Type 1 on 1 | Diabetes Stories

‘Stop looking for yes and no answers, and start trying to see the nuance. Pay attention to you and knowing yourself.’

Tony Coffey, also known as @trainbloom to his 1 million instagram and TikTok followers, is a personal trainer and co-host of the Fitness Stuff (For Normal People) podcast living in San Diego, California. When he’s not at Chipotle, Tony dedicates his time to combatting the mountain of fitness and nutrition misinformation out there with his no nonsense, informative and very funny evidence-based videos online.

Diagnosed with type 1 diabetes through primary care as a college freshman, it was very much suggested that diabetes would be a defining part of his identity. Already a fitness enthusiast, Tony’s diagnosis cemented his professional path, and he has used himself as his own science experiment ever since to defy the definition of diabetes he was given at the age of 19.

‘You’re going to go through some crappy, crappy days,’ he says of taking responsibility for your own condition. ‘But once you get a handle on it, I don’t know that anything else could build your confidence as much as type 1 diabetes does. All of the other problems in your life start to seem quite small, and it’s stuff no-one else in my life has had to deal with.’  

In this episode we chat about diet, nutrition, taking on and standing out in the fitness industry, and stepping back from the frustrating moments of life with type 1 diabetes. As data driven and research focused as they come, Tony reveals the single easiest thing you can do to help your blood sugar management (and it’s NOT running marathons or becoming a bodybuilder), as well as what Tony thinks of the rising popularity of glucose sensors for those who aren’t living with diabetes. Hint: He’s not a fan. 

Please do yourself a favour and take a look at Tony's Instagram account. In a sea of fitness noise and nonsense, his data-driven, research-led content and very clear, very funny delivery really cuts through.
 
CONNECT WITH TONY:
Follow Bloom Training on Instagram.
Take a look at his TikTok.
Listen to Fitness Stuff (For Normal People) on Spotify.
 
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/

'You’re more than a blood sugar, and that’s your excellence.’
 
Today we meet certified diabetes royalty! Maryann Croft Maloney has lived with type 1 diabetes since 1978 - the same year she also got married and became pregnant with her first child. Maryann went through a large part of that pregnancy without a glucose meter, but has always moved through life handling whatever it - and diabetes - has thrown at her without an ounce of self-pity.
 
Through the incredible lens of living with type 1 diabetes for almost 50 years, we discuss the advances in diabetes management Maryann has witnessed after starting out with only long-acting insulin, but conversely the anxiety that has been prompted by having so much data at her fingertips.
 
It was 20 years before Maryann met anyone else with type 1, and we really dig into the perspective that living with the condition has given her. From not worrying about the small stuff, to life as a test of resilience, to her quest for perfection and the importance of asking questions in the pursuit of a better quality of life, Maryann's honesty and insight makes for an extraordinary listen. 
 
We also talk about her life-changing experience at Diabetes Training Camp, and the wisdom and relief it has offered her.
 
CONNECT WITH MARYANN:
Follow Maryann on Instagram.
Find out more about Diabetes Training Camp. 

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 is back to say hello. So obviously this episode is full of  mischief, escapades, hypo gremlins, and guess what? We've STILL both got type 1 diabetes...

We sweep through so much fun (and not so fun) stuff this week, having a good old catch up about everything from turning into hermits of routine by choice, being confronted by security staff about diabetes, dating, shoving Haribo into your face in a public toilet to fix a hypo... it's a glamorous life.

We shoutout some awesome people doing awesome things in the community, and of course The Diaries wouldn't be complete without an appearance from Ami's lovely dog Milou. 

CONNECT WITH AMI:
Follow Ami on Instagram.

OTHER PEOPLE MENTIONED:
Type One Community's Instagram.
Temi Olonisakin'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/

When it comes to diabetes advocates, few are held in such regard as Renza Scibilia. And rightly so, as for more than two decades she has travelled the world to ensure the voices of people with diabetes are not only acknowledged, but listened to and understood by everyone from world-renowned healthcare professionals to pharmaceutical bosses. 

Diagnosed in 1998, Renza’s activism started out through the Diabetonic blog, published from her desk at home in Melbourne, Australia. But such is her determination and motivation to create meaningful change, she is now Director of Community Building & Communications at Breakthrough T1D (formerly JDRF), Head of Advocacy at #dedoc°, and in her spare time (when she’s not baking or on a plane), she runs a health consultancy.
 
As much as Renza works hard to makes sure she has a seat at the table, she works even harder to ensure that there are seats for the rest of us too, shaping outcomes for everyone who has been forced through lived experience to cruelly understand what it really means to live with type 1 diabetes. 
 
'When insulin has been around for 100 years, lack of access should not be happening,' she told me. 'It’s perfectly ok to feel overwhelmed by the personal burden of type 1 diabetes and what we are living with, but I do also feel the weight of what type 1 diabetes is on a bigger scale. Sometimes I think it’s ok to feel hopeless because of that, because in many ways it’s what drives me.'
 
This generous and heartfelt conversation is such a treat, and a reminder of the power we collectively have for change when the right people are shaping the conversation.

CONNECT WITH RENZA:
Take a look at Renza’s blog, Diabetogenic.
Follow Renza on X.

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/

Everybody’s type 1 diabetes diagnosis is memorable, but Alex Durussel-Baker’s was particularly far removed from her routine as a 30-year-old business owner living in Edinburgh. Alex was on an aeroplane runway, about to take off for a work trip to the States, when her doctor called with the results of a blood test. 

Alex subsequently spent three days in hospital in New York, before attending the work conference anyway. This isn’t a movie, this is Alex’s life, and it was once she returned to Scotland that the reality of both the permanence and the inconsistency of living with this complicated condition took hold.
 
Since that diagnosis in 2018, Alex’s path to acceptance has taken many turns. During a period of burnout and depression, she started to process events in the way that she knows best - through creativity, specifically graphic design. A 100-day project to make diabetes more visible by subverting famous posters led to the birth of Diabetes By Design.
 
Six years later, today sees the launch of DByD Fest - a 10 day programme of events, a design exhibition and panel talks all led by Alex. It’s all entirely free for you to visit at Custom Lane in Leith, Edinburgh, from June 13th-22nd 2024. This episode is a celebration of the ways in which this event will address the multitudes of misunderstanding that are unfortunately part of life with type 1 diabetes, but also an honouring of Alex’s lived experience.
 
We discuss so much in this episode, including motherhood, the effect that diabetes has had on her relationship, and how absolutely messy this all is, no matter how far into the journey you are. You can get involved in Alex’s work by giving your feedback on her soon to be launched Companion Card toolkit, co-designed by healthcare professionals and people living with type 1 diabetes to open up conversations about this undoubtedly messy condition.
 
Thank you so much to Alex for speaking to me with such candour and humility.
 
CONNECT WITH ALEX
Find out more about DByD Fest.
Find out more about the Companion Cards.
Sign up to the Diabetes By Design newsletter.
Follow Diabetes By Design 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/

Business owner, fitness enthusiast and adventurer Tara Humphrey is a woman of action. As the CEO of a primary care management consultancy, wife and mum of three adolescent girls, life is already a juggling act, but the family have also been forced to adapt to not one but two demanding chronic illnesses in the household. And despite the inevitable challenges, adapt they have - with the help of a whole load of pragmatic organisation, communication, teamwork and a generous dose of fun too.
 
Tara's youngest daughter Tahlia was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes on Christmas Day in 2017 at the age of five. Now 12, Tara is balancing steadily letting Tahlia live a little more independently from Mum and Dad, while ensuring she remains safe from the riskier sides of life with type 1 diabetes.
 
In this insightful episode, Tara speaks candidly about the family's experiences - from herself being given a diabetes textbook as her daughter was diagnosed (and tested before Tahlia was allowed home!), feeling like a failure when diabetes technology wasn't working for them, to delegating diabetes appointments to her husband Mark after some frustrating interactions with Tahlia's care team.
 
We also speak about the interesting dichotomy between the experience Tara has as a Mum with multiple personal touch-points with the health system, and someone who also lives and breathes primary care in her professional life. 

CONNECT WITH TARA:
Follow Tara 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/

When you speak to 27-year-old Avani Ved, you encounter an intelligent, focused, determined and thoughtful woman whose mission in life is to help people. She demonstrates this both in her professional career as a nurse and via her Instagram page, which spreads encouraging messages about life in general, as well as life with type 1 diabetes.
 
But her motivations come from some altogether more challenging and upsetting personal experiences as a child living with type 1 diabetes. Despite facing stigma and feelings of not being good enough since her diagnosis in 2005, Avani has somehow found the resolve to turn her pain into her power. 
 
‘When I was nine there wasn’t a lot of people in my culture that understood what type 1 diabetes was. That was a huge challenge and a huge barrier to overcome. I heard a lot of comments at nine… but at that age you’re not going to sit there and explain to a 40-year-old woman what type 1 diabetes is.’
 
Running parallel to those difficult experiences, Avani has thankfully always also had an incredible support network around her, and it’s thanks to positive interactions with medical staff in the hospital she was sent to as a little girl that Avani knew from the day of her diagnosis she was going to be a nurse - despite not knowing what being a nurse actually meant.
 
There is so much to learn from this uplifting and honest episode, and I’m grateful to Avani for sharing her story as part of her mission to, in her words, ‘become the person that I needed when I was nine years old.’

CONNECT WITH AVANI:
Follow Avani 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/

It is apparent from the minute you meet James Ridgeway that he is one of life’s good guys. A Diabetes Specialist Nurse and Education Research Associate living in Leicestershire with his partner Stacey and son Alfie, it was his own type 1 diabetes diagnosis in 2012 while on shift as a student nurse that set him on his professional path.
 
James is incredibly passionate about diabetes education, and as well as supporting diabetes patients in clinic through his role as a DSN, part of his job is delivering diabetes education to other healthcare professionals through the renowned EDEN network. He also runs an innovative Podding peer support group to help people connect with others living with type 1 diabetes.
 
Through both living and working with type 1 diabetes, James is well aware that on average people with diabetes have just one hour of healthcare professional support each year. With his blend of lived experience, healthcare knowledge and belief in the importance of peer support, this episode offers a unique and encouraging perspective on living a better, less isolated life with type 1 diabetes.
 
CONNECT WITH JAMES:
Follow James on X.
Find out more about the Eden Network.
Check out James’s Podding peer support group for Omnipod Users.
Take a look at the Language Matters framework.

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 guest today are Lochlan Murdoch and his mum, Lesley.
 
Lochlan was just four when he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Now 15, Lochlan has always had a deep love of football, but a serious leg injury at the age of nine left him unable to play his beloved sport. The subsequent impact on Lochlan’s blood sugars and his mental health inspired him to organise a stadium marathon, walking 28 miles in four days around the Scottish Premier Football League stadiums. But that was just the beginning - in 2020, the charity Lochlan’s Legacy was lauched with the aim to break barriers and reduce stigma around type 1 diabetes in Scotland and beyond. 

In the few short years since the charity's inception, it's already made an immeasurable difference spreading knowledge and awareness of type 1 diabetes through sport. With the help of some national funding, the support of Lochlan's beloved Kilmarnock FC and his mum Lesley working tirelessly for the charity as well as countless other organisations, there's no stopping Lochlan who says, 'I just want to help people.'

CONNECT WITH LOCHLAN'S LEGACY:
Visit Lochlan's Legacy website.
Follow Lochlan's Legacy on Instagram.
Follow them on X.
Join the Lochlan's Legacy Facebook page.


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/

This is no ordinary episode, but Aviation Medical Officer and Boeing 737 First Officer Dr Jeremy Robertson is no ordinary man.

This undeniably extraordinary story takes us on a 14 year journey, back to 2010 when 31-year-old Jeremy, from Sydney Australia, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes while on a training course in the United States. He was still wearing his uniform when he was told to hand over his pilot’s licence in the doctor’s office, such were the restrictions banning type 1s from flying commercial planes at the time. He was also weeks away from getting married.
 
Heartbroken, Jeremy returned to Australia the next day, and soon turned his attention to retraining as a medical doctor. Fast forward many years and having gathered an incredible amount of medical knowledge, as well as his own experience as a type 1 and a precedent in regulation changes set by the UK and Canada, Jeremy set about gathering the hundreds of hours of flying data required in smaller aircraft to propose a case to change the medical restrictions in Australia. 
 
Step by step, over many years and with many setbacks along the way (not least a global pandemic that halted the entire aviation industry), Jeremy checked in as the first officer of his first commercial flight in 14 years just a few weeks ago, having successfully changed the restrictions to obtain a class 1 aviation medical. In doing so, he’s changed the prospects for aspiring type 1 pilots in Australia, forever. 
 
I told you it was extraordinary...
 
CONNECT WITH JEREMY:
Follow Jeremy 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/