I often think I see diabetes where there isn’t diabetes. But I didn’t realise just how much diabetes has seeped into the subconscious minds of my loved ones, too.

Last night, we were all sitting on the couch watching some TV.

There on the screen, the actress reached down and pulled something out of her bag and held it up. It was her pager. (The show was from a few years ago. Clearly.)

‘Oh,’ said Aaron after a moment, sounding confused. ‘That’s a pager.’ And then he laughed.

‘Huh?’ I said. ‘What?’ I wondered what he meant. If course it was a pager. What else could it be?

‘I thought it was an insulin pump. I thought ‘Of course it’s an insulin pump.’ Because a small box shaped thing someone is holding in their hand has to be an insulin pump.’

So apparently, it’s not just me who sees needles in tall buildings or thinks someone must have high BGLs if they drink two glasses of water in quick succession. Even if I’ve no idea if they have diabetes.

My kid sees me rattling around in my bag for something and automatically asks ‘Are you okay, mum? Are you hypo?’ expecting me to pull out a juice box or some jellybeans, when really, I’m probably just trying to find a pair of glasses.

I yawn and my mum asks me if I had a lousy ‘diabetes night’ which kept me from sleep, when really, I am probably just tired because Aaron and I were binge watching House of Cards the night before. (Oh jeez – could Claire Underwood be anymore awesome and terrifying?!)

I look distracted in a meeting and my colleague asks if she can get me anything, thinking I may be low, when really, I am probably just trying to gather my thoughts and try to pull them into something cohesive.

Or, a black square box in a show from the early 2000s is actually just a pager and not an insulin delivery device.

Normalising diabetes. It’s what happens when it is part of the landscape for almost 18 years. And those around me have had to adapt. I love them for it!

Oh, I love the Friday afternoon before a long weekend! And this morning, as I climbed into my car this was playing, thanks to my husband who was in control of the music last time I was in the car. Great way to kick of the weekend!