Sweet and Sour- The Type 1 Diabetes Rollercoaster

I've been wanting to write this for some time, but I've been afraid to. I've been afraid to because I don't like conflict. I don't like to cause a fuss, or say something that may cause someone else to take offence. But disagreement is a part of life. Not talking about things makes them seem bad, and I don't think there is anything bad about this. I'm really passionate about this, and I'm ashamed I hesitated to discuss it. A very non diabetes post: let's talk about same sex marriage. For some context, Australia is holding (what I believe is a voluntary) vote on whether or not same sex marriage should be made legal. The fact there is a vote at all is something I have mixed feelings about. I think it opens up a really nasty field where there is the potential for a lot of hurt and hatred on both sides of the debate. It also means the loudest people are the ones heard. I question why we think we should be able to pass judgement on whether same sex m...

I have a lot of different roles, one of them is a uni student. I've been at the uni thing for 4 years now (which is a little mind blowing when I think about it) so it's fair to say I have a decent idea on how it goes. Having had t1 for the duration of my uni degree I've accumulated my fair share of tips and tricks.  It's certainly not easy managing a chronic condition and an intense uni degree. My degree isn't just lectures and readings, it's also placements. Many placements. Placements that don't end when the work day does. Placements and lectures and tutorials and big assignments. Add in 3 jobs, voluntary work and a hobby for good measure and it gets a little crazy sometimes! But it's possible to handle if you keep these in mind: 1) Eat. Seriously. If you're inclined to power on through the day and forget about lunch, that's a recipe for a hypo. I know these things. I forget to eat a lot. I went well over 6 hours without eating once when...

Happy Speech Pathology Week! It's the week where your local speechies are far too excited about getting you to try thickened fluids because yes, we assess and treat swallowing too! Credit: @AmeliaLaurendet Why am I excited? I'm a 4th year student speech pathologist. What's that and does it involve blood? No, the pathologist part means we study, diagnose and treat disorders relating to speech, language, voice, stuttering, swallowing and more. We treat everyone from newborns to the elderly. Quick surface level breakdown: - Speech= the sounds we make - Language= the words we use, how we put them together and how we understand others - Literacy= reading (decoding words and understanding what you read) and writing (spelling and putting ideas together) - Voice= loudness, pitch, quality (is it rough? is it excessively nasal?) - Stuttering= repetitions of sounds, words and phrases, blocks in speech or prolongations (stretching out a sound or word) - Swa...

We often talk about diabetes being a constant. It's always there in the back of your mind. Typically, this isn't such a big deal and I don't spend every moment thinking about it. It's rare that I resent it for being there.  But sometimes it has terrible timing. My nan passed away recently, and when I found out in the car, my pump alarmed with a high sugar. It was 20 (normal range is 4-7). I didn't care. The thought of winding down the window and throwing my pump on to the freeway crossed my mind. Not even joking, Tonks is lucky to be in one piece. My sugars have always reacted strongly to my emotions. I like to think I hide it reasonably well most of the time. But having a CGM (24/7 sugar sensor) means it's a dead giveaway when I'm nervous, stressed or upset- I alarm. Don't get me wrong, I love having a CGM and really couldn't do without it now, but it's frustrating. I can't experience an emotion without having my diabetes there, wanti...

Welcome back to T1 Talk, a blog series created by Frank and I about life as young Aussies with T1, on opposite sides of the country. This is Part 2 of our latest topic on management of food, exercise and emotions in relation to T1.  You can find Part 1 over on Frank's blog here.   Here we discuss a topic many of us avoid: feelings. Let's shine some light on the emotional impact of T1. We’ve discussed many different aspects of management across the blog series. Managing T1 is not an easy task. How do you manage the emotional impact of the condition? Bec: Initially, I handled my diagnosis like this: I would have told you I handled it well and just got on with life. I thought I was fine. I was someone who sought perfection and basically got it for a while with my diabetes care. But with time, increasing life demands and some really shocking years I’ve fallen down. So not processing stuff? I completely get that. Right now I’m starting to realise I do have em...

As National Diabetes Week continues I thought I'd address one of the most common questions I get; how does the insulin get from the pump and into you? I never do a great job of explaining it so here's a demonstration video going through all the bits and pieces involved. This process varies by the type of set you use and model of pump but I'd say the principles are the same. I repeat this process every 3 days. I sometimes find it more painful than injections but once every 3 days is a lot better than having 4 injections a day! If you have type 1 and are considering a pump I hope this demystifies the process for you. I've been on it for over 6 years and remember finding no resources on what a set change looked like before I started. I hope this helps. Of course I'm not a diabetes medical professional and these are my own views and methods of changing a set. This is my second and final vlog. Hope the change was a good one! I mentioned I'd upload photos bu...

Hello hello! It's National Diabetes Week here in Australia and taking inspiration from Frank at Type 1 Writes  I've decided to have a crack at vlogging. Scary.... I know. I believe the best way to raise awareness is through sharing stories, so here's mine. Apologies in advance for the blank gazes and "um's". Apparently, being a speech pathology student doesn't mean you're immune to presentation anxiety. Woops. In the vlog I say I'm not a big fan of National Diabetes Week. I think it's a wonderful idea and the messages are fantastic. But I really dislike how it is pitched toward complications a lot of the time. There must be a better, more encouraging way. I hope sharing stories is an example of that. Tomorrow I'll be posting a vlog on how my insulin pump works as part of raising awareness. Keep an eye out for that slightly less cringe worthy vlog! Edit: I've now seen the video for t1. Fantastic and much better message! I w...