Winter Regimen

When the air outside is cold and crisp and dry, so you put on extra moisturizer and chapstick.

When the chill sneaks into your bedroom at night, so you pull out the space heater and the extra blankets.

When you're fighting off a cold and it's also the holiday season and the air is filled with carbs and sugar and everything nice.....

So you start to wonder, maybe I should just be drinking insulin with my breakfast? Brushing my teeth with it? Showering in it?  

NyQuil, Nectar of the Gods

A brief vignette:

"Hhrrrrrrrmmmmmphhhhh" she groans."I feel awful," she whispers hoarsely, each word a bristle of barbed wire forcing it's way out of her constricted throat. She shivers uncontrollably while she waits for the shower to heat up. She crouches down under the spray to give her aching muscles a rest and feels the gentle drumming of her headache swirl up and surround her.

She emerges much later, hair wet, no cleaner than before, wrapped in layers of clothing. She swaddles herself in blankets, leaves all the lights on for her boyfriend (it's 9 pm). She swallows her pills, packed with the promise of a glorious night's sleep and settles down to watch a movie and drift off gently.

But first, before she can drift, she swallows down a glass of juice and a fruit bar. She takes her Dexcom, sets the alerts to maximum volume, and hands it to him to put on his side of the bed. He takes her life in his hands and sets it down, assuming the responsibility, so she can have just. one. night. of rest.