I started Six Until Me in May of 2005 because I was tired of Googling "diabetes" and coming up with little more than a list of complications and frightening stories.  Where were all the people who were living with this disease, like I have been since I was a little girl?  Was I the only diabetic out there who felt alone?

But then I learned about blogs, and the power of sharing our stories online.  Back when I first started blogging, I was one of four or five diabetes bloggers.  Now I am a proud member of a vast diabetes community who prove every day that I'm not alone with this disease. 

I am a patient blogger, freelance writer, and social media consultant. I truly love what I do for work and am so proud to be a member of the diabetes community.

But there's more to me than diabetes. 

I keep an extensive collection of photos on my Flickr account, where you'll find my Diabetes365 experience, including a high volume of photos of my cats, and some of my daughter.  I love my camera and bring it everywhere I go.  I'm also a frequenter of Twitter and Facebook, but let's be honest - sometimes that social networking stuff can wear you down.

My husband is a clever and kind screenwriter named Chris, and we've been happily married for four years.  We're husband-and-wife, but we're also friends, and that means so much to me.  On April 15th, 2010, our daughter joined the Sparling family, and becoming her mom is the greatest honor I have ever known.  I love being part of this family.

I am quick with a compliment, a blog post, and to drain a cup of coffee.  I never mean to offend but I always mean what I say.  When it comes to my friends and my family, I am as loyal as they come.  

If you have something to say, email me.  You can also contact me by mail at Kerri Sparling, c/o Six Until Me, 716 Centre of New England Blvd, Coventry, RI, 02816. 

And if you want to get to know my editorial assistant, click here to meet Abby Bayer!

Abby has been living with type 1 diabetes since November 16th, 1998.  Currently a Registered Nurse, she's aiming to eventually become a Nurse Practitioner so she can have her own pediatric patients and help them live their best lives with diabetes.  She's been working and volunteering at Clara Barton Camp (my d-camp alma mater!) since 2008, in addition to attending and volunteering at the Circle of Life Camp in East Greenbush, NY.

And that's all the work/diabetes stuff about Abby.  But she's more than diabetes, too.  She's loves to knit and crochet (and doesn't care who knows it!), her favorite cereal is Lucky Charms, and she enjoys rapping to Lil Wayne in her car (but admits to mucking up at least 75% of the words). But my favorite random thing about her is that she thinks it's hilarious when animals have people names, like "Shawn the Cat" or "Ashley the Hermit Crab."  (I guess now is as good a time as any to remind her that she shares a name with my cat.  Abby the Cat.)

One last thing:  She's a Yankees fan.  So she and I will be at odds from April to October.  No worries.  She can hang out with my husband, who also has bad taste in baseball. 

You can reach Abby at abby (at) sixuntilme (dot) com. 

DISCLAIMER:  Abby is a Registered Nurse, but anything she writes here on SUM, or on any publication associated with SUM, is NOT medical advice.  These are just her stories about her own experiences with diabetes.  Seriously.  If you have medical questions, talk to your doctor.  Again, seriously. Any questions?  Ask Kerri.

Six Until Me can't be bought or sold. There isn't anything posted or endorsed that the author doesn't believe in.  The author believes in every stitch of this blog.  That's the bottom line.

Questions or concerns about this statement?  Please contact Kerri at kerri@sixuntilme.com.

- last updated on March 3, 2011

SPONSORSHIP NOTE and DISCLOSURES:
The owner of this blog would like to disclose the following existing relationships. These are companies, organizations or individuals that may have an impact on the content of this blog.  We are employed by or consult with: dLife, diaTribe, Incendia Health, Agamatrix, DexCom, BetterHealth LLC, Johnson & Johnson, Animas Corp, WEGO Health.  Please note:  These companies do not dictate the content found on Six Until Me.  All posts on SUM are honest and credible, despite any existing professional relationships.

DexCom is a sponsor of www.sixuntilme.com and provides DexCom products to Kerri.  All content is that of the author and not reviewed or approved by DexCom.  Animas Corporation and Kerri also have a sponsorship agreement - details outlined here.

- last updated on January 22, 2012

'It was six years, until me.

I didn’t know her before my arrival, but from what I hear, she was a good kid. Running all over the place. Devouring every book she could find. This kid even read in the shower when she was that small. Bloated, damp books strewn about the bathroom. She tortured her sister relentlessly. She tried to play the games her older brother taught her.

She smiled a lot. And laughed out loud.

I’m not sure when I was called out to stay with her, but I’ve been told it was when she was sick as a little kid on her sixth birthday. She had a fever that lasted for days. Lethargic little thing, under the careful watch of her ever-vigilant mother. I remember visiting her then, settling gently into her tiny body and making it my home. No one knew I was there. They wouldn’t know for six more months.

Six months until me.

I didn’t mean to embarrass her. But she started to wet the bed after I arrived. Just over six years old and wetting the bed again. She also had a ratty little pillow she needed to cuddle with when she fell asleep. I made her bloodsugar so high in the middle of the night that she couldn’t help it: she would wet the bed. And nothing, not the encouragement of her parents, the dreaded pee alarm, or the shame she felt, could make her stop. So she quit that cuddle pillow cold turkey. “If I can’t stop wetting the bed, then I’m going to stop this!” I felt bad. I had no intention of making her feel so frustrated.

She doesn’t remember much of her own diagnosis, but I do. I remember when they found me. I remember when she peed in the cup at the doctor’s office before she started second grade and they detected the ketones. They called her parents. Her mom and dad brought her in for follow up bloodwork. And then they found me. September 1986.

She didn’t cry much. Her mom and dad brought her to the hospital, where she stayed for two weeks. Her parents bought her a stuffed Kitty that she toted around everywhere… the doctors became used to her little face and the presence of the stuffed animal. She said that Kitty was diabetic, too, and both Kerri and Kitty received injections. The fabric of the animal became a little stained from injecting saline, but it made her smile again. She didn’t feel alone.

And she grew up. Even though I was there. She competed in spelling bees. She tap danced for 15 years. She played soccer, albeit badly. (But I had nothing to do with that.) She kissed a boy. She drove her car. She battled with her parents and confided in her friends. She wrote stories. She keeps a journal, still. She went to college. She moved out on her own. She succeeded. She failed. She adopted too many cats. She fell in love. She dreamed. And then she fell in love again.

She had six years, until me. People thought I would change her life, make her sad. Make her sick. Make her angry.

But instead, I’ve made her strong. I’ve made her fearless. And I’ve made her appreciate everything she has, everything she fights for. She hasn’t let me make her choices. She refuses to let me own her. She controls me. When she is in her last moments, whether sixty years from now or today, she will know, with certainty, that she has Lived.

Really lived.

She still smiles a lot. And laughs out loud."