She's a talker, this one. Her hands never really stop. You just have to accept that the swirl that is her brightly painted fingernails will pause only briefly to reposition her fashion-forward eyeglasses, drawing your focus to her gleaming gaze, or to frame her face just so, the exquisite finishes on the tips of her fingers surpassed only by their exact timing to underline not only her jaw but also the point she's making.
Her high-beam smile. Her hair pulled back. The fireworks of color on her hands. It's a magnificent sight to behold, her bubbly personality spilling out of the screen.
The one and only Glitter Glucose, diva of the diabetes care world, is on the line with a couple of Midwesterners. And so long as we're in her presence, we're instantly transformed into full members of her Glitterati, "girly, fashionable and fun," as our glitzy and glamourous creator of this moment ordained. And so it shall be.
All she wants in return: "For people joining our club that they don't want to join to feel comfortable."
Glitter Glucose — superhero alter ego, personal influencer brand and, yes, who she says she's always been at her core — is simply Paloma to her friends and family. Or Ms. Kemak if you're formal.
While Paloma Kemak was born 30-something years ago (we didn't press for more detail), Glitter Glucose showed up on the scene only in the last few years. She's here now, sharing how her experience evolved from ignoring her chronic condition entirely to pricking her fingers to manage her diabetes to fully embracing the FreeStyle Libre 2 continuous glucose monitoring system.* Her mission: To create a community that helps others who find themselves as she found herself when she was first diagnosed and joined that "club" she had no interest in joining either.
"I spent two years of my time from 2013 on miserable," Kemak said. "I want to be that face and be that friend so when they're living their 2013, they look at me and they're like, 'Oh, we look alike, we have the same thing. Look at her, she's having fun and living her life.'"
She's coming to us from her gym, where she's fit us in her busy schedule. As other members walk around her holding court into her Mac, AirPods firmly in position, she's pulling us into her gravity. Two Gs worth.
Miss Arizona, as she likes to call herself — unofficial, sure, but Lord help you if you disagree — is never not on the move. Which is just what you'd expect from someone who sets her life by her schedule, not her diabetes.
"Diabetes now fits my life," Kemak said. "I don't have to choose my life to fit diabetes."
Glitter Glucose Enters, Stage Fright
Paloma Kemak was born on a chicken farm near Maricopa, Arizona — not to be confused with the semi-infamous county of the same name in the state — a town in the valley outside Scottsdale.
From a young age, she was always into being put together with the latest styles and trends. She attended Fashion Institute of Design in California and graduated with a degree in fashion merchandising before going to work as a sales rep for a fashion accessory company, traveling around the Southwest.
A dream job in her early 20s.
But her health was taking a nightmarish turn.
It didn't add up. Something was … off.
"I felt so tired and so thirsty and had no energy. And I was like, 'This is my dream job. Why am I not excited and energized?'" Kemak said.
2013. Diabetes.
Time and space being relative, the distance from her doctor's lips to really registering in her ears took something in the neighborhood of two years. Adulting is not always what it's made out to be. Her new reality was decidedly not in her plans and for those two years, she kept it to the side.
"Even though I had a glucometer and insulin and syringes, I wasn't doing it. I wasn't feeling any better," Kemak said. "When I got online and started seeing other people living with diabetes, it made me want to take control. And I saw people living their full life. Feeling good. Feeling healthy. And it reminded me of how I used to feel before diagnosis. That motivated me."
Finally, exhausted from not dealing with her situation head-on, she unleashed a new version of her truest self. And that is how Glitter Glucose was born.
"When I created Glitter Glucose, I was like, 'This is me. These are my people, this is my community,'" Kemak said. "Initially, 100% of my followers had diabetes. But at this point, only about 60% have diabetes.”
Her site is "not just like, diabetes diabetes diabetes," she said. "When I started, my page was, 'I'm a diabetic.' And then I transitioned to, 'I'm a girl with diabetes.' And now it's just like, 'I'm a girl living my life who happens to have diabetes.'"
Paloma Kemak
Paloma is Learning, Glitter Glucose is Sharing
Kemak loves FreeStyle Libre portfolio because it's "so small, so discreet, so sleek."
She loves that it restores her control over her life that had gone missing.
She understands how it's improved her life in — as it turns out — precisely measurable ways every minute. That's the beauty of life-changing technology: You can know what's up with your body.
"When I first started it, I couldn't believe it," Kemak said. "It was too good to be true.
"If I wanted to know my glucose level, it was a whole event. Let me get out my kit. Let me swab my finger. Let me get blood out of my finger. It was just such a thing."
That "too good to be true" stuff? It was real.
"For the first week or so, I would scan and then I would check (with her kit and a fingerprick) because I just couldn't believe it was that easy," Kemak said. "Once I came to the realization that this is cool and really helpful to my life, I let go of the routine fingerpricking.1 I just feel free."
And her site has a growing community of people looking to learn from her situation and feel the same relief.
"I've gotten so many messages from moms as they're in the hospital, and they're Googling 'diabetes' and they're like, 'I found you!' when my kid was diagnosed," Kemak said.
The takeaway for those moms — "My kid's OK. My kid's gonna live their life." — is for everyone, really, and billions more over the next decade.
Live your life. Paloma Kemak is living hers.
Our time with Glitter Glucose is too short. The call is nearing its conclusion. You can feel her gravity letting us go, like we're floating back to our previous existence. Our sojourn to visit the Glitterati's queen is coming to an end. By now, it's clear it's not just her hands. No part of her is stopping. There are places to visit, people to see, all the things to do.
"Diabetes comes where I go," she said. "I don't have to think twice. I don't have to hesitate. I just feel great."
Till next time, your highness.
Reference
1Fingersticks are required if your glucose alarms and readings do not match symptoms or when you see Check Blood Glucose symbol during the first 12 hours.
*Paloma Kemak is a paid ambassador for FreeStyle Libre portfolio. The views expressed are not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice. Individual symptoms, situations and circumstances may vary.
IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION
FREESTYLE LIBRE 2 SYSTEM
FREESTYLE LIBRE 14 DAY SYSTEM
FreeStyle Libre 14 day system: Failure to use FreeStyle Libre 14 day system as instructed in labeling may result in missing a severe low or high glucose event and/or making a treatment decision, resulting in injury. If readings do not match symptoms or expectations, use a fingerstick value from a blood glucose meter for treatment decisions. Seek medical attention when appropriate or contact Abbott at 855-632-8658 or https://www.FreeStyle.abbott/us-en/safety-information.html for safety info.
FREESTYLE LIBRE 2 SYSTEM
FreeStyle Libre 2 system: Failure to use FreeStyle Libre 2 system as instructed in labeling may result in missing a severe low or high glucose event and/or making a treatment decision, resulting in injury. If glucose alarms and readings do not match symptoms or expectations, use a fingerstick value from a blood glucose meter for treatment decisions. Seek medical attention when appropriate or contact Abbott at 855-632-8658 or https://www.FreeStyle.abbott/us-en/safety-information.html for safety info.
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