Month: February 2018

My Story.

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I recently submitted this piece of writing to a diabetes publication in the hope that they might consider featuring it at some point. While I was sad (and surprised) that they weren’t able to accommodate it, I’m incredibly proud of it. You’ve probably seen bits and pieces of my story scattered through this blog, so today I invite you to take the journey with me in the comfort of one blog post. From the moment I first began developing symptoms of diabetes right through to today where I feel supported, loved and owing a whole heap of debt to my diabetes tribe all over the world!

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I’m one of the privileged few who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes a few weeks shy of my 18th birthday.

My first noticeable symptom was weight loss, both on the scales and in front of the mirror. I thought nothing of it. A few weeks later I found myself unable to concentrate on my uni assignments for three straight days, distracted by feelings of extreme lethargy and thirst.

Within an hour of going to work the following morning, I lacked the energy to stand on my own two feet and had to call it a day. I visited a GP, who told me I had a virus and sent me home on hot fluids and bed rest.

I spent the next three days in bed, something that I rarely ever do when I’m sick. My thirst was insatiable. My mouth was devoid of all it’s saliva, making solid foods very unappealing. When I woke up on the fourth day feeling nauseated and short of breath, my Dad drove me to hospital where I later learned I was in a state of Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA).

Initially, I did feel a brief sense of dread at the prospect of having diabetes forever. However after feeling so poorly for several weeks, I was simply relieved to have my energy back! I don’t remember actually processing my type 1 diagnosis all that much right away. I really just had to dive back into uni, work and turning 18!

I left hospital knowing how to inject insulin and check my blood sugar. My parents were a great support to me at home, and I had a wonderful diabetes educator who I saw at the hospital diabetes clinic.

While I count myself lucky that I went through adolescence without diabetes, being diagnosed as a young adult presented a unique set of challenges. Nobody knew that I had diabetes. I didn’t grow up with it, I didn’t go through school with it, and it wasn’t simply there for the world to see. I didn’t know life any other way.

I wasn’t able to experience diabetes camps or other youth-oriented activities that would have automatically connected me to other people with diabetes. Being diagnosed at an age where I was fairly independent in my management, I didn’t have a parent or caregiver to share this experience with me first hand.

Diabetes quickly became a very isolating thing to deal with. Diabetes didn’t feel normal. I felt awkward. Different. Moreso at a time while others my age were venturing out into the night partying and drinking like there was no tomorrow, while I was sitting at home after my 18th birthday party eating my way out of a low.

I was really conscious of my diabetes. I checked my blood sugar and injected insulin in private. There were times where I didn’t leave home prepared. I didn’t know how to talk about something that felt so unexplainable. It became easy to keep diabetes to myself, and assume that nobody else would understand.

Diabetes was extremely tough to manage, and in hindsight I was probably weaned away from diabetes education too early. I wasn’t very motivated or engaged in my management, and diabetes definitely produced a lot of emotion.

In 2015 I began writing my blog. Writing has always been my passion, and I knew that I had wanted to start a blog for quite some time. I didn’t think that there was much out there on the interwebs from people actualy living with diabetes, however I was quickly proven wrong!

I began using Twitter, where I found a lot of other people with diabetes openly sharing their experiences. I discovered a group called the Oz Diabetes Online Community (#OzDOC), where weekly diabetes themed chats took place on Tuesday nights. I’m also in a few closed groups on Facebook, and I can see how powerful they are in providing a safe space for other people with diabetes to seek peer support.

Online peer support eventually extended into the offline world. I’ve been lucky enough to receive invites to a few diabetes conferences and events, where I’ve been able to put faces to some of the folks I’ve met online. The feeling is so surreal!

Here in Perth, I’ve also been working with an amazing Young Adult Diabetes Committee. We meet monthly and put together events to fulfil some of the unmet needs of young adults living with diabetes. It’s really exciting to finally have somewhat of a diabetes community closer to home.

Diabetes can be an incredibly isolating condition to live with, and there really is something to be said about sharing our experiences with people like us and hearing the words ‘me too.’

The Diabetes Online Community, or DOC as the cool kids called it, was my very first form of connection to other people with diabetes. It helped me to gain a great deal of confidence in my own condition. Day or night, there’s a good chance that others will be around for support in this global community.

Immersing myself in diabetes blogs, books and websites, I also found a wealth of useful information that helped me to become more engaged in my management. I got back in touch with my diabetes educator, and eventually made the leap from multiple daily injections to insulin pumping in 2016.

Blogging, and wider diabetes advocacy, has since become my passion. I’m incredibly proud of my little corner of the internet, where I’ve documented so much of my journey over the past three years. It has made my world a lot smaller today, and for that I am extremely grateful.

In 2015, I never imagined a life where connection to other people with diabetes would contribute to my physical and mental wellbeing. Peer support has been one of the biggest game changers in my eight years of living with type 1 diabetes, and it’s the one thing that I hope to change for others walking in my shoes.

‘Seedy’ Crackers.

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I’ve been wanting to try my hand at seed crackers for ages. I’ve seen them shared by he likes of low carbers and health kick programs, but how could I justify buying a whole bunch of foreign ingredients for a recipe that might not even turn out?

But with a bunch of leftover seeds in the pantry from a lapsed health kick in my house, I finally had the perfect opportunity to do so over the weekend.

These are as easy as combining 1/4 cup chia seeds, 2 cups of LSA (Linseed, Sunflower Seed and Almond Mix), 1/2 cup of buckwheat, 1 1/2 cups warm water and rosemary flakes in a bowl. Then spread it out in a nice thin layer over two baking trays lined with greaseproof paper. I would suggest seasoning them generously with salt and pepper before placing them in the oven. Then simply bake on 180C for 1 hour or until golden and crispy.

I had to adapt this recipe to deplete some of the ingredients in my cupboard, but you could definitely mix this up with whatever seeds and seasonings that take your fancy. Just make sure that you don’t leave out the Chia, as this is what binds it all together.

The irony here is that when I began making them, I just assumed they were low carb. By the time they were in the oven and I was looking up the ingredients in my Calorie King app, I realised that they were far from it. But hey, still better than anything you’ll find out of a packet…

The verdict? They tasted similar to Ryvita crackers, minus that sandy stuff on the outside. They did taste plain, but then again they are crackers and best eaten with something. I think more generous seasoning, and some whole seeds rather than the ground LSA, would have added some more flavour and less carbs to these.

I would definitely tweak the recipe and make these again.

Taking a Plunge

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The shimmering blue water slowly began to emerge as I made my way up the highway, perfectly contrasted and coordinated at the same time with the bright blue sky above.

I manoeuvred into the right turn lane and made my way into the carpark, which was almost deserted on a Thursday afternoon. I grabbed my blue and white AMSL drawstring bag containing a towel, bottle of sunscreen, a dry shirt and glucose tabs.

My insulin pump was clipped to the inside of the pocket in my swim shorts, still running as per normal. My blood sugar was 9.3 before I left home. With 2 units of insulin left to act from lunch and some protein in play, I felt fairly confident to let it ride.

My comfy brown thongs with blue and red striped cotton straps came off as I buried my feet in the soft, white sand. I made my way closer to the shore line and perched my bag in the sand, setting up ship.

I disconnected my pump from the infusion site on my stomach and wrapped it up in the beach towel in my bag, not overly worried about insulin spoiling on that breezy thirty degree day. I slapped a load of sunscreen over my pale skin, recalling sore throbbing red marks of sunburn that were a painful reminder of previous non-compliant days in the sun.

The gentle wind whipped through my hair and burst onto my face. I could feel the refreshingly cold water hit my toes as I began to wade my way into the water. The salty sea spray hit my face as the waves crashed over the water and the bottom half of my body became submerged underneath it.

With the top half of my body feeling the cold of the sea spray, I took a plunge beneath the water.

As the waves pushed their way over me, crashed and then receded, with the sun shining brightly over the clear blue sky, I wasn’t thinking about diabetes. I wasn’t thinking about work. I wasn’t thinking about life.

I was drifting there, savouring the moment.

It felt good.

In and Around the DOC of Late V

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Hello, February! In amongst the long Sunny days and balmy nights, there’s been a few things that have crossed my radar of late. So grab a coffee and settle in!

I’ve noticed a lot of conflicting information circulating in Facebook groups recently surrounding the new Cellnovo insulin pump being withdrawn from the Australian market, with suggestions that the parafin wax was unable to withstand the Australian Summer heat.

With no official communication from either Cellnovo or the NDSS, I can only assume that the product has not actually been recalled, but rather just that new Cellnovo units are no longer for sale. I have since learned that an upgraded Cellnovo system is expected in the next month, which will be swapped out with all existing Cellnovo units before becoming available to new customers on the waiting list.

Speaking of pump choice, there’s been a lot of speculation about AMSL Diabetes acquiring a new pump to distribute following the demise of Animas. While Tandem’s t-slim touch screen insulin pump with Dexcom integration would feel like a natural successor for AMSL, it is not currently listed on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG) and cannot be lawfully be distributed in Australia. Given that approval can take a number of years, I’d be inclined to say that it’s unlikely at this stage.

What has received approval, however, is the Omnipod tubeless pump as well as the tubed Ypsopump from distributor Ypsomed Australia. More recently infusion sets, software and the starter box have been submitted. Time will tell…

The Oz Diabetes Online Community lives on! David @davidburren can be found hanging out under the #OzDOC hashtag on Twitter every Tuesday night from 8.30 to 9.30pm for anyone in the community seeking out peer support in the slot recently vacated by moderator Kim. There’s also a new Twitter account @OzDOC_host, where weekly chats are being run from.

Here in Australia, it’s a given that most of us wouldn’t think too hard about the cost of our insulin thanks to generous government subsidies. What you might not be aware of, however, is that the full cost of a script of insulin is several hundred dollars. In other parts of the world, this insulin is far less accessible and a lot less affordable.

February marks the annual Spare a Rose campaign in the diabetes community. The idea is to spare a rose on Valentine’s Day, and donate the cost of that rose (roughly $6 AUD) to a child with diabetes in need of insulin. Sparing just one rose will provide a child with life for a month in the form of insulin. You can find out more and donate at sparearose.org.

Finally, the Young Adult Diabetes Committee here in Perth are hosting their first event for the year on Thursday February 22. Dr Kirstie Bell will be sharing some insights from her research into fat and protein’s effect on blood glucose levels (you can read more about Dr Bell’s research here). If you live in Perth or you know of anyone who does, please pass this on. You do need to register through Eventbrite, however.

After starting my work week on Sunday this week, I’m fuelling myself purely on caffeine and on the countdown to a three and a half day weekend. Happy hump day!

Embracing Minimalism.

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My bedroom, which doubles as my workspace, is one of the more poorly lit rooms in the house.

A few years ago, I painted the white, dishevelled walls with a refreshing coat of sky blue. The great creaky brown wardrobe was replaced in favour of a more built in style with great white sliding mirror doors. Last year I purchased an attractive white floor lamp which now overlooks my desk and does a super job at flooding the room with some much needed warm light.

Despite all of these changes, it still hasn’t felt like a place where I might feel focussed. If I have any hope of achieving my resolution of ‘less is more’ this year, than I damn well need my focus. As I was searching the interwebs for ideas to make a room look brighter, I came across a suggestion of embracing a more minimalist style.

As I began to clear the many surfaces, shelves and walls in my room, I realised just how many visible signs of diabetes there are scattered everywhere.

The dry blood stains left on my desktop, from every used test strip that I’ve lazily discarded there.

The empty vials of glucose tabs scattered across my bedhead at the most inconvenient of times, that I’ve been simply too lazy to throw away.

The open packets of infusion sets that I leave on my chest of drawers after a site change, just in case I’ve chosen a bad site and require the needle to re-apply it.

The silver box of Nurofen Zavance capsules, that I take on the occasionally bad days where diabetes makes dealing with the normal person stuff a lot harder.

The pencil case full of my diabetes travel gear, that I lazily fling atop my chest of drawers the moment I walk in the door.

The meter, test strips and lancing device that sit within easy reach of my bedside at night, but are nothing more than a hindrance to my work vibes during the day.

The notepad on my desktop, filled with some of the most undecipherable diabetes scribble.

The handful of meter batteries on the corner of my bedhead, that I haven’t yet found the time to sort into piles of ones that work and ones that don’t.

The USB wall chargers and bright yellow cables used to charge up diabetes devices, that are then left creeping across the floor for several days to come.

The sight of my hoard of diabetes supplies in my wardrobe, because I’m often too lazy to slide the door back across.

As I look around staring at more wall space, surface space and shelf space, my room suddenly feels so much brighter.

I realise just how suffocating all of those small but visible signs of diabetes made me feel, and I’m vowing to make more of an effort to keep them behind closed doors.