The Corner Booth

Twice in the past month, my blood sugars dropped down into the hypoglycemia levels to the point where I needed two doses of glucagon. Actually, this was by choice. These induced hypos were part of a clinical study investigating a new type of glucagon that would be a lot different than what we have now. Instead of a multi-step process requiring a complex mixing of powder and liquid -- in the middle of a hypo emergency! -- this novel product would be a one-step solution. You'll just stick the tube into a nostril and press the bottom, making the dry powder glucagon shoot into your nose where it's absorbed into the system. It's kind of like Flonase spray, except it's dry and not a mist. There's a lot of novel work happening in the diabetes research world on new types of glucagon, from Epi-Pen delivery devices to work on stable forms that could be used in infusion pumps along with insulin -- and most recently we've heard about the exciting news from Texas...

Kari is one of my oldest friends from high school. She's the friend who I used to share The Corner Booth with at all hours of the day and night, writing on napkins and talking about anything and everything. We did a lot of growing up and learning who we were in those years, and although it became a less common meetup in the college and post-college years, we kept it going as much as possible up until the time I left southeast Michigan for Indiana (a whole 10 years ago). There was a time, close to a decade ago now, that Kari and her husband seriously mulled the idea of following Suzi and I to Indiana and they even had made a move on a house not too far from where we live, south of Indy. But that wasn't meant to be, and they've stayed up in our hometown of St. Clair Shores, Michigan and are thriving there as well as you possibly can. Looking back, Kari is one of the best writers I've ever had the pleasure of knowing and calling a friend. She taught me a lot about...