Type 1 on 1 | Diabetes Stories

My guest this week is executive radio producer, co-founder and all round boss babe Ami Bennett. After months of misdiagnosis, general feeling-kinda-rubbish-but-not-quite-sure-why and two hospital admissions, Ami was diagnosed with type 1 in December 2019 at the age of 33 - and for just a minute it threatened to topple the independent life she's worked so hard to build. The permanence of type 1 diabetes took a little while for Ami to process, as did the amount of space it demanded in both her very busy lifestyle and her brain.

I've had the absolute pleasure of calling this frank and funny woman my friend for around six years, and in the six months since her diagnosis she's shown her type 1 that she has no intention of backing down when it comes to running her own show. In this very real and open chat we talk about everything from being forced to slow down, dating, body acceptance and being naked with bionic bits. It's a juicy one!

Say hi to Ami on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amilovesyoumore

This episode is sponsored by Dexcom and Ypsomed MyLife Diabetescare
https://www.dexcom.com
https://www.mylife-diabetescare.com

Actor Nina Wadia is the first guest of season 2, and what a way to start the series! Nina speaks passionately about her son Aidan's life-changing and quite terrifying diagnosis at the age of 10 and how they've adapted as a whole family to everything that life with type 1 diabetes brings.

From her guilt around his diagnosis in 2017, finding other parents to help her process the situation, not sleeping properly for two years until diabetes technology came to the rescue, Aidan's frustrations as well as his remarkable resilience, to finding purpose in campaigning to raise awareness and find a cure, Nina takes us on such a vivid journey of the experiences of parenting a child with type 1.

Find Nina on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Nina_Wadia
Find Nina on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nina.wadia/

This episode is sponsored by Dexcom and Ypsomed MyLife Diabetescare
https://www.dexcom.com
https://www.mylife-diabetescare.com

The Type 1 on 1 podcast is back for more!
Each week another brilliant guest will chat about what it means to live with type 1 diabetes and the experiences that have shaped them. These people are not scaling physical mountains, nor do they have ‘perfect’ blood sugar control (note: nobody does), but they are REAL and they are being extraordinary in their own way: tackling the baffling mayhem of a a wild, relentless and at times infuriating chronic condition as best they can. Oh, and there is PLENTY of hope in there too.

In this week’s episode business owner and mum of one Nadia Pye talks candidly about juggling the demands of parenthood with the demands of type 1 diabetes, and the challenges it has brought to her life.

Nadia, who was diagnosed with type 1 at the age of 35, has severe hypo unawareness, and her fear of hypos expanded into a crippling anxiety after some terrifying low blood sugars while home alone with her baby Noah. We also discuss how type 1 diabetes impacted her pregnancy and of course the immeasurable reward and joy that comes with being a mum.

I so admire Nadia’s humility and candour while discussing everything from resisting starting insulin to her harrowing hypo experiences. I hope this resonates with those who sometimes find it hard to acknowledge that you’re doing a good job, especially when it comes to managing parenthood alongside chronic illness.

Find Nadia on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MySweetLife/
Check out Nadia's new business, Ambika Social: https://www.facebook.com/AmbikaSocial/

This is the final episode of series 1! Thank you so much for all your messages, feedback and support and all being well, Type 1 on 1 will return in 2020.

This episode is sponsored by Dexcom and Ypsomed MyLife Diabetescare
https://www.dexcom.com
https://www.mylife-diabetescare.com

My guest this episode is the fabulous Tine, a video producer from Berlin who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes as a student in 2013 at the age of 22. We discuss her experiences of depression and the relationship between mental health and living with type 1, and the major part that hormones play in managing the condition.

Tine is fierce, frank and fabulous, and not afraid to tackle subjects on her blog that many people avoid, all in the hope of breaking down the stigmas around type 1 diabetes and raising the collective voice for those who don't feel they can. Through her blog and Instagram Tine constantly teaches me things about myself, my condition and my place in the world as a woman and a diabetic - I highly recommend you give her a follow.

Tine blogs at https://www.icaneateverything.com/
Follow Tine on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saytine
Check out Tine's blog: https://www.icaneateverything.com/

This episode is sponsored by Dexcom and Ypsomed MyLife Diabetescare
https://www.dexcom.com
https://www.mylife-diabetescare.com

This week I chat to Pete Davies, a retired teacher who was diagnosed with diabetes in 1956 at the age of 2 - that’s some 63 years strong with type 1. He didn’t have an insulin pen or glucose meter until he was in his 30s.

Growing up in Kenya in the 1960s, Pete would inject using glass syringes and needles that needed to be boiled and sharpened between uses. There were no blood glucose meters, so Pete and his family would use urine tests and a colour chart to gauge glucose levels - anything below 10 mmol/l was considered 'low', and the results would be four hours behind his current blood sugar levels.

Having discovered the diabetes community more than 50 years after his diagnosis, Pete now spends his time sharing his experiences with other type 1s and healthcare professionals, having witnessed huge advancements in treatment and technology over his lifetime. It was fascinating to hear how far we've come in just a few decades, and speaking to Pete made me feel a lot calmer about the day-to-day incessant nature of living with type 1. Above all else Pete is a lovely, lovely man and one we're very lucky to have within the community.

Find Pete on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PeteDaviesType1

This episode is sponsored by Dexcom and Ypsomed MyLife Diabetescare
https://www.dexcom.com
https://www.mylife-diabetescare.com

Please note: This episode of Type 1 on 1 contains honest discussions around diabetes, diabulimia, eating disorders and death which some listeners may find emotionally challenging or triggering.

Jacq Allan is the founder and outgoing director of the charity Diabetes With Eating Disorders, the only current charity in the UK that supports and advocates for people that struggle with both type 1 diabetes and any kind of eating disorder. She's been working tirelessly for the past decade to get diabulimia, a condition in which diabetics omit insulin to lose weight, officially recognised as a mental illness as well as other forms of diabetes-related eating disorders. Jacq has lived with type 1 diabetes for 15 years. She has a PhD in psychology and is currently training to be a clinical psychologist with a focus on eating disorders and diabetes.

Jacq is a formidable woman who, despite dealing with a huge amount of grief and her own mental health issues, has fought to make sure that healthcare professionals and charities wake up to the reality of diabulimia and other diabetes related eating disorders. This chat is brutally honest, incredibly emotional and deeply personal.

This conversations is so, so important: 60% of females with type 1 will have experienced a clinically diagnosable eating disorder by the age of 25. It will likely hit you in the heart, and for that reason I urge you to give this one a listen.

Find Jacq on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DrNotDrYet_Jacq
Follow Diabetics with Eating Disorders on Twitter: https://twitter.com/diabeticswithed

Support and Resources
Diabetics with Eating Disorders: http://dwed.org.uk
Diabetes UK support forum: https://www.diabetes.org.uk/how_we_help/community/diabetes-support-forum
T1 Resources: https://www.t1resources.uk/home/
Digibete - For Young People and Families with type 1 diabetes: https://www.digibete.org/
Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM): https://www.thecalmzone.net/
Mind Mental Health: https://www.mind.org.uk/

This episode is sponsored by Dexcom and Ypsomed MyLife Diabetescare
https://www.dexcom.com
https://www.mylife-diabetescare.com

Jade is an actor and comedian from Darlington, and has lived with type 1 diabetes since she was 4 years old. In 2018 she took her play Pricks, which journeys through her life dealing with over 70,000 medical pricks, to the Edinburgh Fringe, and this year embarked on a UK tour.

Jade is frank and funny as she recounts her experiences of living with type 1, from hiding in the hospital from the doctors and nurses so they couldn't give her an injection, her motivation to reduce the misconceptions and misunderstandings around diabetes in the media by writing Pricks, and how writing the play has changed her perspective of what it means to live with type 1 for both her and her family.

Jade's view that 'type 1 is a hurdle, not a barrier' is a wonderful takeaway from this heartfelt episode!

Find out more about Pricks and get tickets at https://www.prickstheplay.co.uk/
Follow Jade on Twitter at https://twitter.com/JadeByrne_Actor

This episode is sponsored by Dexcom and Ypsomed MyLife Diabetescare
https://www.dexcom.com
https://www.mylife-diabetescare.com

National Specialty Advisor for Diabetes NHS England and Consultant in Diabetes & Endocrinology Partha Kar lets us peek into the world of type 1 diabetes in the NHS for this week's episode.

Partha does not live with type 1 diabetes himself but spends his working life trying to help those who do. He shapes diabetes treatment and care across the NHS as well as working as a consultant in a diabetes clinic in the South of England. He has led the charge in changing the dialogue between consultants and patients, encouraging individualised care within a wider NHS framework.

He can be found tweeting: https://twitter.com/parthaskar

This episode is sponsored by Dexcom and Ypsomed MyLife Diabetescare
https://www.dexcom.com
https://www.mylife-diabetescare.com

Mum of three Annie Astle is this week's guest. She recalls a dramatic start to her daughter Mimi's life with type 1 diabetes after a hospital admission for DKA at just seven months old turned her family's world upside down.

From wading terrified through the complete unknown, learning to micro-dose with syringes to being able to spot a hypo just by the pallor of Mimi's skin, Annie recounts with grace and poignancy both the harrowing and uplifting experiences that type 1 has brought to their lives as Mimi has grown from a very tiny, very unwell baby to a healthy, feisty, hilarious teenager.

Annie blogs at https://theunderstudypancreas.com/

This episode is sponsored by Dexcom and Ypsomed MyLife Diabetescare
https://www.dexcom.com
https://www.mylife-diabetescare.com