Month: November 2015

Advocating Long, and Hard, and Always

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Throughout November, I’ve certainly felt an increased level of energy, and activity in the diabetes community. Over the weekend, this community came together from all over the world for the occasion of World Diabetes Day. To advocate, to speak up, to raise awareness and to share.

One of the “events” to mark that occasion was the World Diabetes Day Chat over on Twitter. For 15 straight hours we shared our experiences, we tackled hard hitting issues, we bounced our advocacy efforts off of one another and we raised our voices. It was a twitterstorm of diabetes talk. It was one of the most inspiring, and empowering moments of advocacy. I feel so much more motivated and focussed towards my own advocacy efforts as a result of that chat.

When I finally put my phone down at 11am on Sunday morning, I felt kind of fizzled. I wouldn’t say that I feel burned out, but I certainly feel as though I could use a breather. And when it was time for our weekly #OzDOC chat on Tuesday night, it seemed that I wasn’t alone.

Advocacy is not easy. Advocacy is not always within our comfort zones. And advocacy does not stop. I kind of feel like Chris when it comes to advocacy.

So while I’m taking a breather here this week, advocacy, or the thought of advocacy, certainly has not stopped.

Following on from my letter to the Australian Health Minister Sussan Ley, I want to get in touch with my local Member of Parliament on Continuous Glucose Monitoring, and broader diabetes issues in general.

I’m still paying attention to the news, and to social media morning, noon and night (inbetween the occasional tweet about The Walking Dead, and my afternoon coffee and cannoli). I am truly invested in the condition that I live with, and that does not ever stop.

Diabetes Daily has offered to syndicate some of my old blog posts, which is an honour. I’m pretty excited to be able to extend the reach of my writing. Getting a professional looking profile photo, and writing a few professional sounding sentences about my purpose in this community is actually a lot harder than you might think!

This afternoon, I’m paying a visit to the Type 1 Diabetes Family Centre in my local area. Hopefully more on this in the next couple of days.

I’m thinking about how I could possibly promote the wonderful Oz Diabetes Online Community a bit more in my local area.

And I’m still thinking about #insulin4all, and how we can make change happen for those who are less fortunate. I’m feeling a bit stumped on this one…

On top of all of this, I’m still living with, and managing my own diabetes (which I don’t feel like I’m doing too well at the moment, to be honest).

In the words of my friend Ally at Very Light, No Sugar, advocacy is keeping the faith. Advocacy is advocating long and hard, and always. And we advocate because #weneedacure (as difficult as that last part is for me to believe).

My First World Diabetes Day, Twitter Style

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This weekend, I celebrated World Diabetes Day for the first time in the whole five years that I’ve lived with this darn disease.

It was my first World Diabetes Day because, prior to this year, I’ve shied away from my diabetes a lot, which you can read about here. Blogging and connecting with others in the Diabetes Online Community this year has given me a great deal of confidence in the condition that I live with. The Diabetes Online Community has sparked a real interest, and a passion for the disease that I live with. So, a big part of World Diabetes Day for me was being able to join this community for a 15 hour Twitter chat and speak up.

Throughout each hour, a guest host tweeted five questions relating to a particular diabetes topic that we would discuss. There were many thought provoking topics brought up, experiences shared and issues discussed throughout the 15 hours, many of which I’m sure I missed.

It was really great to have one day where the Diabetes Online Community came together to speak, listen, advocate and support each other. I also forged some new connections along the way, some of which I’ll share with you.

First up, Cayla. Cayla is a young college student in the States, and I really admired the enthusiasm that she maintained throughout the chat. At one point I talked about how I would love to fundraise for my Public Hospital Diabetes Clinic, and Cayla told me to go for it. There were many more.

Next up was Kristin. Kristin is the mother of an 11 year old type 1 girl. It was inspiring to hear how Kristin’s daughter leads the diabetes discussions at home, as well as setting the boundaries of what she doesn’t want to talk about. Kristin, I’m sure your daughter has a bright future ahead of her.

Next up was Kate. Kate and I found some common ground chatting about how we both find a lot of support from our families and the Diabetes Online Community, but not as many in real life.

Then there was Karen, who has lived with type 1 diabetes for 49 years. Karen told me that she didn’t feel that a lot of people understood her diabetes. Karen, I’ve felt exactly the same way many times in the past.

Finally, hats off to Chris for a marathon effort for the whole 15 hours of chat.

We’ve actually been following each other for a while, but we haven’t really chatted before. Chris is a freelance writer and owns his own SEO business.

We had a good laugh at the fact that both of our respective school teachers hated our writing, and yet now it is a significant part of each of our lives. You can also check out Chris’ blog, The Life of a Diabetic.

If the sense of diabetes community is something that appeals to you, I strongly encourage you to create a Twitter account. People in the Diabetes Online Community are very friendly, and there’s always somebody around to help you day or night. The diabetes community also comes together every Wednesday night from 9-10pm ET (US) to chat, and you can join in by following the #DSMA hashtag.

Thanks again to all of you who joined in and made my first World Diabetes Day a bright one!

Healthy Eating on World Diabetes Day

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Tomorrow, November 14, is World Diabetes Day. This year’s theme centres around healthy eating as a management tool for both types of diabetes, and as a way to prevent some cases of type 2 diabetes.

Eating well has always been a core part of my diabetes management, particularly since I’m not a big “exercise” person.

I’ve learnt a lot about my food, over the years. When I first started out, I thought that brown bread was automatically better for my blood sugar levels. I religiously stuck to low fat foods, overlooking the other nutritional content that was good or otherwise. And, there was a lot of frustrating times spent writing things down and trying to look for patterns.

Today, I do my best to adopt a diet of low glycemic index (GI) staple foods. A low GI diet ensures that my blood sugar levels rise slowly and steadily after eating, rather than spiking rapidly and then crashing. This includes Burgen bread, Weet Bix, Plain Oats, fresh fruit, crackers that are rich in wholegrains, eggs, nuts and fruit free muesli bars during the day. And home cooked meals with salad or veggies at night time. I’ve also invested in a copy of The Low GI Diet Shopper’s Guide, which is my GI bible.

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I’ve also become extra cautious of the hidden sugars in my foods this year, particularly after watching That Sugar Film. Generally, I look for something with less than 10-15g of sugar per 100g, which is 10-15% total sugar in a product. Muesli bars with choc tops, berries and yoghurt drizzle are generally a no go. Fruit free and nut bars are generally my pick, but there’s very few decent choices on the supermarket shelves here in Australia.

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Ditto for yoghurt. I can’t stomach natural yoghurt no matter how good it is for me, so I usually opt for a plain vanilla. The biggest craze at the moment seems to be those colourful, sugar laden berry glazes on the bottom of the tub that you stir through when you go to eat it for the “visual” effect. I’d be better off having a block of chocolate or bowl of ice cream instead.

Then there’s the sugar in my coffee and tea. Prior to watching That Sugar Film, I had my coffee and tea with two sugars, in the form of artificial sweeteners. Today, I’m down to half a sugar in my coffee at home, and I drink my tea straight. How did I manage this? Commitment. First cutting down to one and a half spoons, and getting used to the taste. Then cutting down to one. And then down to half. And finally, none. Even if that meant chopping my Equal tablets into halves at home, I’m so glad that I did. And I now have more of a receptor to sweetness in the other foods and beverages that I consume.

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So, that’s not to say that I’m perfect. I still eat junk food sometimes. Potato chips, ice cream, lollies, chocolate and other deserts. I buy my lunch most Fridays. I buy coffees 2-3 times a week. I still go overboard sometimes, and I have to adjust my insulin to accommodate those times where I eat more than normal. Like this one time that I won the Easter egg raffle at work (I did share it, though!).

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But a healthy diet is a big part of my diabetes management. And hopefully it’s a part of yours, too.

You can read more about World Diabetes Day on the International Diabetes Federation website here.

There will be a 15 hour Twitter chat for World Diabetes Day tomorrow starting at 7am US Eastern Time (that’s 8pm Saturday in Western Australia, and 11pm in Eastern Australia). I will be moderating the 6-7pm hour of the chat. Follow the hashtag #WDDChat15 on Twitter to join in when you can!

Perfect Since Never

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Last week, my diabetes educator gave me a new glucose meter to try out while I think about an insulin pump (I wish there was an easy answer to that question). It’s a meter that also acts as a blood glucose logbook, and calculates my insulin doses for me instead of the usual guesstimates. Unfortunately, the new meter uses a different set of test strips. Which means that if I do decide to “adopt” this meter permanently, I have a hoard of test strips (that I’ve put a lot of effort into collecting) that are completely useless. Or, I deplete my old hoard and go weeks upon weeks before I get to finally use my new meter. Wonderful!

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On the day I began using this new meter, I accidentally ripped open one of the test strips belonging to my old meter from its foil packet. I realised before it was too late, and put the unused strip back into it’s foil packet and tucked it away for next time.

Yesterday afternoon, I decided I’d use my old meter for the “odd” afternoon test. It was around 3 in the afternoon, and I’d just come home from work. I’d had lunch and given my insulin just over an hour ago, but I had a feeling that my blood sugar level might be higher than it should be. I’d probably had a few too many carbs at lunch, thanks to the Muesli bars and Old Gold dark chocolate sitting in my locker at work.

I pulled out that test strip that I’d ripped open from it’s foil packet a week ago. I pricked my finger, applied the blood to the test strip and waited. And this was the result that came back.

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I was in shock. It had been a while since I’d seen a number that low. Normally I test often enough to stop a hypo in it’s tracks, but I’m pretty confident that I can feel one coming on. Add to that the fact that I had just driven home. I couldn’t believe it. I knew that I should have been reaching for the bag of marshmallows on my desk ASAP, but I just could not believe it. 

I was in absolute disbelief.

I ripped open a fresh test strip, and tested again.

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And instantly, everything clicked.

For five years, I’ve been ripping test strips out of their individually wrapped foil packets. Ripping them open at just the right angle, to get the right end of the strip out first to stick into the meter. Without thinking twice about it.

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But it took me until today to realise that those test strips are individually wrapped in foil packets or stored in capped vials for a reason. I guess the outside air, light and temparature can wreak havoc on the results.

I love that after 5 years, I’m still learning something new about diabetes every day.

And, also this quote from Tuesday’s #OzDOC Twitter chat, just because I think it sums up diabetes perfectly.

Happy Thursday!

Type 1 Diabetes Looks Like Me

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Type 1 Diabetes looks like me.

A person who flew across Australia in July with 800 test strips, 200 syringes, 2 boxes of insulin, 2 blood glucose meters, a travel letter, a plastic sharps bottle, spare lancets, batteries and insulin prescriptions.

A person who placed his belt, watch, phone, camera, insulin pen and glucose meter onto a tray in order to get past security at Parliament House in Canberra on the afternoon of Tuesday July 7 2015.

A person who was fighting the urge to consume a whole packet of losenges to combat his sore lumpy throat on that freezing cold afternoon.

A person who stood proudly on those steps inside Parliament House, with his jacket pockets stuffed full of diabetes crap.

A person who is relatively healthy, and still able to do relatively “ordinary” things, despite having diabetes.

Type 1 Diabetes looks like me. And I’m very proud of that.

You can create your Type 1 Diabetes Looks Like Me photo at jdrf.org/t1dlookslikeme and join the sea of blue on social media this November.