Type 1 on 1 | Diabetes Stories

As heart-warming ends to a series go, they don’t get much more heart-warming than this episode.

Hypo Hounds is a diabetic alert assistance charity, helping children with type 1 diabetes by training assistance dogs to not only detect hypos, fetch testing kits or even bring a bottle of Lucozade, but helping children to live with more independence and freedom, and families to communicate better and feel less burdened by the challenges of type 1 diabetes.

The woman behind Hypo Hounds is today’s guest, Jane Pearman. Jane and her husband trained their first hypo dog, Scooby, to help their daughter Sophie after she was diagnosed with brittle type 1 diabetes as well as other major health complications at the age of 9. At the time Jane was checking Sophie’s blood sugars every hour through the night, feeling understandably frightened and exhausted.

They didn’t know it at the time, but Scooby would inspire the journey to founding Hypo Hounds, which has now trained 54 dogs to date, reducing hospital admissions and giving children and their families much-needed independence and relief from the burden of living with diabetes.

Thanks to the help of Scooby and her second Hypo Hound Dori, Sophie, now 22, lives independently and remains an incredible spokesperson for the charity. Heart-warming, emotional, inspiring - I couldn’t urge you to press play on this episode more! 

CONNECT WITH HYPO HOUNDS: 
Follow Hypo Hounds on Instagram. 
Follow Hypo Hounds on Facebook. 
Visit the Hypo Hounds website. 
 
JOIN THE TYPE 1 ON 1 COMMUNITY:
We’ve got an Instagram account! Come and say hi @studiotype1on1.
 
SPONSOR MESSAGE:
Thanks to my episode sponsors Dexcom.

Pioneer and leader in Real-Time continuous glucose monitors, Dexcom's goal is to simplify and improve diabetes management for every possible person with diabetes.

They have a choice of systems, so you can find the right one for your lifestyle at https://www.dexcom.com/

My dear friend and fellow type 1 Ami Bennett returns to the podcast to look back at what 2024 has served us from a diabetes perspective.

As always, Ami keeps it very real and regales us with one of her most memorable escapades involving a particularly disastrous urine sample… but to balance it out, she’s elevated her game by entering the world of homemade granola.

Meanwhile I talk about being haunted by a rogue Pod, we discuss ill-timed alarms, drinking out of date hypo juice, attempt to establish what exactly insulin smells like, and we hear some of your diabetes wins of the year!

Thank you so much for coming on this journey with me through 40 episodes in 2024. This podcast wouldn’t exist without you.

CONNECT WITH AMI:
Follow Ami on Instagram.

JOIN THE TYPE 1 ON 1 COMMUNITY:
We’ve got an Instagram account! Come and say hi @studiotype1on1.

SPONSOR MESSAGE:
Thanks to my episode sponsors Dexcom.

Pioneer and leader in Real-Time continuous glucose monitors, Dexcom's goal is to simplify and improve diabetes management for every possible person with diabetes.

They have a choice of systems, so you can find the right one for your lifestyle at https://www.dexcom.com/

In this special 3-person episode, I’m speaking to Sharon Harrison-Barker and her son Lewis.
 
Lewis’s son Marty was just 10 months old when he was rushed to hospital in DKA in 2017, plunging the whole family into crisis and shifting the dynamic of the family forever.
 
Today Marty is a happy, healthy 8-year-old, but those days in the hospital were the some of the worst of dad Lewis and nan Sharon’s lives, as well as their respective spouses.
 
The weeks and months after his son’s diagnosis remain a blur for Lewis, and it was the concerned words of a stranger that prompted him to seek help for his mental health. In this chat, Lewis opens up about how from the moment he received the initial call about his son’s declining health, he completely shut down. ‘It sent me into self-preservation mode. I felt like people didn’t need me to be emotional, they needed me to be functional.’
 
In this episode we hear two different perspectives of the same very difficult experience. Nan and dad tell me how Marty’s diagnosis has changed them as a family, sharing some of their memories with each other for the very first time.
 
Their relationship is a testament to how clear communication - as well as boundaries - have allowed Marty to thrive through nursery, school and now as a big brother, but have also helped Lewis and his wife Steph to meet the ever-evolving needs of Marty’s condition alongside their own as humans, parents, and partners.

CONNECT WITH SHARON
Sharon's Instagram.

CONNECT WITH LEWIS 
Lewis's Instagram.

JOIN THE TYPE 1 ON 1 COMMUNITY:
We’ve got an Instagram account! Come and say hi @studiotype1on1.

SPONSOR MESSAGE:

Thanks to my episode sponsors Dexcom.

Pioneer and leader in Real-Time continuous glucose monitors,

Dexcom's goal is to simplify and improve diabetes management for every possible person with diabetes.

They have a choice of systems, so you can find the right one for your lifestyle at https://www.dexcom.com/

As a young athlete, Mel Stephenson-Gray was forced to travel far and wide to get the information she needed to stand a chance of competing in her sport with type 1 diabetes.

Although she was only a teenager, and newly diagnosed herself, Mel wanted share what she’d found to ensure no-one got left behind, and set up her own peer support group with the little spare time she had between school and training.
 
A long-standing member of the advocacy community, Mel’s motivation to help others has never faltered. After retiring from athletics she retrained as a nutritionist, and now works in diabetes prevention as well as being a diabetes charity trustee - to give people the access, tools and education they need to ensure no-one gets left behind.
 
Becoming a parent has strengthened her empathy and desire to help further still. In this gorgeous hug of an episode, Mel speaks to me about the weight of constantly worrying if your baby is moments away from diagnosis, and the studies that have taken that weight off her family’s shoulders.
‘I do think it is a day-by-day kind of condition where you're just managing what's in front of you, because sometimes just a day can feel overwhelming, let alone looking years ahead. It’s ok to take your time with it.’
 
CONNECT WITH MEL:
Say hi to Mel on Instagram.

STUDIES MENTIONED:
The Innodia Study (Europe)
The ELSA Screening Study (UK) 

JOIN THE TYPE 1 ON 1 COMMUNITY:
We’ve got an Instagram account! Come and say hi @studiotype1on1.
 
SPONSOR MESSAGE:
Thanks to my episode sponsors Dexcom.

Pioneer and leader in Real-Time continuous glucose monitors, Dexcom's goal is to simplify and improve diabetes management for every possible person with diabetes.

They have a choice of systems, so you can find the right one for your lifestyle at https://www.dexcom.com/

When you meet Abi Woodliffe-Thomas, you meet a thoughtful, articulate, intelligent and confident 25-year-old. But for more than a decade, Abi carried her type 1 diabetes in secret as her ‘biggest insecurity’ - hiding it from everyone in her life.

Abi went through a traumatic diagnosis at the age of just 12, and the experience immediately plunged her into intense feelings of shame around the condition. Still in the hospital bed in recovery from DKA, Abi was also told she would have to give up her beloved acrobatic gymnastics, which she was already devoting 25 hours to each week.

Determined to prove the nurses wrong, Abi returned to training the very next week, and channeled every emotion into her sport. She went onto compete at an international level, all the while keeping her condition out of sight.

Now retired from gymnastics and working as a performance nutritionist, the weight of what she’d been carrying for so long was released when Abi wrote an article about her type 1 diabetes for her friend’s website.

Since her diagnosis Abi has overcome so much, both professionally and personally, and is tentatively hopeful about walking a different, more open path towards acceptance - one conversation at a time.

‘I do still find it difficult to say the words, oh, I'm diabetic or oh, I've got diabetes. But I think it's really helped talking about it and I think life would look very different if I'd spoken about it from the beginning. But it was my way of protecting myself. I know now that anything is possible, even with a pancreas that doesn't work.'

CONNECT WITH ABI:
Say hi to Abi on Instagram. 
Take a look at her professional profile, Happetite.

JOIN THE TYPE 1 ON 1 COMMUNITY:
We’ve got an Instagram account! Come and say hi @studiotype1on1.
 
SPONSOR MESSAGE:
Thanks to my episode sponsors Dexcom.

Pioneer and leader in Real-Time continuous glucose monitors, Dexcom's goal is to simplify and improve diabetes management for every possible person with diabetes.

They have a choice of systems, so you can find the right one for your lifestyle at https://www.dexcom.com/

Veerle Huigen is, it’s fair to say, a powerhouse in the corporate world of diabetes. Successful, determined and focused, Veerle achieved career success in the Dutch charity and tech sectors before moving into the world of global pharma, spearheading huge changes in the future of diagnosis in her role as the North Europe Public Affairs Lead for autoimmune Type 1 Diabetes at Sanofi. 

Veerle’s driving force is, unequivocally, diabetes, but more specifically shaping these influential companies from within to help make life better for people living with diabetes, based on her own experiences.

In this episode she describes how the shock and impact of an adult (mis)diagnosis changed her life’s work, and how the stigma she faced through childhood and adolescence because of her weight has put the power of language firmly on the agenda.

We also chat about how she juggles her health needs with the demands of a corporate lifestyle - advocating for herself while travelling, bossing client meetings and dealing with stakeholders - and her unshakeable belief in our ability to change the world, one conversation at a time. 

CONNECT WITH VEERLE:
Say hi to Veerle on Instagram.
Connect with Veerle on LinkedIn.

OTHER EPISODES MENTIONED:
The true psychological impact of type 1 diabetes with T1D and psychology researcher Dr Maartje De Wit.
Renza Scibilia: 'I never wanted my diabetes to become anyone else's burden'.

JOIN THE TYPE 1 ON 1 COMMUNITY: 
We’ve got an Instagram account! Come and say hi @studiotype1on1.

SPONSOR MESSAGE: 
Thanks to my episode sponsors Dexcom.
Pioneer and leader in Real-Time continuous glucose monitors, Dexcom's goal is to simplify and improve diabetes management for every possible person with diabetes.
They have a choice of systems, so you can find the right one for your lifestyle at https://www.dexcom.com/

Today’s guest is Kyle Parsley, marketing manager and one of the DJs behind Type One Community - a collective of radio shows, club nights, events and livestreams that brings people together under the slogan, ‘Where everyone parties to make life with diabetes better’.

Type One Community started out as a celebratory space for people who like a party, and who happen to be connected to type 1 diabetes. The celebration remains, but Type One Community has quickly evolved into a movement that goes way beyond the dancefloor - raising awareness for people living with type 1 to be able to enjoy club nights, festivals and nights out safely.

They’ve put hypo treats in bars, they’ve educated door staff on letting in medication, they’ve created festival hypo kits… but above all else Type One Community knows how to have a good time without letting type 1 diabetes get in the way.

Music lover Kyle, who was diagnosed as a teenager, along with his co-founders Jessica and Sophia are just getting started. He spoke to me about how quickly the Community has grown thanks to its overwhelmingly positive response, as well as how championing this cause has helped him with his own condition, what the trio’s plans are next, and why the magic of a good night out should be for everyone.

CONNECT WITH TYPE ONE COMMUNITY:
Follow Type One Community on Instagram.
Connect with Kyle on Instagram.


JOIN THE TYPE 1 ON 1 COMMUNITY:
We’ve got an Instagram account! Come and say hi @studiotype1on1.

SPONSOR MESSAGE:
Thanks to my episode sponsors Dexcom.

Pioneer and leader in Real-Time continuous glucose monitors, Dexcom's goal is to simplify and improve diabetes management for every possible person with diabetes.

They have a choice of systems, so you can find the right one for your lifestyle at https://www.dexcom.com/

The average age of type 1 diagnosis is increasing, and studies show that more than a third of people are now being diagnosed after 30.

Today’s guest is Shonagh Price, who was diagnosed at the age of 50 in the midst of the pandemic. Since that very surreal and isolating experience, she’s had to deal with a huge shift in not only her daily life, but her identity.

In this very raw and very poignant episode, Shonagh opens up about losing her freedom, the constant vigilance that comes with the demands of the condition, and the impact on her acting career as well as her relationship with her gem of a partner Iain. We chat about how she’s slowly rebuilding what she deems her ‘broken’ parts into something even more beautiful than they were before. 

I’m sure you’ll want to jump through the internet and give Shonagh a big hug. I’m so grateful to her for detailing the realities of an adult diagnosis in a way that doesn’t often get voiced.

CONNECT WITH SHONAGH:
Connect with Shonagh on Instagram.

JOIN THE TYPE 1 ON 1 COMMUNITY:
We’ve got an Instagram account! Come and say hi @studiotype1on1.

SPONSOR MESSAGE:
Thanks to my episode sponsors Dexcom.

Pioneer and leader in Real-Time continuous glucose monitors, Dexcom's goal is to simplify and improve diabetes management for every possible person with diabetes.

They have a choice of systems, so you can find the right one for your lifestyle at https://www.dexcom.com/

Please note we had a few technical difficulties with this episode! Tino had a power cut at the time of recording, so he was using his phone signal to record and as you will hear, it’s a little patchy at points. But do stick with it because this is a really powerful conversation.
 
‘I want to be the bridge between the knowledge and my community.’
 
How do you strike a balance between pushing for change and ensuring the healthcare system is equipped to handle the progress? This is the question preoccupying today’s guest Tino Dzikiti. He is working to bring the latest diabetes research, knowledge and tools to his community in Zimbabwe. ‘There is resilience in the system, but there are huge gaps in the system,’ he told me. ‘We’re trying to make progress with the basics. It’s slow, but there is hope.’
 
After training in finance, Tino shifted his life’s work to become a Diabetes Advocate, Educator, Podcast Host and Consultant. Aged just 26, he's using his platform and blog to break down complex diabetes topics and the latest findings in a way that the whole community can benefit from.

While sharing knowledge, raising awareness and reducing stigma, Tino is also pushing for more affordable access to diabetes medication. We chatted about the more challenging aspects of making your voice heard, the cost of diabetes care in Zimbabwe and how becoming an advocate for people with diabetes has helped Tino to rewrite his own story, after he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 11.

CONNECT WITH TINO: 
Say hi to Tino on Instagram.
The Global Diabetes Insights podcast.
Take a look at Tino's blog, The Diabetic Mogul.

JOIN THE TYPE 1 ON 1 COMMUNITY: 
We’ve got an Instagram account! Come and say hi @studiotype1on1.

SPONSOR MESSAGE:
Thanks to my episode sponsors Dexcom.

Pioneer and leader in Real-Time continuous glucose monitors,

Dexcom's goal is to simplify and improve diabetes management for every possible person with diabetes.

They have a choice of systems, so you can find the right one for your lifestyle at https://www.dexcom.com/

Welcome back to a new season of Type 1 on 1! Series 13, come through!

I always say the parents of children with type 1 diabetes are the unsung rockstars, and today’s guest is no exception.

Angela McMahon is a busy mum living in Northern Ireland with her husband Steven and their four girls. Twins Sienna and Arianna were just 11 months old when their big sister Iszara was diagnosed with type 1 at the age of 5, in January 2015. Big sister Tamzin was 12 at the time, so there wasn’t much room for a demanding chronic condition as well, although as you can imagine, sleepless nights were something Angela was more than familiar with when type 1 diabetes descended on their family. 

10 years later, Angela spoke to me about the journey she and Iszara have been on, both individually and together as part of a busy, lively household - navigating homework with hospital appointments, and supermarket shops with finger pricks. We chat about having helpful conversations with school teachers, and how Angela is learning to step back as Iszara becomes more independent. 

Now 15 years old, Iszara moved onto a hybrid closed loop insulin pump earlier this year and the family have seen incredible changes. For Angela, it’s the first time she’s been able to sleep properly in a decade, while she describes her daughter as more comfortable with her condition, and more happy in herself. 

CONNECT WITH ANGELA:
Say hi to Angela on Instagram.

JOIN THE TYPE 1 ON 1 COMMUNITY: 
We’ve got an Instagram account! Come and say hi @studiotype1on1.

SPONSOR MESSAGE:
Thanks to my episode sponsors Dexcom.

Pioneer and leader in Real-Time continuous glucose monitors,

Dexcom's goal is to simplify and improve diabetes management for every possible person with diabetes.

They have a choice of systems, so you can find the right one for your lifestyle at https://www.dexcom.com/