So I read Gary Scheiner’s Until There is a Cure. The Latest and Greatest in Diabetes Self-Care over the past week. As I’ll mention again at the bottom, I was given a free copy before it was made publicly available. While there was no requirement to write about it, we all knew it was going to happen. I suppose that’s the dirty side of these kinds of giveaways, right? But that’s another topic for another day.

“Improving your diabetes management is just that…doing better. Not perfect. Improvement requires the right attitude, education, and the ability to utilize the best tools and technologies the diabetes industry has to offer.” (I like this bit)

As noted in the title, this book covers pretty much all aspects of diabetes management. From nutrition to the different types of insulins and other diabetes-related medications, there’s a lot of content covered for a book with only 160 pages.

I did not, however, see any mention about building a medical team. This is perhaps the most personal of aspects when it comes to diabetes care, but I think there could have been a mention of the different types of medical professionals that can play a role, be it general practitioners, endocrinologists, dietitians, certified diabetes educators, and so on. Maybe same questions or factors to consider when evaluating prospects? I’m not sure what would have worked best, but it’s something that felt missing. And this is where I transition into elaborating more on the “something that felt missing” part of my comments.

I’m not sure what I was expecting out of this book, but I ultimately felt unfulfilled as I reached the last few pages. I think this is largely due to my current comfort with my personal diabetes management scheme. I’m aware of the conversations about new pump technology, but I have no interest in switching from my insulin pens. I’m already using a Dexcom G4, and if my comments about it are any indication, the value of this thing cannot be touted enough. The insulins I’m using are covered by my insurance, so there’s little motivation on my part to understand the major differences between Lantus and Levimir. As much as I appreciate knowing that there are options out there, I’m lucky enough to be in a position where I don’t feel that I need to consider any new options for my diabetes care.

This isn’t to say that the book is boring. As I said, there’s a lot of content covered in 160 pages, well 147 if you take out the index, and the text does a remarkable job of making the complex digestible. Everything presented is easy to understand which, for a non-technical guy like me and probably most people reading this book, is essential. For the newly diagnosed or the newly empowered, this book is the perfect starting point before embarking on a more focused journey to a change in your diabetes care.

In the interst of full full disclosure, there’s a section about online support that includes a list of diabetes resources and blogs – mine included. Between the shock of seeing my name in this book and my penchant for oversharing everything, I had to snap a picture. Please excuse my back-patting. It’s an honor to be included among such well-respected broken pancreases.

It’s curious to come out of this book with these mixed feelings. While this book isn’t for me, I recognize the tremendous value it can have for people with diabetes in a transitional moment. This book provides clear and concise information in an efficient manner on just about every aspect of diabetes management. I would recommend this book for anyone new to the diabetes scene or for people with diabetes that are in a rut but unsure where the next step in their diabetes care should be. Yes, I realize that these two groups likely exclude the people most likely to read this blog post. I’m not sure what to tell you. At the end of the day, this book accomplishes what it sets out to do but I just don’t think I match the audience this book is destined to resonate with most.

I was sent a free copy of Until There is a Cure two weeks prior to its full publication. There was no explicit requirement to comment on the book publicly. And clearly, if you’ve read this far, the comments posted are in no way influenced by the free-ness of this book.

For more information about Until There is a Cure, visit sprypub.com.