Sweet Invisible Body: Reflections on a Life with Diabetes - Hardcover

Roney, Lisa

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0805056254 ISBN 13: 9780805056259

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co., 1999

Synopsis

An uncommonly intelligent and honest look at how living with a disease can affect every aspect of a person's life.

Diabetes is one of the strangest and most insidious of all diseases: a diabetic can give the appearance of robust health and often lead a long and active life, but within moments can be catastrophically ill, even dead. Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States, where over 16 million people have the disease. The related statistics are staggering: diabetes makes an individual two to four times more likely to have heart disease or a stroke and it is the leading cause among adults, of blindness, renal disease, and lower-limb amputations. Lisa Roney was diagnosed with diabetes in 1972, just before her twelfth birthday. Sweet Invisible Body is her candid and exquisitely written account of living with a disease that directly impacts the choices she makes in every aspect of her life every day, from food and exercise to career and family. Moreover, and most remarkable, is Roney's willingness to intelligently explore and reveal the usually hidden consequences of living with a disease such as diabetes: how it erodes self-esteem, induces feelings of vulnerability, influences sexual choices, and leads to a heightened awareness of mortality. Full of wisdom, humor, and practical advice, Sweet Invisible Body will be welcomed by diabetics and their friends and families who have never had a spokesperson as articulate, honest, and insightful as Lisa Roney.

About this title

About the Author

Lisa Roney is currently working toward a Ph.D. in literature at Penn State. Her first short story, "Nothing by Comparison," was published in Harper's in August 1996. This is her first book.

Reviews

A poignant, painful life story. Roney was diagnosed with diabetes in 1972, just before she turned 12. Since then, it has turned her life into a balancing act, an ongoing internal reckoning as to ``whether a given interaction is worth the energy, about the timing of every walk, jog, movie, lecture, airline flight, nap, phone conversation, and meal.'' Her story is cold water in the face of the oft-held attitude that diabetes is simply a condition easily handled by medication and a prudent lifestyle. Rather, decades later, Roney has come to wonder whether she has an identity apart from the disease, or are they so inextricably linked that by now she is defined by diabetes? Beginning at her diagnosis, she paints a wrenching portrait of a life lived apart. While appearing outwardly normal, Roney's reality was, and is, that an error in her calculations, a delayed meal or exercise session (often caused by thoughtless friends who couldn't, or wouldnt, understand Roney's situation) could mean insulin reaction, even coma and a very real brush with death. Roney brings home clearly the extent of her loneliness and separateness, needing to be always on the alert for a life-threatening episode of low blood sugar (particularly common in the middle of the night). Several long-term relationships with boyfriends have foundered, and Roney lives, sometimes perilously, alone. The realities of diabetes also altered Roney's career course. ``As I grew up, the official medical word was that I could do anything I wanted to do with my life. Well, except to become an airline pilot, bus driver, or any other kind of employee in control of large equipment.'' A talented visual artist, Roney chose instead to become a writer because of the very real threat of blindness later in life. Courageous, obstinate, poetic, Roney paints us a crystal clear picture here: a devastating portrait of a young life altered by diabetes. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

More than 16 million people in the United States have diabetes. Despite the ability of medicine to control the disease partially, its long-term complications make it the seventh leading cause of death in this country. Diabetics are more likely to suffer from heart disease, strokes, blindness, renal disease, and lower-limb amputations. Roney was diagnosed with diabetes in 1972, just before her 12th birthday, and her life has been indelibly marked by the physical and psychological effects of the disease. Candid, beautifully written, and touching, this exploration of the hidden sequelae of diabetes will spark recognition in anyone who lives with a chronic condition, especially those physical and psychological conditions that are invisible to casual observers. Suitable for the general public and highly recommended for all libraries.AStacey Hathaway-Bell, State Lib. of Louisiana, Baton Rouge
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0805056254
• ISBN 13: 9780805056259
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288