about it and sign the petition here. This is a well thought out movement, not just an idea. I was proud to add my name to the list.