Hi and Welcome to my Blog!
Well what a roller coaster life can be! Exciting and thrilling yet marred with ups and downs that can scare and test us (and I wasn't even meaning life with Type 1 Diabetes yet!). I started this site in 2012 when I decided that I wanted to be more proactive when it came to living life with Type 1 Diabetes. I wanted to share my daily journey while connecting and learning. I want to connect my health and my career, use my Type 1 to help others and help myself. I wasn't really sure what I was getting in for with this blog and the diabetic online community... just that I wanted in! And wow, the presence that the diabetes community has online is amazing!
My Diagnosis: At age 10 I suddenly began to loose weight quiet rapidly, but as I was very active in swimming and school activities, it wasn't until I suffered unquenchable thirst and was really lethargic that my parents began to get worried. My mother had always been into healthy eating, regular exercise and generally being 'in touch' with your body and I remember she had one of those big ol' home medicine books, which she could often be found browsing through. Unbeknown to me, the day she took me to the doctor, she really already new what was wrong. But back then Type 1 Diabetes was completely unheard of in our family and circles of friends and colleagues, in fact pretty much our entire town! In July 1995, after making me pee in a jar (oh the first of sooooo many!!!), mum bundled me in the car and off we travelled for an hour to the doctor for the moment that changed our lives.
In the arms of my mother, Diabetes didn't seem so bad, well as long as I didn't look at the ridiculous pink booklet that the hospital had given me upon diagnosis - all it seemed to talk about was how 'Sarah' forgot her jellybeans and ended up in hospital, or how 'Jason' decided he didn't want to be a diabetic anymore and didn't take his insulin...so he ended up in hospital... oh yeah and how many diabetics got amputations in the last 10 years... Not really the positive reinforcement that I actually needed!
The Shake Up: So into my teens and early 20s, I generally continued to eat well and take care of my health but only in a manner that just got me by. If my life was an essay, I'd have marked me a C-. I'd began to get very lax. By the time I was 21 I had plonked on a whole lotta weight and was having the worst HbA1C results ever. I was happy ignoring the harsh realities until a trip overseas at age 22 to Italy turned into a disaster when I started experiencing severe discomfort around the base of my spine, along with what appeared to be a random onset of depression. I begged my parents to fly me home and I booked into see a specialist straight away. Next minute I was having a large cyst cut out of the base of my spine, around my tail bone. I was told I was lucky to still be walking and that it hadn't burst its toxin into my bloodstream. After surgery I couldn't get out of bed for two weeks and full recovery took close to two years (in fact I can still sometimes get small issues with it). I couldn't sit up, get out of bed or shower without assistance for close to a month. I couldn't walk more than 20 metres without pain and exhaustion (and some tears!). After about three months I was walking again (stiffly, but rejoicing) though I couldn't work as I couldn't stand too long, move too quick or pick up too much weight (more than 5kgs). I also couldn't run or participate in moderate exercise or sport for over a year. While the cyst was never deemed to be directly associated with diabetes, I wholeheartedly believe that the pressure I was placing my body under did. I was completely stressing my health out - mind body spirit, and it all exploded under the pressure in the form of a horrible debilitating cyst. It sure gave me a wake up call!
What now? Well I more than ever, need to live a healthy active life. I now cannot be sedentary for too many hours in a row, I cannot put on too much weight and I HAVE to minimise stress, eat well and control my Type 1 Diabetes. While this isn't such a bad position to be in, sometimes it sure can be hard to balance it all. And I am sure you have your own stories, your own warnings and signs of why we must all live a healthy active life, and that my lovely reader is what this blog is all about! Please feel free to comment, share, like, email, or just click and read whatever you like on this site.
It is a joy sharing this journey with you.
Email me | follow on facebook
Well what a roller coaster life can be! Exciting and thrilling yet marred with ups and downs that can scare and test us (and I wasn't even meaning life with Type 1 Diabetes yet!). I started this site in 2012 when I decided that I wanted to be more proactive when it came to living life with Type 1 Diabetes. I wanted to share my daily journey while connecting and learning. I want to connect my health and my career, use my Type 1 to help others and help myself. I wasn't really sure what I was getting in for with this blog and the diabetic online community... just that I wanted in! And wow, the presence that the diabetes community has online is amazing!
My Diagnosis: At age 10 I suddenly began to loose weight quiet rapidly, but as I was very active in swimming and school activities, it wasn't until I suffered unquenchable thirst and was really lethargic that my parents began to get worried. My mother had always been into healthy eating, regular exercise and generally being 'in touch' with your body and I remember she had one of those big ol' home medicine books, which she could often be found browsing through. Unbeknown to me, the day she took me to the doctor, she really already new what was wrong. But back then Type 1 Diabetes was completely unheard of in our family and circles of friends and colleagues, in fact pretty much our entire town! In July 1995, after making me pee in a jar (oh the first of sooooo many!!!), mum bundled me in the car and off we travelled for an hour to the doctor for the moment that changed our lives.
In the arms of my mother, Diabetes didn't seem so bad, well as long as I didn't look at the ridiculous pink booklet that the hospital had given me upon diagnosis - all it seemed to talk about was how 'Sarah' forgot her jellybeans and ended up in hospital, or how 'Jason' decided he didn't want to be a diabetic anymore and didn't take his insulin...so he ended up in hospital... oh yeah and how many diabetics got amputations in the last 10 years... Not really the positive reinforcement that I actually needed!
The Shake Up: So into my teens and early 20s, I generally continued to eat well and take care of my health but only in a manner that just got me by. If my life was an essay, I'd have marked me a C-. I'd began to get very lax. By the time I was 21 I had plonked on a whole lotta weight and was having the worst HbA1C results ever. I was happy ignoring the harsh realities until a trip overseas at age 22 to Italy turned into a disaster when I started experiencing severe discomfort around the base of my spine, along with what appeared to be a random onset of depression. I begged my parents to fly me home and I booked into see a specialist straight away. Next minute I was having a large cyst cut out of the base of my spine, around my tail bone. I was told I was lucky to still be walking and that it hadn't burst its toxin into my bloodstream. After surgery I couldn't get out of bed for two weeks and full recovery took close to two years (in fact I can still sometimes get small issues with it). I couldn't sit up, get out of bed or shower without assistance for close to a month. I couldn't walk more than 20 metres without pain and exhaustion (and some tears!). After about three months I was walking again (stiffly, but rejoicing) though I couldn't work as I couldn't stand too long, move too quick or pick up too much weight (more than 5kgs). I also couldn't run or participate in moderate exercise or sport for over a year. While the cyst was never deemed to be directly associated with diabetes, I wholeheartedly believe that the pressure I was placing my body under did. I was completely stressing my health out - mind body spirit, and it all exploded under the pressure in the form of a horrible debilitating cyst. It sure gave me a wake up call!
What now? Well I more than ever, need to live a healthy active life. I now cannot be sedentary for too many hours in a row, I cannot put on too much weight and I HAVE to minimise stress, eat well and control my Type 1 Diabetes. While this isn't such a bad position to be in, sometimes it sure can be hard to balance it all. And I am sure you have your own stories, your own warnings and signs of why we must all live a healthy active life, and that my lovely reader is what this blog is all about! Please feel free to comment, share, like, email, or just click and read whatever you like on this site.It is a joy sharing this journey with you.
Email me | follow on facebook
Hey,
ReplyDeleteI've never been one to blog or follow other people's till I stumbled across yours from the Diabetes Australia on facebook. Being a type 1 myself since I was 10 also (now 24) I feel like Im laughing at a lot of your blogs because I can relate so much to it. Keep it up! Your page has now become a favourite on my computer.
Demi x
Thanks Demi! I'm so excited, you're my first comment! Its always great to hear support from a fellow diabetic too, thank you :)
DeleteHi, my name's Caitlin and after seeing your blog in the diabetes magazine I thought I'd look at it, once I got to your blog I was amazed at how much I could relate to it! After reading through it I thought that maybe I should start one too. I looked at all the themes and I like yours the best but I can't find it on there. Do you know how I can get it or one like it? I hope you had a great day! xx
ReplyDeleteHi Caitlin, thanks for coming to my blog, and I'm glad to hear you could relate - it can be so easy sometimes to feel like we're alone. I've found writing this blog to be a great experience, a sort of therapy in a way. It definitely helps me to 'stay on track' (or at least come back on track!)and it serves as a reminder to stay positive.
DeleteI found it hard to find my 'perfect' theme so I used blogger's 'watermark template' and changed all the sections myself - the background and header are images I created and then uploaded. The background is just some scrunched tissue paper put in the scanner and zoomed in! You might like to check out The Cutest Blog on the Block: http://thecutestblogontheblock.com/ they have some easy and very cute options too. Good luck and let me know if you start one up!
Hello! Yay! A fellow Aussie Type 1 Blogger! I have been searching for Australian Diabetes bloggers and there are not many of us! I am so glad I have found yours! It is a great read and although our stories are different (I was diagnosed at 30) we are all bonded through Diabetes and I can relate to your words as if they are my own. I blog at www.fingerpricker.com if you want to check it out. Thank you for sharing and blogging! Keep it up!
ReplyDeleteYes Yay! It's fantastic to hear from a another Aussie Type 1 blogger, we do seem to be a little hard to find! Thank you for connecting me to your blog (and facebook page... I'm still yet to set up one for my blog! Time, time I need more time! haha). I've enjoyed looking through your blog so far (and am excited to read more about the iBGStar!) and look forward to staying in touch.
DeleteThanks for the words of encouragement and all the same right back at you!
Your amazing-read it in the Diabetes mag and I had to look you up. Your doing a great job:)
ReplyDeleteSmilie face, Stacey:)
Proud of You!
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome. <3
ReplyDeleteThank you! :)x
DeleteWell that's quite inspiring. Diabetes Australia is haunting quite a lot of people. But i like your idea of keeping diabetes in control. Thanks for sharing. You are an amazing person. Cheers!!
ReplyDelete