Special Jewelry

There is a very special niche out there for the special jewelry to which I refer. I have always been fascinated by it since I got my first ICD (Implantable Cardiac Defibrillator) to accommodate my OTHER pet disease, Long QT Syndrome.

The jewelry of which I speak is none other than medical ID jewelry. I received a brochure from an ID jewelry company about a month after my surgery. I flipped through the catalog and immediately threw it away. NO WAY, I thought. I already had a big scar on my chest and I certainly wasn’t going to add insult to injury.

Fast forward to 2007 and I was on Google today, as I often am, and I ran across a website with these quotes from many a satisfied customer:

"I just received the (Medical ID) bracelet... it is beautiful!"

"I was so excited to finally find a nice website that had beautiful diabetic bracelets"

"This medical id bracelet is just so beautiful and fits great...thank you so much for something "different".

"After 25 years of not wearing any medical id, I finally found something I will wear.”

HUH?????????????

Hmmm…CLEARLY this called for further investigation. I have yet to run across a ‘beautiful’ or ‘different’ medical ID bracelet. One that doesn’t make me feel 60 or one that doesn’t shout, ‘Hey look at me, I have a disease!’ There is just no subtle way to wear jewelry that marks you as a diabetic or a heart patient.

And I have certainly never seen any jewelry that would move me to write a letter of thanks to the company. So, upon further investigation, it was as I thought. Pretty beads, charms and clasps set in sterling silver delicately surrounding A BIG UGLY medical ID tag.

Although it is a valiant effort on the companies part, I just don’t like them. I don’t want to wear them even though I know I should.

BUT, in the spirit of ‘when hell freezes over’, if I did wear one, I have narrowed my picks to the following:

This one would be for the days I was feeling sporty:

And this gorgeous number, inspired by a Tiffany & Co. Design, would be my 'everyday' choice:



So, in the end, I am afraid my opinion of medical ID jewelry has not changed.

Perhaps Jacob the Jeweler will come out with some fabulous diabetic bling, but until then, I will take my chances.

Update: Upon awaking here in Norway, I had an email from Sara of the Nefariouspoo blog and she gave me this link and to a great diabetic bracelet.
http://insearchofbalance.wordpress.com/about/
Now that is one I would wear! It is very pretty in an eclectic kind of way.

Thick Waisted

Sadly, I took my measurements and my waist was 37 inches, officially making me ‘thick waisted’. I know that women with a waist circumference of more than 35 inches have a dramatically increased chance of developing Type 2 diabetes. I don’t know why I have never measured my waist before. I think I am still clinging to the days of high school when it was 24 inches.

Of course a lot of things were different in high school and I wouldn’t go back if you PAID me, although the music WAS good (80’s you know). Remember this guy?? Who could forget the flock?





So, I started Weight Watchers to shrink my waist. Oh, and also to get healthy. But I’m not going to lie; a strong motivator is to be a skinny little hottie once again.

kinda like her...only different.





















But that’s NOT my focus. (Although I am sure Gisele is now probably yours!)


Not that I have ever been skinny, skinny. Although there is a picture of me from a dance recital when I was 12 looking like I had twigs for legs. I was a late bloomer!! But AFTER I bloomed, I was a muscular gal. My uncle once called me ‘stout’. I still get annoyed by that memory. Use that word to describe beer, not a woman!!

I’ve never really worked out or dieted, and I have gained weight steadily and proportionately since I was 18. I did lose about 20 pounds before my wedding, and some of those pics are on the blog a few entries down. Then I moved to Norway and gained it all back. Suddenly I was a diabetic and now I discover that I am thick waisted.

2 inches too thick.

Suddenly there is a reason for my mysterious Diabetes. 37 reasons. I’m officially on the ‘high risk’ list. I’m a code RED.

So, I am doing something about it! I’m shrinking my waist and most likely, the rest of my body will shrink with me. And I do promise, faithful reader, not to end up looking like this: