It Goes Through Me refers to the etymological meaning of the word, "diabetes". The word derives from the ancient Greek prefix dia-, which means "through", and the verb bainein, which means "to go". It goes through.
It goes through. But, what goes through? And, through what does it go?
Anyone who has observed a transition from non-diabetic to diabetic will recall the unquenchable thirst and the corresponding river of urine that comes when a body tries to lower its level of glucose without insulin. A river of water goes through the body. But the absence of insulin means the body cannot metabolize food. So although it eats voraciously, the body starves. Every meal goes through the body. In ancient Greece, people who did not make insulin could be identified by the water and the food that ineffectually rushed through their bodies. It goes through. It goes through my body.
Today, insulin*, glucometers, and planning ensure that the water and the food do not go through diabetics in the same unavoidable way. In many cases diabetes keeps us healthier than we would have been as non-diabetics.** But the irrelevance of the literal meaning of "diabetes" makes room for a figurative interpretation. Although my life is not limited by having diabetes, diabetes is a huge part of my life. It is a part of me. It permeates who I am.
It goes through me.
* Thanks, Canada!
** I am certain I would do nothing but sit, eat pizza, and drink white russians all day long if I were not required to consider every single thing I eat or drink.
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