Inside Out

This month, I thought I'd show you the 'back side' of this stitched piece... as if it were a view "inside" the body...

Back side - hand stitching

Back side - thigh stitching

Back side - shoulder and "air" stitching

Of course these webs of stitches on the underside of this textile project, while complex, are nothing at all like the complexity found inside the human body, and its workings at the most microscopic level -- whether someone has Type 1 Diabetes or not.

We can really only understand insulin production, release and utilization in very elementary ways, with very basic images, such as this one from an article published on the Beta Cell Biology Consortium website:

Diagram of Insulin Secretion

And so I stitch on, trying to represent T1D's Mark on the Body...from the outside...in...

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

    your works are wonderful,

    I know that full well.

- Psalm 139:14 (NIV)

Feb 28/March 1, 2015: Rotation, Rotation

Just for a lark, I checked the topic of my February 28, 2014 MOB post...and it was about rotating injection sites around the body.

So was my January 31, 2015 post.

And...what was the hot topic at JDRF for the end of February 2015?  Lipohypertrophy!

Say what?!

"Lipohypertrophy" is the medical term for the fatty tissue lumps that develop as a result of too many subcutaneous insulin injections in one place...and it's the reason rotation of insulin injection sites is important for those with T1D -- so important, in fact, that JDRF Canada just concluded an entire week devoted to Lipohypertrophy Awareness. (Link to JDRF Canada's Facebook Page.)

Lipo Larry Teaches JDRF Canada 

About Lipohypertrophy

And...that's why I too rotate the stitches marking insulin injections -- their Mark on the Body.  In February, I moved from the abdomen to the left thigh....and yes, I also moved to a new finger on the left hand...with the stitches that mark blood testing.

(L) "Injection" stitches on left thigh
(R) "Blood test" stitches on ring finger, left hand

Type 1 Diabetes: It Leaves Its Mark on the Body

Additional resources:
Lipohypertrophy: What's the Big Deal 
JDRF Canada on Facebook