I write occasionally about diabetes because I like to write, and you have to write about what you know. But it’s not easy. To write about my condition is to write about a scary unknown.

When I was first diagnosed, I couldn’t even stand the sound of the word “diabetes.” Whenever I heard it, it conjured up images of pale, sweaty flesh and a smothering feeling like some disease-laden fog, rolling in to make me gag. I definitely couldn’t stomach reading descriptions of injecting insulin and the horrible complications that can lurk in the future. Ignorance felt like bliss, even though it also meant paralysis in my self-care.