You know you're a diabetic classical guitarist when

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1

You know you're a diabetic classical guitarist when:

1) The first thing all your guitar buddies do when you tell them you're diabetic is worry about how you test -- because your finger tips are far too precious to poke. They all breathe a huge sigh of relief when you reassure them that you can test on the sides of your fingers;

2) You have to super-size all your sheet music because when your blood glucose is shifting around, those little black dots start to swim into one another's lanes on the staff;

3) Your emergency kit includes (among other things) test strips, alcohol prep pads and a set of six D'Addario nylon guitar stings (medium tension), a capo and a nail file;

4) The last thing you do before you leave for your lesson is check your blood sugar and correct and/or snack because you do NOT want to have to stop your lesson again to test (see number 5);

5) You have tested your guitar teacher's blood glucose because after watching you test yourself, he got curious enough to want to know his level, too -- and you laughed quietly to yourself because his excellent normal reading is going to improve your "before lunch" average, at least for a while (heh) -- too bad that does't work with an HbA1C!!!

6) You have to take a big bottle of water with you to each lesson, duet practice session or open mic, because sometimes performance anxiety makes your sugars go up and that makes you soooooo thirsty;

7) You're miffed when you discover that your meter and your electronic tuner do NOT use the same size lithium batteries, so you have to carry two spares instead of one;

8) The more time, effort, energy, money and heart you have invested in your music, the more terrifying the thought of neuropathy in your fingers becomes, or damage to your auditory nerves -- so much so that Dr. Bernstein's "30 grams of carbs per day" doesn't sound so outlandish, after all. You realize that loving and learning music, becoming friends with other musicians, going to concerts and guitar festivals, etc. is giving your burned out old diabetic self something beautiful to THRIVE for.

2

I don't know if it's legitimate or not, but I would hope the more you exercise your fingers with the fine, precision movements of playing guitar, the less likely it is that they'd want to quit on you.

One of my biggest regrets in life is never learning to play a musical instrument. I know they say "there's still time", but with a hectic family life with work and two kids, there's really not. You should be proud that you've got such a talent and passion for it.

3

Bravo Jen! Keep those numbers in check and we'll see you at the Benroya!