my festive cocktail… I promise it’s actually delicious
(recipe at the bottom)
(cw: talk about death [specifically mine, theoretically])
As of today I have (officially) stayed alive with Type 1
diabetes for ten years1. I’ve done a little bit of reading on the history of Type
1 treatment, one of the first acute conditions turned
chronic through medical intervention (thank you, Drs.
Banting, Macleod, and Best). The longer I live, the more “I
would have died by now” milestones I pass, and the more I am
reminded of how grateful I am for advances in diabetes
treatment. I have passed the “I would have lived this long
on a starvation diet” milestone. In a few years, I’ll
probably make it past the “lethal atherosclerosis” line,
then the “renal failure” line, assuming I retain access to
current diabetes and other medical technology2. I’ll probably also mostly avoid the non-lethal sequelae,
the blindness and the amputations and the peripheral
neuropathies. Apparently in a few years I’ll need to start
taking statins even if my cholesterol is good, because
diabetes often brings vascular complications. As good as
diabetes technology is, I am, fundamentally, manually
running one of the primary metabolic loops in the human
body. It’s decidedly imperfect even when running at top
performance.
It's really tough for me to read this post which is, to a
substantial degree, about the hypothetical of my wife dying. But I
think it's worth sharing both as a celebration of the fact that she
is very much alive and as a meditation on what life is like with
only the ongoing application of modern medical treatment between
oneself and the void.
Also, I gotta say, I am pretty proud of that beverage. The
flavors meld really well—I wanted to make sure the black sesame was
still very much the primary note, which it absolutely is, while
giving it a bit of richness with the scotch and cacao as well as a
touch of liveliness with the amaretto and absinthe. I might actually
seek out more black sesame ice cream to be able to make this for
friends.
It's really tough for me to read this post which is, to a
substantial degree, about the hypothetical of my wife dying. But I
think it's worth sharing both as a celebration of the fact that she
is very much alive and as a meditation on what life is like with
only the ongoing application of modern medical treatment between
oneself and the void.
Also, I gotta say, I am pretty proud of that beverage. The
flavors meld really well—I wanted to make sure the black sesame was
still very much the primary note, which it absolutely is, while
giving it a bit of richness with the scotch and cacao as well as a
touch of liveliness with the amaretto and absinthe. I might actually
seek out more black sesame ice cream to be able to make this for
friends.
