A D-unfriendly Valentine

T1D can run, but it can't hide.

Yesterday was Valentine’s Day. The day when we tell each other how much we love them – with chocolate. Yes, the tradition in our society is that, the more we love our partners, the more sweet chocolate we give them (which, perhaps ironically, makes more of them to love! But I digress…).

Growing up, I can’t remember feeling deprived because I didn’t have Somebody to Love. All I could think of is that “It’s Valentine’s day, dammit, and I Want Candy!” (musical aside: if you click on any of the links in this paragraph, the former is much better than the latter). What’s a person with diabetes to do?  Or rather, what’s a PWD’s partner to do?

1) You could go the sugar-free route. But when they say that, when consuming sugar alcohols, “individuals may experience a mild laxative effect” they’re not kidding. Don’t underestimate this one.

2) You could say “the hell with it”, SWAG bolus for 100 carbs of sweet, chocolatey goodness, and hope your body won’t hate you in the morning. (it will)

3) Or, you could  forget about sweet food (or any food, for that matter), altogether. It’s not all that much fun that way, but inevitably, most relationships adopt #3 as the norm anyway.

I pretty much follow #3 and don’t do anything special for my wife, except for scribbling something sappy inside of a Hallmark. And I expect nothing different in return. (Valentine’s Day, by the way, is also my son’s birthday – and that’s more of an occasion to celebrate).

I’m not a big fan of Valentine’s Day, D or no-D, but next to Thanksgiving, it is one of the more difficult holidays to deal with.

How did you and your diabetes celebrate February 14th, and – in retrospect – was it a good choice?

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