Bruising happens.

Black-and-blues are inevitable with multiple daily injections (MDI) considering the sheer number of times we must poke ourselves each year.  None of this is natural for the body to endure, but it is necessary.

As I flinched while a nurse removed bandages from my back at a recent medical appointment, she paused and asked if she was hurting me.  “It’s okay,” I mumbled, more concerned that my tough exterior was noticeably crumbling down than I was about any physical pain.  After the initial diabetes diagnosis shock at approximately age 3, I bottled up my emotions in order to survive.  We might need a stronger corkscrew to open the floodgates at this point…

The visible reminders of insulin injection bruises on my abdomen are an aspect of MDI that I grapple with emotionally.  I am forced to admit that diabetes is right there looking back at me in the mirror, and that sometimes it does hurt me whether I want to concede that point or not.

Admittedly, this is a morbidly weird artistic endeavor.  But I decided to have a little fun by altering a photo of Mega Bruiseasaurus, which has camped out on my stomach just in time for bikini season.  The bruise’s purple hues became a sea turtle’s shell, and my jeans morphed into the water in the background.  Inquisitive face, green limbs, and a pointy tail sprouted up through the hard shell, determined to show off the good stuff that diabetes sometimes clouds from our views.  Bruiseasaurus is no longer the greatest creature in the jungle.  Sally the Sea Turtle has marked her territory, too.  She is the life of the party, after all.