Bite the Wax Tadpole

I'm not even sure what brought me around to this way of thinking, it just seems like one day a few weeks ago I had a Coke instead of a Diet Coke and I truly tasted the difference.

I was never under any illusions that Diet Coke tasted like regular, but the extra calories seemed like such a waste. On the other hand, there's the taste factor: diet soda tastes weird, and kind of chemically-scary when you stop to consider.

Of diet sodas, Diet Dr. Pepper is the least offensive by a large margin. After that comes Fresca, if you like that sort of thing. (For the record, I do. I will probably continue to have the occasional Fresca even though it's a diet-only choice.)

Now, soda is bad for you any way you slice it. The citric acid rots your teeth and generally isn't good for your body. I freely admit that soda is one of my worst vices--it's right up there with glitter eyeshadow and dodging phone calls--but I like the bubbles.

My pancreas works beautifully now, and I guess that I finally trust it to continue working. It's been well over a year since the transplant and only now am I getting used to my body providing its own insulin. I don't know what took so long, except that acceptance is a gradual process.

I no longer identify myself as diabetic, which isn't exactly accurate. I'm not sure exactly what to say about it, though. Technically I am, since my native pancreas does not produce insulin. That makes me a non-practicing diabetic.

I guess that means it's OK for me to have a Coke every once in a while.

before - after