Diabetes gets old. Diabetic jokes do not. I still laugh when my wife says, “I’m low,” after having a needle in her all day. Or, after having a bout of sugar-related uncontrollable emotion, yelling, “I’m so high right now!” People have asked her in restaurants if she’s playing video games and I almost lose my milk every time. “Yes,” I say, “but there’s no extra life if she loses.”

She laughs. She’s come to have a sense of humor about the thing. But just like when children play advanced arcade games, button mashing doesn’t really help the cause.