Live TV News and Diabetes by Kelly Reardon

“How do you do it?” That’s probably the number one most-asked question I get when I tell other diabetics I work in live television news. The biggest hurdle, as you may be able to guess: low blood sugar. But first...let’s go back to the beginning. I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes within my first few months of college. I was in Florida, my family... in New England. It was obviously a lot to process, especially since I was already going through something so new and challenging. Fast-forward a few years….and my a1c dropped to 7% and I was happy on a pump and cgm. I accepted my job in TV news knowing damn well the huge hurdles I’d have to jump through to make my product seem the same as all the other meteorologists with working pancreases. But I was determined. If there’s something you want, you’ll find a way to get it done. Without a pump and cgm, live tv news would be much more challenging. That’s because avoiding low blood sugar is number one on my priority list while doing weather during a live newscast. I have a few tricks up my sleeve -- first, I set my low blood sugar alert relatively high -- near 80 mg/dL. On top of that, I have the alert before low feature enabled on my pump. I’m also on auto mode with the medtronic 770g, so if I’m dropping it’ll stop my insulin delivery much quicker than if I was doing it all myself. With a higher low alert, and alert before low, I have plenty of wiggle room until I really start feeling and getting low. I keep a drawer full (literally) of fruit gummies within reach...ready to go at a moment’s notice. But as you very well know, even with a higher low alert and alert before low… low blood sugar still happens. I won’t lie, I’ve gone on the air with a blood sugar of 50. It didn’t feel great, and I probably didn’t even need to do it. It’s not too difficult to get my weather segments pushed off a few minutes if needed. But even 3 years in, I have yet to go low enough for that to be necessary. That’s without a doubt all due to auto mode on my pump. It really has significantly reduced not only the frequency of lows, but also the severity. So I just put on a smile and work through my low of 50, and usually the fruit gummies have kicked in before my next weather segment. 

What a lot of people don’t know about my broadcast meteorology job is that we ad lib. That means we are completely unscripted. Everything we say is off the top of our heads. And you can imagine how, with diabetes, that can be tricky. Ad libbing weather, while in the back of my mind I’m simultaneously thinking about why my pump is vibrating, or is the reason I feel ill because of my blood sugar or just lack of sleep. It’s a lot to take on. Some days are harder than others. I wake up at 1:30 a.m., to get ready for the 4:30 a.m. newscast. I’ve had my nights where I endured 15+ notifications that woke me up every 20-30 minutes, and then had to go on air looking like I slept 12 hours and sang with forest animals on my way to work like some sort of Disney princess. 

But it’s what I love. 

TV weather is my passion, and no matter what diabetes throws at me, that’ll never change. Me telling you how challenging diabetes and a demanding career isn’t meant to discourage you. In fact, I want it to do the exact opposite. If I can do sleepless nights, low blood sugar, high blood sugar, the doctor’s appointments, the blood work, the endless insurance phone calls and the general mental strain diabetes can cause….then you can too. No matter how impossible it may seem to you now. 

I am so thankful for the modern technology we have access to today, that allows us to live (a little bit more) normal lives. That technology allows me, and Nick Jonas, to do live television broadcasts. Which, 9 years ago, is something I thought I was never going to be able to accomplish with diabetes. But if you go after your dream, if you go after that career, you will eventually get a schedule down, and find what works for you. Truly, you can do anything. 

Cup of Oj Takeover: Festive Low Carb Cocktail and Fall Inspired Charcuterie Boards

Hi there! Ariana here, back with some more festive recipes to enjoy this season! This is an exclusive sneak peek at my October Low Carb Cocktail that hasn’t even been announced on my website, Cupofoj.com, where I post all of my monthly low-carb recipes. 

This month, I thought it would make something fresh, easy, and ready to be enjoyed at any fall party. I use tequila for this recipe, but it would also taste great with vodka or gin as well.

Low Carb Poison Berry Smash

INGREDIENTS:

Makes 1 serving

• 2 oz. tequila

• 5-6 blackberries

• 2 oz. fresh-squeezed lemon juice

• 1 oz. stevia simple syrup*

• lemon sparkling water

• handful of ice

• fresh thyme

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Add the blackberries to a cocktail shaker and muddle thoroughly. Spoon the blackberries into a rocks glass with ice.

2. Add the tequila, lemon juice, stevia simple syrup, to the cocktail shaker and shake over ice.

3. Pour into a rocks glass and top with lemon sparkling water.

4. Stir and garnish with a lemon peel and fresh thyme.

*HOW TO MAKE STEVIA SIMPLE SYRUP:

1. Bring one cup of water to a boil.

2. Add 2 tablespoons of stevia and let it simmer at low heat until stevia has completely dissolved.

3. Remove from heat.

4. Let it cool at room temperature before using, refrigerate the rest.

In the chance that you are headed to a potluck, fall festivity, or simply want a tasty autumnal treat to enjoy with your cocktail this season, I’ve put together a fall-inspired charcuterie board recipe to try. 

AUTUMNAL HARVEST GRAZING BOARD

HERE’S WHAT I USED:

Cheese: cheddar cheese with caramelized onion, creamy Toscano cheese dusted with cinnamon

Crackers: pumpkin cranberry crisps, fall leaves tortilla chips, multigrain wheat crackers, Italian breadsticks

Dips: pumpkin four-cheese greek style yogurt dip

Seeds: in-shell roasted pumpkin seeds

Fruit + veggies: black figs and Persian cucumbers

Sweets: pumpkin-spiced teeny tiny pretzels, crunch dried honey crisp apples

Garnish:  sprigs of rosemary and mini pumpkins 

Everything was purchased from Traders Joe’s!

I hope you enjoy the festive fall flavors! Follow along at Cupofoj.com for more autumnal low-carb cocktails and fall-inspired charcuterie ideas. If you’re looking for some fun and cute items for T1Ds check out my shop at shopcupofoj.com.



We need to talk about Complications by Daniel Newman

I’ve been living with type 1 diabetes for over 25 years, which is many more years living with it than without it. My diagnosis story isn’t as traumatic as some others in the community, my levels were from what I’ve been told around 29-30mmol/L (yes I’m from the UK and we use mmol/L so that’s roughly 522 mg/dL), I never lost consciousness and was never in a coma. I am very fortunate. Like most people living with diabetes, my biggest challenges were yet to come. 

I was diagnosed at 10 years old (you can work out how old I am right?) and my biggest challenge were my teenage years and early 20’s. It was a struggle, a really hard struggle. Looking back during that period I was experiencing what I now know as diabetes distress and diabetes burnout. (You can learn more about these conditions here). In that period, I was hearing from various healthcare professionals scare tactics as to why I needed to look after myself and what would happen to me if I don’t. Whilst these words were supposed to motivate me, they didn’t. Far from it. I was a teenager who thought I was invincible and these potential consequences were so far away and of course they would happen to someone else just not me. I lived my ‘best life’ or at least what I thought it was. That’s the thing with diabetes is that it can, if you allow it to, lull you into a false sense of security. 

Diabetes and its associated complications almost come hand in hand. Living with diabetes you are always aware of the impact this condition brings in the short, medium and long term. Hypos, hypers, DKA, eye, kidney and foot problems, eating disorders, disordered eating, diabetes distress and diabetes burnout, nerve damage and sexual problems are all complications of diabetes. The conversation around the first three is quite comfortable but the others not so much. This needs to change.

You may be thinking what makes me qualified to say that the conversation needs to change? What does he know about life with complications? I’m currently living with diabetic retinopathy (I can’t remember when this was first diagnosed) I’ve had multiple laser surgeries in both eyes and I’ve had vitrectomy surgery in my right eye. In 2013 I was diagnosed with Chronic Kidney Disease and in 2018 I was very fortunate to receive a kidney transplant. I have some lived experience of living with complications. Ok so I live with complications so why do we need to talk about them?

This is where it gets interesting. You may be reading this and be living with complications or you may not. That’s fine. My experience of being diagnosed with complications meant that I felt like I had failed some sort of diabetes test. I felt alone and also like a failure. All of those warnings I received years ago, the scare tactics were all coming true. I initially thought to myself if only I had listened at the time. These same thoughts came about when I was diagnosed with Chronic Kidney Disease. That feeling of being alone hit like no other if I’m honest. Imagine feeling out millions of people worldwide living with diabetes, you are the only one who has complications. It makes no sense but at the time it did. I’ve spoken to others and they’ve said something similar. This is why we need to speak about complications because there are others out there like me and possibly like you. 

We are always told it is good to talk and it is, it really is. So why not talk about a subject that many of us living with diabetes, regardless of the type, face on a daily basis? There’s a deep-rooted stigma attached to someone have complications. They didn’t look after themselves, they don’t care about their life and so on. This can be found in the diabetes community. 

I believe that even though many aspects of the community is great, we as a community, where all members face these challenges should be proactive in having these conversations in a safe environment because none of us are excluded from developing complications. Diabetes is relentless and doesn’t discriminate. To create this safe space means us as a community taking back the power from negative narratives and stigmas and having open and honest conversations. I’m in no way saying that anyone living with diabetes shouldn’t be doing their best every single day although some days our best is better than others. I’m saying that normalizing the conversation means that if you are either living with or diagnosed with complications that you don’t feel alone or feel like you failed a test. You instead know that others have faced what you have. 

The results? A community that openly embraces all aspects of life with this relentless condition that none of us asked for and an understanding that you are never alone on this journey with diabetes. 

Tackling the COVID vaccine by Basma Adams

I – like many of us worldwide – have a newfound respect for public health nursing as I’ve found myself obtaining my own Master’s degree in Nursing during a worldwide pandemic. I’ve learned a great deal about evidence-based practice, the importance of advocacy, and what it means to be an individual living with diabetes amid global uncertainty and fear. 

What do I need to know about the vaccines that are available? What kind of side effects can I expect? Should I receive the booster shot? Hours of researching, speaking to my own doctor and nurses, consulting with peers and professors and ultimately, trusting my own experience to lead me through these questions, I’m honored to be able to share that all with you guys in my own guest post on here! I hope you find this informational and if there’s one thing you take away from my personal experience today, I hope it’s that at the end of the day all we can truly do is our part in protecting ourselves and each other in order to combat this pandemic! We’re in this together! 

We’ll start with the basics – there are currently 3 vaccines available in the U.S. – Moderna, Pfizer BioNTech, and Johnson & Johnson. As of August 2021, Pfizer BioNTech is the first COVID-19 vaccine to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for individuals aged 16 and older against the prevention of COVID-19 disease. Pfizer continues to be available under emergency use authorization for individuals ages 12-15 years of age as are Moderna (for individuals ages 18 years and older) and Johnson & Johnson (for ages 18 years and older). 

Side effects can vary for each of these vaccines, but the most common include pain at the site of injection, sore arm, swelling or redness on your arm, increased fatigue, headache, chills and/or fever, muscle pain, and nausea. From personal experience, I’ve learned that these side effects truly vary depending on the individual. After my first and second dose of the Moderna vaccine, I experienced an extremely sore arm (I’m talking like a semi-truck ran over it!) and some moderate fatigue. Nothing more, nothing less. This is all to say that you can’t go into getting your vaccine expecting certain side effects – you might get these, you might not! 

I know what you’re wondering… “Basma, how did it affect your diabetes?!” It didn’t… not that I could truly notice. I kept a hawk eye on my Dexcom blood glucose values and trends, and to be quite honest I expected my blood sugars to drastically be affected. But aside from the adrenaline and excitement of receiving my vaccine, I saw no aftermath effects of the vaccine on my blood sugar… with my first two doses, that is. 

Currently, there’s a lot of talk about the COVID-19 booster shot. The booster shot is exactly that – another shot of a vaccine you’ve received (like the MMR or tetanus vaccines!) which aims to prolong your immunologic immunity and protection against SARS-CoV-2 which ultimately causes COVID-19 disease. For now, the CDC recommends individuals who are “moderately to severely” compromised immune systems (those who are immunocompromised) who may end up being vulnerable to COVID-19 to receive a booster shot. As of now, there isn’t too much detail regarding which individuals specifically are eligible for the booster, so I recommend speaking to your health care provider if you think you might fall into this category (please consult with your provider regarding any decisions you take based on this post). 

Personally, with the help of my own provider, I decided I wanted to receive my 3rd Moderna booster shot. Along with living with diabetes, I am back on campus for graduate school as well as seeing patients and in the hospital setting for clinicals. I want to not only protect myself and my loved ones, but my patients and those I may encounter at any time. 

Booster side effects are expected to be the same, and although I had no symptoms after my first 2 doses, I had just about every symptom following the booster. I experienced a low-grade fever, chills, body aches and muscle pain, headache, swollen lymph nodes (which are considered normal), and extreme fatigue. I tried to combat this by staying hydrated and remembering to eat, keeping a cool cloth on my forehead to cool me down, and resting as much as I could (aka, lying in bed ALL day). I did experience high blood sugars about 10-12 hours after receiving the booster, but that didn’t last all day. I was vigilant with ensuring I treated my blood sugars as I normally would, especially since I was lacking physical movement that would normally help keep me in range. I found that being conscious with pre-bolusing helped the most as did drinking plenty of fluids. 

What we tend to forget as a society is that these adverse effects, which can occur as a result of ANY vaccine, is the doing of cells in our bodies that respond to the vaccine by secreting antibodies and memory immune cells in our bloodstream. Thanks to our memory cells, we amount protection if infected with the virus later. This is what leads to the inflammation that occurs throughout our body and consequently, the headache, fatigue, fever, etc. that some of us experience. Our immune system is doing exactly what it should be doing – building protection against the COVID-19 virus! 

There are countless questions that arise every day and it can be worrying that the pandemic is everchanging. We’re finding out information as we go and it’s our job to seek out reputable sources to conduct our own research and reading. As someone who has both received and provided vaccines and is embarking in a career and healthcare, I hope my own experiences and knowledge can serve someone else. The only way to beat this pandemic, is together!  

About the author: Basma was diagnosed at three years old and is a diabetes National Advocate & speech writer, a public speaker, & social media content creator. She got involved in the diabetes community on social media after realizing her story and journey could help thousands of other kids, teens, and adults. Ever since then, she has made it a point to advocate for those living with any form of diabetes. 

Basma has been volunteering with the ADA since age 10 and in 2014 was the National Youth Advocate for the ADA. She has given hundreds of speeches around the country at galas, fundraisers, events, interviews, and podcasts. She has been to Call to Congress on Capitol Hill twice for advocacy and has traveled to camps all around the U.S speaking to children living with type one diabetes. 

After her own personal experiences, Basma decided to share her story on social media and has built a following to help other kids, teens & adults who might struggle with their own diabetes journey. Since then, she has created a blog, podcast, and YouTube channel to further help her community and educate the masses. Basma is a 2nd year Masters in Nursing student and attributes her diagnosis for her love & passion for medicine and future career in the medical field! She spent her undergraduate years working at the UCSD School of Medicine Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism laboratory, shadowing physicians and nurses in low-income communities and clinics, and traveling the country as a National Youth Advocate. She is eager to contribute her experience as a diabetic and share her love of public health and advocacy within the healthcare field.

Hispanic Heritage Month Spotlight: Damaris Palacios

Por amor de comida/ For the love of food

Growing up first generation, my parents taught me the importance of valuing food and its security since they both had rough childhoods in Mexico. I was a relatively non-picky eater and when going places to see family or friends I knew damn well to finish everything on my plate as a sign of respect and gratitude. In the Hispanic culture, you also know to offer something or anything as small as a glass of water to guests out of hospitality, because even if you don’t have much, manners and kindness go a long way.

My maternal grandmother was our next-door neighbor and my favorite things growing up would be her gorditas and tamales that she’d make year-round. Her hot chocolate and champurrado during the holidays still fill my memories with warmth and love. As a person, she wasn’t the most affectionate, but her actions and cooking would make me feel loved and cherished long after she passed. Food is essential to everyone’s well-being yet something about those little gestures made the world’s difference to me as a kid and made me appreciate the eating experience as an adult even more.

I spent my summers in Monterrey with my dad’s side of the family before my diagnosis for months on end since I was the only natural born citizen of my siblings with that privilege. My mom would phone my grandmother to make sure enough money was sent over to buy me all the milk, cereals, and snacks that I would possibly need. I would house hop between my aunt’s and uncle’s homes during that time and knew that I would be well fed or being a visitor they’d also take requests to make me feel as much at home as possible, which a kid typically only dreams of. With such a large family, parties were normal and often during my stays, and they were centered around food, drinks, and music, so think fajitas and taquitos for days!

Houston luckily has a good amount of diversity with its people and cuisine, and my neighborhood specifically reflected that by being predominantly Hispanic. I grew up very much in that bubble of thinking that having roosters and hens or guard dogs in your backyard was the norm. At home, we were usually fed home-cooked meals and rarely we’d get fast-food because if there were rice and beans or tortillas at the house there was a meal waiting for us. My mom would never deny us anything sweets/ dessert wise because she loved to “treat” us when possible in any way she could, though constantly in a conscientious way. Being the chubby sibling I did have a strenuous relationship to food seeing that both my siblings were on the lean to normal side, and my “gorda de harina” (flour tortilla) nickname wasn’t always helpful.

My DKA story is pretty standard to most with no previous diabetes education in their lives. I had all the symptoms and didn’t get bloodwork or urine samples until my 3rd clinic visit. I lost weight at every doctor’s visit and rather than raising concern, I was being praised by staff that knew nothing about me for shrinking myself at 11 years old. Once diagnosed in the ER and fully recovered, the diabetes educators informed my mom of the different sugars in all foods and she did feel overwhelmed. The handbook was fortunately bilingual with staple pieces she was used to making, which later brought me back to a healthy weight.

There was a lot of trial and error that would occur from the lack of portioning my meals because my mom’s recipes rarely required any measuring cups or tools. My mom did supplement more veggies into our diet, but other than that not much changed and I recognized the importance good food had on my health. I ate all the things I wanted with my mom’s support, recognizing that her foods would always be dear to me and those traditions were worth keeping, from the Pozole and Albonidagas, to the handmade flour tortillas and huge tostadas de la Siberia - I would never trade them for anything in the world.

I knew not everyone would be willing to learn the complexity behind my illness and compare me to their elderly neighbor or grandparent so that’s why I avoided bringing attention to my diabetes for the most part. The major nuisances for me occured when people would comment on my plate at gatherings, seeing that type 2 diabetes is common in the Latino population they thought they knew best regarding my diet and steering clear from tortillas and rice was obviously the only alternative. Calling my diabetes “azúcar” irked me some, too because the narrative was always, “you shouldn’t have any sugar or carbs since your body makes too much already”. To them I merely did my best to educate the importance of insulin as my treatment and as long as I took my medicine and watched my glucose it would be fine, food was never something I feared and they shouldn’t be concerned about it for my sake either. 

 I do nevertheless experience my burn out periods because life gets hard and sometimes your mentality makes a bigger impact than you think. What helped me most was accepting that I was entitled to grieve the life I had prior to diagnosis and not seeing myself as a burden for whatever reason. As I lived life on my own and did the things my childhood heart would have never imagined - I finally gained my confidence in wearing my CGM proudly and acknowledged that my disease is a part of my identity just like my upbringing and love of food. It was being at home in my own body- no matter its size, in taking care of myself and allowing myself yummy pleasures with moderation and responsibility. It’s in eating the things I love like carb heavy tamales, and not feeling guilty about it because if they bring me joy and I’m watching my health simultaneously what harm can come from it? Overall, it’s really just a balancing act of knowing what works for you, what resonates with your life as a person foremost and how diabetes is a piece of that life you want to live. So here’s to living unapologetically and knowing we are strong, fierce and human. We deserve all of the health and happiness the world has to offer, and I wish everyone a “panza llena; corazón contento” (full tummy, happy heart).

Hispanic Heritage Month Spotlight: Laura Rosales

“Y tan joven?” (Why so young?) - this is something I often hear when family members or family friends find out I’m type 1. Growing up in El Salvador was never easy, but I loved it. I was never that child that got sick often (besides my unknown pancreatitis episodes that happened a few times a year) - if anything, people thought I was healthy because I was chubby. Chronic illnesses were never (and are still) talked about. As a child, I thought chronic illnesses only happened to “viejitos” (older people) - but never it occurred to me that it could happen to children, “normal” children, like me. Illnesses have always been talked about with such worry in my family, that having one, almost felt like you were sentenced to death. 

I remember going back to El Salvador five years after I had moved to San Antonio, Texas and having a physical done - you know, because it’s mas barato (cheaper). I recall my parents talking amongst each other about my blood results. I heard “que tiene el azucar alta” (she has high blood sugar) and didn’t really think anything of it. No one did. I came back to San Antonio and things were fine - until I turned 14. I remember that day so well; before I went to bed I ate 3 starbursts - just 3. Next thing I knew, I was in a diabetic coma. 

A few social workers, doctors, nurses, diabetic educators, and days later I still didn’t know what it meant to be diabetic. I was confused. Maybe in denial? And I don’t think my parents knew what was going on either - everything was taught to me in English. Coming home was interesting - I remember my mom clearing out the fridge and filling it up with vegetables. At that moment, I remember thinking “okay - so from now on I only eat vegetables?”. And that’s how it was for a few months, until it all fell apart. Being salavadoreña means pupusas, tortillas, tamales, pan dulce, atol de elote, riguas, pasteles, atol shuco - CARBS. A salvadoreño cannot have a proper meal without having two or three tortillas accompanied with rice, or beans - tell me, how can I make that low carb? Impossible. I started to fall off the “healthy” train and went back to my carb heavy diet. The weight started to pile on until people started to notice. “Estas gordita” (you’re chubby). Is all I would hear - but the thing is, not a lot of people knew I was diabetic. As I had mentioned, in my culture, my family, my roots - being diagnosed with a chronic illness is like being sentenced to death. No one talks about it. 

For a while I thought my parents were embarrassed to tell people I was a type 1 - which at some point made sense. Why would anyone want to tell all their family and friends that their child is diabetic and that people may think they fed their child too much sugar? And be judged? Yeah - I get it. Then, it didn’t make sense. Being newly diagnosed, going through puberty, and living in a salvadorian household, where feelings sometimes don’t exist, was hard. I had never felt so alone. I then started to not talk about it - to the point I pretended I didn't have it. I was never officially diagnosed, because again, feelings don’t exist sometimes - but I’m sure I was depressed and had developed an eating disorder. It got really bad that I stopped using insulin. I was so obsessed with the thought that “the more insulin, the fatter I will be.” 

That, of course didn’t end well. My parents never really found out - if anything, using less insulin was great! It meant I was getting healthier - and everyone else thought so too. Now, at 25 years old, I sit here and realize this was all due to the lack of education and resources. I don’t blame my parents, because truly, I don’t think any parent is prepared (especially immigrant parents who don’t speak english) to come to this country to have a child diagnosed with a chronic illness. Not only that, but I didn’t expect my 14 year old self to teach them everything there was to know about diabetes (in addition to translating important documents that you have no idea what they’re saying). As years have gone by, I have noticed how resources are very limited in the hispanic/latine community. People are mainly told “Hey diabetes is bad - don’t eat tortillas and bread” and that’s it - at least that’s how it’s been with my dad who was diagnosed with type 2. Health insurance is expensive and almost non-existent for those working in blue collar jobs. Prime example - my mom has been working with Chick-Fil-A since we got here and has never had health insurance. My dad does have insurance, but it's mainly a “just for show” type of insurance - super limited. So, with that - how can anyone expect them to raise a child with diabetes or any kind of chronic illness? 

I will be cliche and say that if I hadn’t gone through all these things, I wouldn’t be who I am today. If I could see my 14 year old self after diagnosis, I would tell her that I’m proud of who she is and who she will be. That I’m proud of her not giving up. Proud of her not letting a disease define her. Proud of how strong she is. 

- Laura Rosales 

Note from the Author: This was taken in Tenancingo, Cuscatlan a few years ago. It’s where my parents grew up. What’s funny, is that the soda I was holding wasn’t mine - because you know, “too much sugar”. My mom gave it to me to pose with it.

f you or your caregivers are looking for Spanish diabetes education materials, please visit:

https://es.beyondtype1.org/

https://es.beyondtype2.org/

Football and Diabetes by Elliot Fry

Its late October in 2013. Its 40 degrees and we are playing at the University of Missouri. We find ourselves in Double Overtime and need a 40-yard field goal to take our first lead of the game. I go in to attempt the field goal, to potentially win the game, but what if my blood sugar is low? What if my blood sugar is spiking like crazy and it causes me to miss the kick? Even if I grab a Gatorade on the sideline, it’s too late. I can’t just ask to call a timeout and the play clock is running down.

 I ended up making the kick and we won the game. But this thought terrified me through my freshman year of college while playing for the University of South Carolina. I was a true freshman and a diabetic trying to figure out how to do both at a high level. The thought always crossed my mind, “What if I go low and have to go out and kick a field goal and miss because of it”. Under the right circumstances, that could end my career. It’s not like I could just walk up to the head coach and ask for a 15 minutes break until my blood sugar rises back to normal. I knew that if I ever showed my diabetes as a weakness, they would never trust me again.

 I realized that season that I had to get really serious about my diabetes if I wanted to continue to play and continue my career as a kicker. I was diagnosed with diabetes when I was 7 and had a lot of knowledge around what to do and how to manage it, but like most of us, life always gets in the way. Going through high school and some of college, the ability to keep diabetes at the front of your mind becomes harder and harder. Other things become more important and its easy for diabetes management to get pushed to the side. Friends, family, sports, college, grades, and having fun all start to become more important and it’s easy to just say, “I’ll just test my blood sugar later, I feel fine”. I think it’s very normal for us to do this because there are no off days with diabetes. You don’t just get to wake up one day and take a day off, it is an everyday struggle, so I think it can be easy to try and take breaks away from it in any way we can.

 I do remember making the decision to take really good care of my diabetes when it came to football. I realized that if I ever wanted to take my career further, make it to the NFL and have a successful college career, I was going to have to put diabetes at the forefront of my life. I started testing my blood sugar as much as I could before and during practices and games. I tried to be perfect and make sure that I knew what was going on with my body so that I could be the best I could be. I took my routine very seriously, I ate the same things on gamedays at the same time. I would test my blood sugar about 10 times in the 2-hour window before the game. I found that the trick for me was keeping a good routine. As long as I could control my routine and eat the same foods, I could be in good control. I also found that I needed to treat my diabetes proactively instead of reactively. I stopped waiting to treat a low when it happened and started preventing myself from having lows during the game.

 I have always told younger kids that diabetes won’t stop you from doing whatever it is you want to do in life, but there’s a caveat. YOU HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF IT! If you don’t control your diabetes, it can absolutely control you and control your life. I know that I wouldn’t be where I am today unless I made that decision back in college to take diabetes seriously.

Life is a marathon, not a race - by Casey Terrell

“It matters not how strait the gate,   

How charged with punishments the scroll,   

I am the master of my fate:

I am the captain of my soul.”

-Invictus, William Ernest Henley

These words, which conclude the famous poem “Invictus,” by William Ernest Henley describe how I feel about my relationship with Type 1 Diabetes, but this wasn’t always the case. 

I was diagnosed with Type 1 in the fall of 2010. I had left my small hometown in Western Wyoming to go to Community College in a town 100 miles away. Shortly after arriving at school I began noticing rapid weight loss, constant thirst, and other symptoms which I now know to be classic indicators of Diabetic Ketoacidosis (“DKA”). As someone who grew up heavy, I was excited about the weight loss rather than concerned for my health, so I ignored these symptoms for several months. Eventually my foolishness earned me a trip to the emergency room and a week-long stay in the hospital where I was diagnosed with Type 1 at the age of 18.

Although I put up a strong front, I struggled with my diagnosis. At that point in my life I had a pretty pessimistic outlook anyway, and when the new set of challenges that comes with Type 1 was layered on top of it, I struggled under its weight. I look back now and can see the evidence of these pressures on different parts of my life. My weight steadily increased, well beyond where I had been before I began experiencing DKA, because turning to food was one of the things that helped me feel better. I couldn’t always control my blood sugar, but I could choose to eat if I wanted to. I also took an active role in many different organizations at my college, which appeared to be a good thing, but I was partially motivated to do so as a means of not addressing how I was feeling, making it unhealthy. 

I continued on with these coping mechanisms for the next 8 years while earning my bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, and juris doctorate. The whole time I felt like I was on a roller coaster with my diabetes management, weight, and self-confidence, which were all very interconnected. I would have a good summer or semester working out and taking care of myself and my blood sugars, weight, and attitude would reflect it. Then, inevitably, I would fall into disarray again and find myself in a dark place where I didn’t really care about my health or future. 

I wish I could point to the moment when I began to turn things around, but much like most of the significant changes in our lives, it happened a little bit at a time and not all at once. While I was finishing law school, the endocrinologist I was working with left the state and there wasn’t another one within roughly 300 miles. Although I love living in Wyoming, having an illness that requires specialized care like Type 1 Diabetes can be challenging in our sparsely populated state because there simply aren’t local resources to provide care and support. I wanted to take this opportunity to find a care provider who could help me make a change and, with my mother-in-law’s help, I started seeing the folks at UC Health-Anschutz in Denver, Colorado.

I can’t say enough good things regarding the quality of care I have received with my new team at UC Health. For the first time since I was diagnosed, the question changed from, “why can’t you understand?” to, “how can we help you succeed?” Once I had a supportive diabetes care team in place, my wife went above and beyond to help me transition to a healthier lifestyle. At this time, our wedding was roughly a year away and I knew that I wanted to be my best self when I started that journey. So, her and I started focusing heavily on balanced nutrition and being active in whatever ways we could. 

Please do not think, even for a second, that this journey was without challenges, learning curves, and frustration. I remember when I first started working out, I would focus on eating well all day and work out in the evening, only to wake up at 1:30 am to a low glucose alarm. I would find myself sitting on the kitchen floor in the dark feeling like a failure, eating the calories I had done my best to forego the previous day in order to treat my low blood sugar. I didn’t understand how to properly dose and eat while undertaking physical activity, so I was constantly experiencing peaks and valleys with my blood sugar. I also initially made the mistake of associating carbohydrates with weight gain when I was trying to work on my nutrition. This left me feeling lethargic all day and unmotivated when it came time to work out. 

Although I felt defeated, I wasn’t going to let that be the end of my story. I kept at it. Day by day. Week by week. I worked with my care team and relentlessly researched how my body was responding when I exercised and what I could do to work with it, instead of against it. I eventually embraced the mantra that although it wasn’t my fault that I had Type 1, it was my responsibility to understand and manage it if I was going to become the person I wanted to be. I started attending therapy regularly and worked through a lot of the underlying psychological challenges that were leading me to make unhealthy choices. I also found folks in my community that did the cool stuff I wanted to do and asked for their help in understanding and improving at it. 

Specifically, I found friends who were into trail running. I want to be very clear; I have never been a runner and I still wouldn’t call myself a runner. In fact, when I was finishing law school, I couldn’t walk up a single flight of stairs without getting winded. However, I always admired runners and when I began my health journey, I felt like if I could run a race one day, I would know that I was where I wanted to be. So, I put on my shoes and hit the road. Running has a completely unique impact on my blood sugar and there were many scary times that I had to stop mid run to treat a low blood sugar. 

Putting one foot in front of the other, I got better and better and eventually completed a 5K race. I felt on top of the world, but I didn’t want to stop there. I worked my way to completing a 10K race, then a half-marathon, and eventually an 18-mile trail run. At that point I began to feel like I was running not only for myself, but for all the other folks out there with Type 1 who have been put in a box, and who have had their abilities questioned by folks who don’t even know them. So, I resolved to complete a 32-mile trail run in 2021, my first ultramarathon. It took over 12 hours and a whole lot of grit, but I finished that ultramarathon in June of this year. I am very proud to have ran that race wearing a shirt that read, “access to insulin is a human right,” to bring awareness to the insulin affordability crisis our community faces. 

My parting thoughts to you are these. Whatever your ultramarathon is, get out there and do it. For far too long in my life, I let other folks and my own fears tell me what I was capable of, especially when it came to what I could accomplish as a diabetic. My life truly changed when I realized that who I am is up to me, and no one else. For those of you on a journey like mine, I see you struggling and striving, and I am proud of you and you should be, too. Remember, diabetes doesn’t define your limits; you are the master of your fate, you are the captain of your soul. 

The Complexity of Diabetes & Identity by Grace Choi

I am not my diabetes. 

There’s so much more to me than just an illness. I’m Korean American, born in New York, raised in Delaware, and now living in New York City. I struggle with depression, anxiety, and body image. I’m a daughter, a sister, a roommate, a girlfriend. I’m an ex-athlete figuring out what that means as an adult. I’m a professional in finance as a woman. I have so many facets and complexities of my identity and Type 1 Diabetes is just one of them.

My parents moved to the states over 30 years ago, seeking a better life than the one they left behind. They stayed to give my sister and me opportunities they never had. I grew up in a primarily white neighborhood in the suburbs of Delaware always feeling slightly out of place. Subtle racism was a staple and I just got used to it. Over the past few months, we’ve seen a rise in Asian Hate and it breaks my heart. I go back to visit relatives in Korea and I’m not quite Korean. I’m a New York native but it would seem to some that I’m still not quite American. When I was first diagnosed, I was misdiagnosed as Type 2 Diabetic and my severe DKA was overlooked because of my heritage. The GP took one look at me and told me to rethink my lifestyle and I probably got diabetes because “well, you know, Asians eat a lot of rice.”

Over time, I’m seeing the diabetes community slowly becoming more inclusive but I also still see Asian Americans often overlooked. Politicians and companies actively choose to overlook the Asian demographic because we’re “statistically insignificant.” From a marketing or campaign standpoint, I get it. But from a human standpoint, can you imagine how it feels to be told you’re insignificant?

Then I think about why inclusion is so important – it’s not just so that I can placate my feelings of being “other than,” it truly is about life or death when it comes to things like my diagnosis. If we shoot for inclusion and education, I can’t imagine that GP would have sent me home when he should have sent me to the hospital. No one in my family knew how to handle Type 1 Diabetes and when I looked for literature, not a lot existed beyond the very White male dominated space. I tried to give my mom a book on Type 1, but with English being her second language, she got stuck on a lot of the jargon. The lack of inclusivity has very real consequences.

I’m open about my story because I want to challenge the norm; tell people, maybe I’m not significant, but I’m here. I want other Type 1 Asian Americans to know they’re not alone either. It’s tough, it really is, to be so “other than” but it’s also forced me to face who I am and really know who that girl is. It’s complex and it’s messy but that’s me.

Name the best diabestie duo… I’ll wait :)

Hi! It’s Paloma and Gretchen! We were both diagnosed with diabetes around the same time,  in different ways and places but somehow we still found each other. Had our pancreas kept producing insulin, we probably wouldn’t have had the chance to meet but here we are! Something we have in common is we LOVE to celebrate. Let’s all celebrate International Friendship Day together! 

 About Gretchen

As a young 23 year old, Gretchen was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes while on a cruise traveling through Europe in the summer of 2014. She felt so frustrated, confused, and alone with no one to truly understand what she was going through. There was so much change happening, and she felt that there was no one to talk nor relate to. After searching the internet for answers, she found nothing. So she then turned to creating my own Instagram (@typeonetypehappy) and blog (Type One Type Happy) to share about her journey with diabetes to hopefully help someone else going through the same scary things and loneliness that she felt when first diagnosed. Gretchen wanted to create something that would inspire and empower people living with diabetes to continue to live their life to the fullest, accomplishing anything they want! As social media and the diabetes community naturally started to grow, she’s been able to make so many new connections and friends from all over the world, all experiencing all the same things together. It has truly changed her life, outlook, and even relationship with diabetes management. It is strange to say, but in some ways she feels thankful for the struggle because she would have never met her best friend/diabestie- Paloma!

 About Paloma

Paloma wears many titles including *unofficial* Miss Arizona, The Bachelorette, Cat Mom but her favorite is Glitter Glucose. Paloma was diagnosed in 2013 and created GG as an alter ego to connect with people living with diabetes like herself. When she was first diagnosed she felt so lost and alone. It wasn’t until she connected with people like Gretchen on social media that she FINALLY felt like she belonged somewhere. Now on her social channels you can find her sharing her everyday life which includes fashion, beauty, dating, and fitness. Paloma brings you along for the ride with the overall goal to make life with diabetes a little brighter! 

 It Takes 2

 1. What is your favorite thing about having a friend with diabetes?

Gretchen: I love being able to complain to Paloma and she just gets it. For me, my absolute favorite thing is teaching each other tips and tricks! Honestly, if it wasn’t for diabetes friends, I would have never tried a CGM because I was too scared. But once I saw a friend put one on and show me everything about it, I felt eager to use one and haven’t looked back since!

 Paloma: I always feel safe. I feel like there's always someone who has my back no matter what. I’m low- here's a snack. I’m high- let's slow down. I had a great endo visit- high 5. It’s just nice knowing someone actually understands first hand. 

 2. Diabetes brought us together but the friendship is so much more than that. What else do you have in common?

Gretchen: That’s honestly the best part! We obviously connect with diabetes, but there’s so many things! Our love for country music, cute clothes, fun adventures, creating… just to name a few!

Paloma: I probably would have NEVER met Gretchen if it wasn’t for the commonality of diabetes! So for that, THANKS DIABETES! Now I have a partner to gossip with about our fav shows, a singalong partner, a work colleague, and overall just an awesome +1!

 3. What are some tips on how to meet new friends with diabetes? 

Gretchen: Try attending diabetes events, meet-ups, diabetes camps, etc! It’s a great way to meet new people because everyone is there for the same reason so it makes for an instant ice breaker. Secondly, make friends virtually. The diabetes online social media community is bigger than you think! People are always open to new friendships and diabetes connections, so don’t be afraid to slide into the DMs (that’s how me and Paloma initially met)!

 Paloma: Be open about diabetes! You never know who might see or hear you.

 4. What is your favorite low snack?

Gretchen: Gummy bears! But for lows in the middle of the night, I always want apple juice.

 Paloma: Same! :) When I forget mine, I know Gretchen will have hers. 

 5. What's your most embarrassing or funny diabetes moment?

Gretchen: One embarrassing/funny moment was when I was newly dating a guy who didn’t know I had diabetes yet. So one evening, we were kissing and my CGM alarms were blowing up my phone. It was consistently alerting my phone that I had high blood sugar every minute! So it kept interrupting our romantic moment- Every. Single. Time. It got to the point where he said to me “Man, you’re really popular with all your text messages going off!” and I just said “Ya, I guess I am. You should feel lucky to be hangin’ with me!” *wink face* haha

 Paloma: OMG, I’m laughing at Gretchens story! Mine also has to do with dating! I was on a first date and I wear my insulin pump clipped to the center of my bra. I didnt realize my tubing was hanging out of my vneck when the guy showed up. He saw my tubing and said “Are you wearing a wire?!” He thought I was with the FBI or something. Spoiler alert: we were not a match.

 Even though living with diabetes sucks, one of the positive things to come out of it is the friendships we make. Having a friend that understands the struggles we all go through inside and out, is life changing. The fact that a friendship can come from a terrible diagnosis and blossom into a friendship where we can connect on so many other levels and similarities beyond just diabetes, really is special. It’s simple to say that if we didn't have diabetes, we would have never met- and that’s when I say that in this instance, I am thankful for our diabetes!

You can be our friend too by finding us here:

Paloma

Instagram: @glitterglucose

Blog: www.glitterglucose.com

Gretchen 

Instagram: www.instagram.com/typeonetypehappy  

Blog: www.typeonetypehappy.com 

Facebook: www.facebook.com/typeonetypehappy 

Twitter: www.twitter.com/type1typehappy

Tiktok: @typeonetypehappy https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMd77LJF2/

Grief and diabetes: here’s what surprised me

When you’ve lived with Type 1 diabetes for over a decade, you think there aren’t that many things that will surprise you. Many things that will frustrate / annoy / remind you, but not that many that will flat out surprise you. Or, at least, that’s what I thought. And then grief hit me - sideways, like a bus - and I realised how little I knew. 

My name is Bridget McNulty, and I live in Cape Town, South Africa. Here’s what I wish I’d known in the Before Time.

The adrenalin days

My mom died very suddenly - 13 days from diagnosis till death. It was honestly like something out of a badly made movie, where the volume was turned up too high and there was too much drama, not enough breathing space. She was totally fine, and then she was in hospital with four kinds of cancer, and then she was in a morphine coma, and then she was gone.

During these intensely stressful, disbelieving days, my diabetes didn’t go on holiday. I wish it had! I urged it to take a break and leave me alone. But no, it stayed by my side, ever present, demanding attention and care when I had none to give.

At the time I was finger pricking (not yet using the FreeStyle Libre) and injecting (MDI, as I still am), so there weren’t many patterns I could find - especially amidst the chaos. During the day, I was so preoccupied with all the details we had to figure out to help my mom (and the rest of my family) that food was functional. I love eating, so food is usually a real pleasure and something I look forward to, but I went into survival mode and just ate whatever was there and wouldn’t spike my blood sugar, and didn’t take that long to prepare.

At night, though, the adrenalin that had been coursing through my body all day suddenly left - able to relax for a few hours. And you can probably guess what happened then: sudden, violent lows. Every night, in the wee small hours, I would wake up with my heart racing, desperate to eat something, anything. I started injecting half my dose at dinner time, and eating carb-loaded meals that I usually didn’t indulge in: lasagna followed by fruit followed by chocolate. Still went low. It was as if the strength and volume of the stress during the day needed an outlet in the middle of the night, and that outlet sent my blood sugar crashing.

The side effect of this, of course, is that I was awake at 2 or 3 or 4am - the worst time of the night to be awake, especially when all you want to do is forget what life is throwing at you. I could fall asleep fine (thanks to Sarah Blondin meditations on Insight Timer), but staying asleep became a battle - as soon as I was awake, I was awake, running through the horror story of my mom’s rapid decline on repeat. The night lows persisted until my mom died, and then my grief took on a new shape.

Chronic stress response

For months, my blood sugar stayed high. Literally, months. Things that had worked before - meals and insulin doses - suddenly didn’t work any more. It was like there was a barrier to normal blood sugar, and that barrier, it turns out, was cortisol.

I didn’t know this at the time, of course. It was only when researching my book, The Grief Handbook: A guide through the worst days of your life, that I realised that grief is a chronic stress response. We all know what happens to our blood sugar when we’re stressed - it goes up, and it stays up. That’s because stress used to be a response to a sudden, urgent danger. A lion is chasing you! Flood the body with cortisol and other stress hormones! Escape! And then relax. But there’s no escaping grief - it is a constant, daily reminder of what you have lost and what you can’t ever get back.

Coupled with this, for me, was extreme fatigue. It’s a common physical side effect of grief, and one that left me listless and uninterested in doing exercise of any kind. Exercise is a superpower when it comes to blood sugar control, particularly during times of stress, but all my usual methods no longer worked for me. Yoga had too much silence, too many still moments to reflect on how much I missed my mom. Hiking required too much energy, and the chance of seeing other people when I didn’t feel up to socialising. Walking was okay, but it was more of a trudge than a walk, if I’m honest, and that wasn’t enough to really rid my body of the stress it was carrying. What worked, for me, was gardening - even if it wasn’t much exercise, it got me outside in the fresh air, planting seeds of hope in the future.

But that came later. At first, there were just days and days of high blood sugar - with all the tiredness, irritability and high emotions that come with that.

Lingering malaise

Before my mom died, I didn’t realise how much motivation and care I was putting into my diabetes. I knew it required self discipline to eat the same thing for breakfast and lunch most days, and that figuring out carb counts and injecting at least 20 minutes before I ate was a bit of a hack, but I didn’t realise the sheer energy it took to keep doing this - consistently, day after day. Until I had no energy to do it, and saw the results.

The trouble is that when you’re in deep grief, you don’t care. Your appetite goes, your interest in life goes, your motivation to look after yourself goes. I was forced out of bed by my two young kids (almost-5 and not-yet-3 at the time), and I knew I had to keep injecting and testing my blood sugar and eating somewhat healthy food, but I just didn’t care any more. This lingering malaise is a common aspect of grief, and can be crippling when it comes to diabetes… We all know what happens when you don’t give diabetes the attention it demands - it shouts louder. Highs and lows, blood sugar rollercoasters and mood swings, exhaustion piled on exhaustion. It’s the pits (literally). Especially because life doesn’t stop just because you’ve lost someone. It doesn’t even necessarily slow down. I still had to wake up every day and do my work for Sweet Life Diabetes Community, South Africa’s largest online diabetes community. I still had to parent. I still had to survive.

And so, one day, I realised I had to snap out of it - at least the diabetes part of it. I had to get back on track and start doing the things I know I need to do to get the diabetes control that lets me forget about diabetes a little more. Ironically, it’s when I take the time to tend carefully to my diabetes that it disappears into the background for me - it becomes just another aspect of life, rather than a wailing infant demanding attention.

One day at a time

If you are in grief at the moment, I see you. It is so hard. So unbelievably hard. While it doesn’t ever get better (as in, completely better and totally fine), it does get easier to live with - as all things do, diabetes included. One day at a time or, if that feels too hard, half a day at a time. You can do this, I promise.

- Bridget McNulty (@msbridgetmcnulty), co-founder of Sweet Life Diabetes Community (@sweetlife.org.za)

Diabetes is a Journey, This is mine by Lina Kazi

I was 10 years old when my life changed forever! Something I never saw coming happened to me. I remember becoming violently ill, slowly but surely. It began with multiple trips to the restroom in elementary school and a constant urge to drink water or just be in water. My teacher Ms. Rodriguez, constantly questioned why I always had to disrupt the class by leaving to urinate. I promised her I genuinely had to pee! (I did not blame her because I was a social butterfly at that time (lol). The trips to the restroom turned into constant vomiting, excruciating stomach pains that felt like someone was stabbing me in my side, and extreme weight loss within a month. After a trip to my primary physician, my dad asked for a blood test to be given to me but was refused. I remember my dad arguing with that doctor. 

The doctor insisted that I just had a stomach flu and prescribed me medication. I was okay for a few days thereafter but then all of the symptoms came back. My dad refused to believe the diagnosis and took me to the emergency room where they frantically hooked me on IVs and transferred me to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at a Children’s Hospital in South Florida where we lived at the time. My parents were told that I could have slipped into a coma within 24 hours had I not come at that exact moment. Within a few days, I was officially diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. 

After the diagnosis, my father and this physician exchanged a few words as he refused to give me a blood test when asked for one. ***The complications black women face in health care in this country is a topic for another day and one that needs to be discussed on global platforms in order for changes to be made. We are not super humans and feel pain just as much as the next person.***

My name is Lina Kazi, I am a Type 1 Diabetic living in Washington, DC. Advocate, Entrepreneur, Influencer, Fake IG Model (haha), and young Professional, this is how I define myself. 

Full disclosure, it was not until I hit my teens that I realized the impact Diabetes will have on me – financially, physically, mentally and emotionally for the rest of my life. When I was diagnosed, I genuinely thought there would be a cure within my lifetime! I wholeheartedly believed I would be cured at some point and held unto that glimmer of hope for as long as I could! As I approached my teen years… the faith I had in that dream slowly began to fade and eventually, I accepted that I most likely will not see a cure. When I was 14, I unexpectedly lost my father. My dad or as I would call him “papa” was in the medical field, thus whenever it came to ANYTHING diabetes related, he was there for me – he assisted me in carb counting, defended me if I would forget low blood sugar snacks at home, constantly advocated on my behalf as a child to doctors, read me scientific articles on the latest medical updates for diabetes, checked on me in the middle of the night for low blood sugars, and all of the great things dads do for their kids. Adjusting to life without my dad was the second life changing event that occurred within my life. Although my dad was not a diabetic, he still had medical knowledge and was overall empathetic to the battle I fought every day. 

For many years, I didn’t talk too much about diabetes. My culture teaches us that speaking on whatever we suffer from is “taboo” – but as the years go by, the internet has grown and its connected us in ways I am sure we all never thought would be possible. Because of social media by way of the internet, I have met other diabetics that truly “get it”. As the internet grows, we have been able to change laws and speak on the insulin crisis in America, we share stories, we educate individuals all over the world who for so long believed in the Diabetes stereotypes, and we have a genuine community. At the age of 14 when I lost my father, I never thought I would find anyone who “got it” again. 

On the bright side of my story, my close friend who had moved away a year prior to my diagnosis, ended up in the same Children’s Hospital as me and we spent a month together as roomies adjusting to our new lives. My entire 5th grade class and Ms. Rodriguez came to visit me while I was in the hospital and most of my classmates were so excited to see my friend that they had not seen because she moved away from our elementary school!

Type 1 Diabetes has been a journey. I have ups and downs several times a day but this is the hand I have been dealt with. With this hand I will continue to fight this battle, grow closer to the people that “get it/me”, educate, and advocate for T1D. T1D has taught me patience, kindness, empathy, sympathy, resilience, and I have to add that I am now a mathematician when counting carbs. Although there has not been a cure, technology has come so far to make life easier for us with the help of Continuous Glucose Monitors (CGMs) and pumps. We still have a long way to go with the insulin crisis at an all time high, but with all of us interconnected and advocating, I know things will change for the better within my lifetime. 

May my first love, my dad “papa” Rest in Peace. I love you and I will never forget you.

Lina Kazi

Living with Type One Diabetes as a Family by Saira Gallo

When I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, my father told me that hard things only happen to strong people. That Allah only gives us as much as we can handle. I didn’t tell him this, but 8-year-old me wanted Allah to take my strength away. I didn’t want to be strong. 

I was raised knowing that I could just as easily have been born a beggar on the street. That I was no better than the child tapping on the car window asking for two rupees. I didn’t deserve the comfortable life I had any more than anyone else. This may sound harsh, but it’s true. I don’t deserve the vials of insulin in my fridge more than any other person on this planet. 

I didn’t realize I was allowed to be angry at diabetes. I wasn’t shielding my children in a bomb shelter. I wasn’t afraid of getting shot while walking home from school through my uncle’s gated community. I wasn’t walking miles to the closest health clinic once a week only to get turned away because they had run out of test strips, again. I wasn’t dying because I lived in a part of the world that didn’t have equitable access to vaccines. 

Sure, paying more for healthcare than my mortgage is a pain. Sure, dealing with all the orders, the prescriptions, the doctors’ visits, the blood draws (all of it x4), is exhausting. Sure, the highs that won’t budge and the lows that won’t come up until you’ve eaten the whole house really suck. Sure, the failed infusions, the wonky insulin, the sites that get ripped out—they’re all awful. Sure, the guilt when one of my kids has a really shitty diabetes day is heart-wrenching. I can go on, but if you guys are reading this, you know this life. You know the hard days that make you angry at the cards you’ve been dealt. 

But hopefully you also know the days that diabetes is just in the background. The days where I am overwhelmingly grateful for the tools we have access to. The days where I am baffled by the fact that I can choose between the best tools on the market based on my mental health (Loop vs. the InPen vs. Control IQ?) whereas other people have to ration their insulin, or worse. Yes, T1Dx4 can be really, really hard some days. But more often than not, it’s just something I am privileged enough to have the tools to manage. 

Unfairness and shitty cards are relative terms. I can choose to see the world as though I got the short end of the stick. And don’t get me wrong, on those hard days, I sure do. But I try really hard to view the life I have been lucky to live the way my parents raised me to. My life, even with T1Dx4, is a glass way more than half full. Even on the days I don’t want to be strong, I have the means to be all the same. 

Type one Diabetes and Motherhood in Tanzania

I can say it is simple or hard to live with diabetes type one and at the same time become pregnant.

Most young women with type one in Tanzania are much scared to get pregnant just because of diabetes. Here is my experience and this is to encourage and motivate every woman with type one diabetes in Tanzania.

As we [all] know the life of a diabetic is like a roller coaster. When you’re pregnant it’s more than that. So this is my story.

I [have been living] 21 years with type one diabetes, got pregnant at the age of 35, and as they say, as you age and the effects increase, so you can imagine how it is. In my first trimester, things were so hard, my Blood sugar level was always high, it used to go up to 20, my doctor had to increase my dose, from 26U to 46U, and also he added short-acting in the afternoon. I used to be very careful with my eating habit, something I was like, l need chocolate or l need something so cold and sweet, and thank God l tried not to grant my wishes.

My second trimester was not bad but during the Ultrasound session, my gynecologist told me if l [wasn’t] managing my BG I will have to either lose the baby or l will do the c section before 40 weeks because of the weight of the baby.

It was hard for me to take it but all l knew was that l will hold my baby in my hands. When I reached 38 weeks my gynecologist suggested that l should have a c section because the baby was about 4kg and l won’t be able to push if l wait and it will be a risk for both of us (me and my unborn baby).

On Dec 16, 2020, God blessed me with a very healthy baby girl. I must say, I was so scared about a lot of things but God took away my fear. 

Now, here l am a type one diabetes mother, I am breastfeeding mostly at night, guess what?  Now l am facing HYPOGLYCEMIA almost every night so now l have to change my diet, l have to eat much of protein and starch and also my doctor reduced my insulin dose.

People think that a type one woman cant have a baby without type one diabetes. As far as l am concerned l don’t think that this true, but l do check my baby now and then. She is now 5 months old, healthy and kicking always smiling. Though the risk is high l am going to be that kind of mother who will teach her daughter to eat healthily and avoid sweet things. My daughter will always eat veggies and fruits.

I am giving my partner huge thanks because he was and still is here with me and supports me no matter what kind of situation diabetes put me in, l think, we must tell our partner about our health condition and teach them how they can live with us and how they can help us when BG is high or low. By doing this will help us and our mental health.

Hiking My Feelings Makes It Easier To Deal With Diabetes by Sydney Williams

I can remember the exact moment I knew I was committing to building a life around hiking. I was about six miles into my second attempt at thruhiking the Trans-Catalina Trail, a 38.5 mile trail that spans across Catalina Island. As we approached a playground in the middle of the backcountry complete with a swing set and monkey bars, I was getting ready to check my blood sugar for the first time since before breakfast. 

My first attempt at this trail was in 2016, nine months before I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. I was sick, sad, tired, and burned out at my high-powered corporate marketing job, and I knew I wanted to do something outdoorsy. My husband suggested the TCT as my first backpacking trip. I didn't complete the trail the first time, but I did learn two important lessons: I can do hard things, and I love my body. Even though I effectively rolled off the couch and into the backcountry and had just endured the most intense physical endeavor of my life, when I got home my mind was clear, and I felt strong in my body. Those benefits carried into every aspect of my life. 

Fast forward to June 2018. I had been living with diabetes for 10 months and had made some radical lifestyle changes as a result of the diagnosis. Two weeks before this trip, I came to the realization that since my diagnosis, I had been hiking my feelings instead of eating or drinking them. While I was stoked to have swapped out some unhealthy coping mechanisms for this activity that was enriching my life in so many ways, I wanted to know why I was eating and drinking my feelings to begin with. 

As I was preparing for the second attempt at completing the TCT, I was looking at the nutrition labels of the food I usually eat while backpacking and was a bit nervous about what to do. This would be my first backpacking trip as a diabetic, and these meals were loaded with carbs. I was concerned that eating this food would negatively impact my blood sugar levels. When I talked to my doctor, she reminded me that if I was carrying 30+ lbs for 8-10 hours per day that I would need to eat more and that I shouldn't stress too much about what I eat, because I'll need the energy. 

When we arrived at this playground, I took my backpack off, grabbed my glucometer, and pricked my finger.  107. This was way better than what I had been seeing before this trip, and I let out a long exhale. 

For the first time in almost a year, I felt like I could breathe again. Learning how to manage a chronic illness, navigating the stigma around diabetes, and finding energy to live the rest of my life was exhausting, and I didn't realize how much room it took up in my brain until I saw 107 on my glucometer. 

I had worked so hard to get to that point - a brand new nutrition plan, walking every day and eventually graduating to local trails for longer adventures, walking away from a stressful career - that I had finally dialed in how to keep myself nourished and properly hydrated on the trail. 

It was at that moment that I committed to building a life that would empower me to hike as much as possible as a major component of my diabetes management protocol. 

Since that day, this diabetic has done a lot of things. My husband and I sold everything we owned and moved into a van so we could keep overhead low while we build our non-profit organization - Hiking My Feelings. We have hosted more than 300 events around the US and online to introduce people to the healing power of nature, helping thousands of people on their healing journeys and I published a book about my adventures on the island. 

Don’t just take my word for it, join us! This year we’re hosting a community health initiative called “Take a Hike, Diabetes” and we’re on a mission to hike one million miles for diabetes awareness as a community. 

The research is clear - spending time outside has healing benefits for the mind, body, and spirit. As a starting point for diabetes prevention & management, the CDC recommends walking for 30 minutes per day, five days per week. When you register for Take a Hike, Diabetes, you have a built in support network with tons of resources available to help make living with diabetes a bit more enjoyable. 

We’re officially on the road for the Take a Hike, Diabetes tour and I hope to meet as many fellow PWD’s as possible when we’re on the road, so be sure to follow along on Instagram and check out our tour schedule so we can meet up and tell diabetes to take a hike! 

Ramadan for People with Diabetes, by Eritrea Mussa-Khan

Editors note: the author has defined the terms labeled with a asterisk at the end of this blog as well as added some additional footnotes for context.*

It feels strange to be writing this because no one has ever asked me how I handle Ramadan as a Type-1 Diabetic. 

Or as a person with only one Muslim parent. 

Or anything about Ramadan if I’m being honest. 

For so long most people assumed I didn't participate because of the assumption that Diabetics can’t fast. In my experience, when non-Muslim Americans hear Ramadan there’s usually two types of responses. They’ve either never heard of Ramadan or they associate it with fasting strictly from food. So I will attempt to clarify Ramadan for you in this blog. 

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic Calendar year where able-bodied Muslims fast from sun-up to sun-down. They fast from food, drink, smoking, and sexual activity. That includes water. Muslims observe the holiday for the entire month within their communities and it’s considered a must or fard for most Muslims with some exceptions. The Quran was revealed during this month and is the reason why we try so hard to spend this time growing closer to our God, Allah (swt). Many people also spend the month growing closer as a community or family. 

For most of my childhood we would celebrate Ramadan at the Masjid* with my Dad. My Dad immigrated to America in 1983 and doesn’t have immediate family in the states so our community became the Masjid. In Islam, men and women are seperated into different spaces or sections. 

This sounds kinda sus, but if you really think about it what girl wants a bunch of stinky boys in their space? When the space is limited the men will sit in front of the women, facing forward towards Mecca, to provide a sense of privacy. When I was really young, the Masjid we went to was also small so it wasn't big enough for separate sections. I was little so I'd just sneak over to where the men sat and be with my Baba; nobody really minded. Thinking back, I remember Ramadans where the men made sure the women's section was served their food first while the athan was going in the background, calling everyone for prayer and my dad would let me sit right next to him on the floor, hand me dates and little cups of pink milk to break our fast before I’d run back to the women’s side for the prayer, throw on my little hijab and join the women. 

I think Ramadan can mean a lot of things to different people but for me, it’s the season of mercy. When I was diagnosed with Diabetes, the small experience I had with Ramadan dramatically changed. I was 8 at diagnosis, so I had only begun fasting the year before and even then it was just for practice, 4 or 5 hours here or there. No one expects a child that small to actually fast but practicing to get in the habit was normal*. After my diagnosis, my parents switched me to a public school so I’d have one-on-one access to a school nurse. I wasnt in my regular Islamic School environment like I was used to. I would still go to iftar, the dinner served to break the fast, at the masjid with my dad and siblings but it felt different. I didn't get to be with my friends all day, I missed the special Islamic Studies classes we'd take to ask Brother Hassan, my Islamic Studies teacher and preferred person to bug with my incessant religious questions, or sing Ramadan songs. As I got older, sneaking to my dad’s side got harder and more frowned upon. It felt like all the fun stuff about Ramadan and going to the Masjid wasnt a thing for me because Diabetes and getting older had pretty much taken it all away from me. A particular day at Sunday School, I remember asking Brother Hassa why Allah (swt) was mad at me. It felt like he didn’t want me to fit in anywhere. Each time I felt I was understanding life a little more, the rug would get swept out from under me. Brother Hassan explained to me that Allah (swt) wasnt mad at me. In fact, Allah (swt) had remembered me and those like me in the ayas of Surah Al Baqarah: 

“And as for those who can fast with difficulty, (e.g. an old man), they have (a choice either to fast or) to feed a Miskeen (poor person) (for every day)”

[al-Baqarah 2:184]

What? This wasn't about me? This was for someone old right? How could I feed someone? I was just a kid. Brother Hassan explained to me that it was okay, I wasnt expected to yet. I was a child. When I was of age, It would be expected for me to participate by feeding a hungry person. I felt a little better but I was a persistent (and somewhat annoying) child. How did he know this was about me? Wouldn't Allah (swt) want me to push myself to really suffer like people who truly have nothing to eat or drink like he had told us in class? I was young, not an old man! Brother Hassan recited 

“Allah does not burden a soul beyond that it can bear”

[al-Baqarah 2:286]

“It’s okay that you can’t fast,” he said. “There are other things you can do. You can read the Quran, You can work on meeting your prayers steadfastly, You can feed poor people.” There were so many ways for me to be close to Allah during this month in my own way and still be a part of my community. He explained to me that even when I was older there would be times I couldn’t fast. 

I pushed harder. 

Why wouldn’t I just push myself? He told me that God had made these allowances for me for a reason and that taking care of myself and my body above all else was important*. When I was older, I eventually found out that Women are not expected to fast on their periods OR PRAY! Allah (swt) allows for Women to take a break. I learned to see this as merciful. A God who thinks about what is being asked of you and your ability to meet it. For me it didn't get more merciful than that. 

As an adult in a Islamic Marriage of my own, I find my own ways to celebrate Ramadan especially in our current COVID climate. I have iftar with my husband at home and on Sundays we have iftar with my Dad and brothers. On Mondays, we have iftar with my husband’s parents and sisters. It’s nice that we still get to have a sense of community within our family units even if we’re not gathering at the mosque like we did before COVID. 

During Ramadan my husband and I try our best to read the Quran more, watch TV less, and be as grateful as possible for the things we do have because there are so many people who have to live without some of the simple things in life. A roof, somewhere to sleep. Food to eat. People to love. Insulin to use(!). The technology of continuous glucose monitors and transplants being developed further everyday. Surviving a pandemic. Simple things that in the grand scheme of everything maybe aren’t so simple after all.

For those of you celebrating Ramadan this year with your loved ones, I hope your lives are filled with happiness and joy and may Allah (swt) accept all of your prayers and fasting! Ramadan Kareem!

 *Masjid is the arabic word for Mosque which is defined as a Muslim Place of worship as defined by Merriam-Websters dictionary.
*Athan is one of the many variations of the word azan which is defined by Merriam Websters dictionary as the Muslim call to ritual prayer, typically made by a muezzin from the minaret of a mosque.

*The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “The Pen has been lifted from three: from the sleeping person until he wakes up, from the minor until he grows up, and from the insane person until he comes to his senses.” [Narrated by Abu Dawood (4403), al-Tirmidhi (1423), al-Nasaa’i (3432) and Ibn Majaah (2041).] Brother Hassan explained that Allah had made exceptions for people and explained this quote to me.

*And the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: ‘Allah likes you to avail yourselves of His concessions as He hates you to disobey Him.” [Narrated by Imam Ahmad (5839) and classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Irwa’ al-Ghaleel (564)]. This was a story told to be at a later time by someone.

Bend don’t Break- Living in Jamaica with Type 1 Diabetes

Hi everyone. My name is Alexia and I live in Jamaica. There are monumental moments in your life the day you are born, the day you die and your “Why”. Being diagnosed and using my voice to inspire and educate is part of my “Why”. Fifteen years ago I sat in the Doctor's office greeted by the receptionist with a paragraph on juvenile diabetes. The day before I called the doctor and asked him what my results were, he hesitated. I asked the question again “ Am I diabetic ?” he regained his composure and said “Yes”. I sat in my bus seat and cried knowing that in that instance my life would never be the same. 

The month preceding was a whirlwind going to the Diabetes Association of Jamaica learning in forty-five minutes about, what to eat, injection sites and the National Health Fund that would cover the cost of medication. This was followed by meeting a new General Practitioner who had more experience with Diabetes who gave me my first injection. Before I received insulin my first blood sugar reading was 23. That would put most in a coma. The years following was a period of discovery, managing work, school and blood sugars. Hustling to pay for medication and my education. Whilst fielding questions/statements such as : 

1. You don’t look like you have sugar (diabetes)? 

2. Do you inject in your vein? 

3. Is the bad one you have? Referring to Type 1 

4. Drink some cinnamon tea that will cure it. 

I realize me being open about having a chronic illness isn't a cultural norm. As Jamaicans you don't openly discuss being unwell. However, that is changing. I share my experience so that other Caribbean T1Ds don't feel alone. 

Yes, it’s hard. Damn, I have days my blood sugars are a roller coaster ride. My bffs ride or die are Lantus and Apidra insulin Pens. Dexcom isn't available here. 

2017 was a crazy year I fractured my ankle and had a lengthy hospital stay. Four months and twelve days to be exact. That year taught me a lesson you are your biggest Advocate. I required surgery. Upon going to my pre-surgery appointment I asked the medical officer “Will an Endocrinologist be a part of my medical team? She said “No”. I repeated the question. She hesitated. I informed her a Specialist is crucial to ensure that any adjustments made to my insulin regime won’t adversely affect me. Fast forward after surgery I developed an infection. My blood sugars were not as controlled after surgery as before. Can you believe a Senior Resident spoke to the Orthopedic Consultant as if I was non-existent stating the reasons why I needed to change my insulin. Really, you did a semester on Diabetes. This is my life. My Endocrinologist recommended this treatment and it works amazing with my overall management. I researched to show the Consultant why it was important that I stay on my current regime. Discussed with him why the reactive approach to high blood sugars doesn't work? 

Whilst, I respect doctors opinions and advice. I’m an educated patient and I should play a role in my management. It's impacting my life. My voice, opinion and management should not be dismissed. 

My pharmacy asked me to speak on living with Diabetes. I gladly wore my shirt “ Type Wonderful”. We need to educate others and impact in a way the health system cannot. This is manageable. It is doable. You bend to accommodate the rising cost of medication due to the fx rate USD $147 to $1.00 and the cost of living.

Life happens, diabetes is never easy. Will it ever be? I don't think so. However I have a duty to use my voice to highlight the issues faced by diabetics in Jamaica especially , Type 1s. The two major insurance companies will not issue a individual health card to someone with Type 1. It doesn’t matter how controlled you are. A health card is only offered when it is group health. Imagine something that could greatly improve your quality of life being inaccessible. Imagine wanting to apply for critical illness insurance that covers over twenty (20) diseases but wont receive it because your Type 1. The National Health Fund covers some of our medical expenses however that’s not enough. Our medical expenses can be exorbitant. Visiting the Endocrinologist, Ophthalmologist and Dentist. Lab Tests, Insulin, Needles and test strips to name a few. Imagine this being your life everyday from your diagnosis. Waking up, taking insulin not by choice but by necessity. Injecting yourself three or four times throughout the day to SURVIVE. Having to delay your hopes and dreams because most of your resources are going towards medication. Life happens whether it be trying to manage a budget, balancing the stresses of everyday life and blood sugars. My mantra is “Bend don’t Break”. I have diabetes, it's the running theme throughout my life story. However, it is not what defines me. I am Alexia.

Andi's Truth:

Andi aka Camp Slut

TW: Eating disorders, Sex work, diabetes trauma, mental illness, LDS church.

I was born the youngest of five children into a thoroughly religious household

and lifestyle. As you can probably already tell, that first sentence is ridden with

potential of a rebellious future. And I suppose at some standard, that’s exactly

what played out, but not in the way you might think. I was diagnosed at 8 years

old and the whole world stopped turning for a little while. My parents, who loved

us very much but let us run with the wolves typically (children would leave in the

morning, play all day, come home when the street lights would come on),

suddenly became the helicopter parents every pre-pubescent 8 year old feared.

I felt my freedom was suddenly taken away for something I had no say in. What I

ate, where I went, my independence and my autonomy felt completely

jeopardized. This caused a lot of tension in my family and caused me to begin to

“act out” for lack of a better term. Our religion (Mormon or LDS) was very strict

and culturally very judgmental. I was now looked at as the bad kid whom no

parents wanted their kids to hang out with. I was secluded, confused, and in a

lot of emotional pain after my diagnosis.

Something not often spoken about in the community is eating disorders in

diabetics. Whether it be to ration insulin, keep from gaining weight, prevent scar

visible bulgy scar tissue, or because we resented our bodies for this disease,

one thing is abundantly clear: body image is a struggle that teenagers have no

preparation for and throwing diabetes into the mix is a recipe for eating

disorders. I’ve heard a few people refer to them as diab-eating disorders or dia-

bulimia. This happened to me. I’ll spare you the details, but I went through great

lengths to appear thinner than I was. My mom, although just trying to help,

wouldn’t validate my current body as beautiful and instead took me to Jenny

Craig and would buy me diet pills. To sum this up, my body never felt beautiful

to me.

Once I turned 18 and legally left the church, I was cast out temporarily by my

parents. With no money, they knew I would not be able to afford my insulin. My

dad is the owner of a well-known and successful business in my city and he

decided to keep me on the payroll so that I would qualify for insurance. This was

extremely complicated and caused a weird dynamic of power between my

parents and I at this point. Eventually and I still don’t have an explanation, my

parents decided their relationship with their daughter was more important than

the teachings of their religion and we began to repair our relationship. It grows

stronger every year. As I write this now at 25 years old, my mom and I are

sharing a bowl of ice cream and watching Judge Judy together, our little

tradition on Fridays. So throw back to 2019. I was hospitalized for the second

time for some mental health reasons in the middle of April. Me, being a

procrastinator, hadn’t filed my taxes yet and missed the deadline which I was

reminded of while I was in the hospital. My stress level skyrocketed. My brother,

an accountant who runs a business every Jan-Apr to help people with their

taxes, came to visit me and assured me I wasn’t going to be thrown in jail. That

we could get together next year and work out my taxes. Plus assured me that

the government more than likely owed me money anyways and it’s very rare for

them to pursue someone in that condition. Set all that information aside.

December of 2019, it came to my dads attention that he was paying far too

much for insurance for his family and employees, and needed to overhaul his

current situation. His insurance agent began to look at the bigger picture and

found that I was clearly the most expensive person on the plan. So he pitched

the idea that I would be dropped from the insurance, and that I could apply for

the Medicaid Expansion Plan if I acted quickly. My dad is a logical man and did

a lot of research into Medicaid. From what he saw, it was almost a cure-all idea.

No copays, accepted at most pharmacies, and covered the cost of insulin.

Against my protest, I was dropped from the plan and it was my duty to jump

through the hoops of being accepted on to to plan. Which luckily and with one

day left until deadline, I made it. I was accepted. Medicaid worked really well for

about a month. It was true I had minimal copays and my pharmacy accepted it.

However, in February 2020 right before quarantine, I began getting a lot of

urgent letters from the Department of Health and Welfare asking me to fill out

forms to verify my income, my medical conditions, etc. I received over 15 letters

in a 45 day span asking various things. I began to become very anxious about

their intentions. Once the pandemic broke out I was quarantined much like the

rest of the USA as I was not an essential worker. In April, I slipped into DKA and

had to be life-flighted from one hospital to another with a 4 day stay in the ICU. I

did not tell my parents I was there because this case of DKA revolved around

some heavy alcohol use which I was in recovery for at the time. My medical bill

came in a few weeks later with close to $50,000 worth of medical cost. I called

the Medicaid help line to get it straightened out. They told me they would be

able to cover it under one condition: I could provide my 2019 tax return. Crap. I

didn’t have one. I completely forgot when January came around. Medicaid

politely gave me the middle finger. I was devastated. I still have that bill hanging

over my head though I did call the hospital and they lowered it quite a bit.

Socially at this time I had gathered a decently large following on my twitter

account from a tweet that went viral a couple months before. I tweeted my

frustrations with my situation and got a response I never thought I’d get. One of

my followers whom I had engaged in a relationship with the year prior suggested

I start fundraising for my insulin through sex work. He was a very sex positive

person when we saw each other and often suggested I start an OnlyFans for

some higher income. This time, he told me he would help me in any way I

needed and would even financially support my sex work. He talked me through

a lot of it: assured me that sex work is not necessarily prostitution, but I could

shape the parameters however I see fit. That not only is it the oldest profession

in world history, but one of the most high grossing. That I get to make the rules

of it and he truly believed I’d be able to make more than enough money to fund

my insulin. It was the middle of the month and I had about 15 days to fundraise.

I began promoting selling nude photos to sponsor my insulin fund and the

feedback was insane. I almost met my goal that month. I took out a loan from a

loan shark to cover the rest. But I was still amazed by the support I received. It

was so incredible to spend (x) minutes doing a little photo shoot and then having

10-25 buyers (men, women, non-binary, my nude sales are not gender-biased)

donate money just to see them. I suddenly felt very much secure financially and

my body became a weapon which I had never felt in my entire life. I (some

months) started making more money than my insulin actually costs. So currently,

I will fundraise until my goal is reached, and anything beyond that is donated to

my other diabetic sex workers or donated anonymously to my local diabetes

programs. There are still months when I struggle however and I have taken

straight donations of insulin which isn’t my preferred method, but hey, beggars

can’t be choosers! Usually when someone has a surplus of insulin and I’m

already more than half-way to my insulin goal, I will encourage them to donate it

to a local homeless shelter or get into contact with diabetes programs in their

area. I also assure them that if shipped to me, the local shelter takes sealed un-

expired boxes and I’ll be sure it’s delivered. I’ve middle-manned probably over

30 vials of fast-acting insulin about half of that for long-acting. I may be the

Robin Hood of pharmaceuticals? However you’d like to view me, I really am just

a human trying to survive. To conclude this, I’d like to really stress that the

stigma around sex work is tired and played out. I was never meant to be a sob

story- although it is a bummer I have to use sex work to buy insulin while I’d

prefer to use it to buy a house or new car. I really am not the “exception” to

selling nudes just because I do it for insulin. I’d be doing it either way and I think

a lot of people misunderstand that. Although my story is unique, it’s the reality

for a lot of people who use SW to feed their families, buy that purse, go on that

vacation and perhaps raise a few eyebrows along the way.

Sex work is work.

Twitter: @campslutandi

Instagram: @andi_archive

Tik Tok: @campslutandi

Venmo: @shmandipetersen

Cash App: $shmandipetersen

10 tips for surviving and thriving with T1D

My name is Steven, and on March 16, 2021, I will be celebrating my 10th year of living with Type-1 Diabetes (T1D). Over the last decade, I’ve become the first for many things in my family. From living with T1D, to graduating from The University of Texas at Austin, or from living in Washington D.C. to teaching middle schoolers amid a global pandemic, my diagnosis with T1D has helped me handle the highs and lows of being “the first” of many things. As I reflect on the 13-year-old I was when I first heard the news, I remember thinking to myself, “why me?” As the years went on, and I eventually “found my tribe,” discovered the continuous glucose monitor, the T:Slim x2 insulin pump, and cultivated a social media platform to help others feel more comfortable in their own skin, I began to put all of the seemingly unsolvable problems into greater perspective. 10 years later and I have seen that initial question of, “why me?” blossom into, “why not me?”

I want to thank my fellow friends with T1D, Rob Howe and Eritrea Mussa Khan, for allowing me the opportunity to share my story with an even larger T1D community than I am used to operating within. They believe, just like I do, that we are all stronger together. 10 years of living with T1D is a very long time in retrospect. I hope you enjoy these 10 tips for surviving and thriving with T1D that I have learned over the years. Take from them what you will. What’s said here will stay here, but I hope what is learned here will leave here. 

#1 You know you best. 

Operate your world accepting that there is no one who really understands your body, your emotions, your history with T1D, or your hopes and fears surrounding it, quite like you do. The caregivers around you will try to take on your pain and worry as their own, your endocrinologist will hopefully try to empathize, and your friends who don’t live with T1D will offer sympathy – but don’t forget you are your own expert. Sit in the driver’s seat with pride.

#2 Be your own advocate, first and foremost. 

I am a schoolteacher and if my school district had it their way, I would have taught in person in the middle of a pandemic. I had to figure out on my own how to navigate the nuts and bolts of my district’s human resources department to determine in which way I could apply for our legally protected ADA accommodations in an effort to work from home during an inflection point of COVID-19. I got a letter drafted and signed by my endocrinologist simply stating that I was her patient living with T1D and also lived with another auto-immune condition (ITP).  If I wasn’t my own advocate stepping up for myself, I might’ve battled COVID-19 or worse.

#3 Don’t lie to yourself about the numbers. 

I was 13 when I first diagnosed, and there were no digital apps at the time to track blood sugar numbers. I was tasked with writing down breakfast, lunch, dinner, and nighttime blood sugar numbers onto a sheet of paper for my endo. If you know anything about teenagers, you know how much that is to ask them (on top of their other schoolwork, video games, sports, or whatever else piques their interest more). I remember being a kid and fudging the numbers because I believed it would make my doctors and parents most proud to see stable readings. I wanted to operate on a “nothing to see here” kind of mindset. My A1C was off the charts those years, however. It messed with my mind and really did nothing good for me. I wish I knew earlier there was nothing shameful in reporting “bad” blood sugars. That’s life. Honesty is always the best policy, so kids out there if you’re reading, don’t be ashamed of the highs and lows of your life – they’re a part of the process. Don’t try and run away from them – please look at them head on. 

#4 Cry when it’s time to cry – but don’t forget to move forward. 

It was the December of my first year of teaching and I remember calling my sister in an angry fit of rage. “I hate having diabetes,” I exclaimed fighting back tears. “I would be so much better at everything in life if I didn’t have diabetes. I would teach better, I would run faster, and I would have more sleep at night.” I’m thankful for my sister for listening as someone with experience teaching but without experience as a person with T1D. I cried out of frustration. I cried at realizing all of us with T1D have to make more decisions every day to simply stay alive than those around us. That, on top of teaching middle school students was beginning to catch up to me all at once. I cried a good cry. But luckily my sister did what all the best big sisters do over the phone – she picked up me off the ground, dusted me off, and helped me make a plan to move forward, worrying first only about what I could control in that exact moment. Thank goodness for her and thank goodness for the catharsis of crying. 

#5 Find your tribe. 

Who are your people outside of your care team? If you want to live a happier life with T1D, consider finding an adult group, a chapter at your college within the College Diabetes Network, or follow interesting T1D accounts on Instagram or Facebook. Your family members and healthcare team are important to have, but no one gets it like a fellow person with T1D gets it. You’ll realize that bonding with new people over the stresses of carb counting, working out, navigating supply ordering, and all the other sides of this multi-faceted life can really improve your outlook on your own condition. 

#6 When you feel yourself burning out, choose to burn in. 

I will be graduating in May with a Master of Education. In a class I am enrolled in called, “Positive Psychology” we focus on the ways in which our minds trick us into believing we are worse off than we actually are. In some of the studies I’ve read, researchers claim that some of us navigate the world in a fixed mindset, where we are overly critical, extremely anxious, and see most of our shortcomings as tremendous failures. Changing your mindset is a choice, and I’m learning in class to live with a “growth mindset” where I invite challenge into myself, seek feedback, and choose to reframe common statements to more positive ones. The idea of “burning in” instead of “burning out” revolves around finding what within you is really awesome when it comes to T1D. There is something we do well at. Putting in your CGM? Treating a low? Checking your blood sugar? Predicting a high? Find whatever it is, and don’t forget it when the world around seems to be burning out hotter than ever before. 

#7 Don’t forget your “why.” 

It’s easy to get caught up in all the highs and lows of life with T1D but remember to enjoy the moment and remember why you keep trying your best to stay alive. For me, my “why” are my two friends I have lost to T1D. Nothing is more saddening to continue living a life without two members of your tribe. But when we forget them for all they were – their beauty, their laugh, their smiles -- we’re forgetting why we are advocates, leaders, and fighters. I think about them every day, and for the rest of my life, I am committed to helping improve the lives of others with T1D. At least that’s what I know my two pals who passed from T1D would want me to do.

#8 Remember that the human body WANTS to stay alive. 

I’ve sat in on special sessions about diabetes in the halls of the United States Congress, I’ve listened into experts speak on panels at a plethora of JDRF events, and I’ve had three phenomenal endocrinologists in my last decade of diabetes. All of those voices have in one way or another told me about the resilience of the human body. Our biggest fear is death, right? Not being able to catch a low. Not having enough insulin to combat a high. Who will help us if we live alone? The human body, however, fights for us. It’s what alerts us sometimes before our CGM does. It’s the sweat running down our forehead when our blood sugar drops while driving. It’s the accelerated heart rate every time we enter a fight or flight bodily response. To any parent or caregiver reading this, please know that your child or family member with T1D will always have some degree of bodily awareness – stronger and more accurate than a piece of technology can predict. Our body, after all, wants to stay alive – just like everyone around us does. 

#9 If you are doing your best, you are doing a great job. 

T1Ds judge themselves too much. That’s what I’ve gathered from meeting hundreds of them in the past decade. We are all the same, but we all have our unique insecurities. Most of the people with T1D do something really great for their communities. I’ve met doctors, nurses, firefighters, marathon runners, spin cyclers, politicians, teachers, judges, moms, dads, college kids, and young adults all with T1D. They each want to help others before themselves sometimes. I’m guilty too. But what we must remember is that we’re doing our best. And if we’re not, the resources exist out there for us to do better. But that’s a choice we have to commit to advocating for. Sometimes, in this pandemic, people point the finger unfairly at others, causing us to be more self-critical of ourselves. If no one has told you yet that you’re doing great, let me be the first! You’re doing your best, and that’s a really great job. 

#10 Thank your T1D team – no one on this Earth loves you more than them. 

I lost track of how many arguments I have gotten into with my parents and sister about T1D in the last 10 years. They all stem from what I believe was an encroachment on my expertise. “I know what I’m doing!” “Trust me!” “I want to stay alive too!” Despite all of those heated arguments about CGMs, diabetes management, and where my family fits into all of it in between, I have learned over time to see the forest from the trees. Arguments come from a place of care and love, believe it or not. My parents express stress and worry differently than I do. But the day I realized I don’t understand what it’s like to have a son with T1D, I only understand what it’s like to be the son with T1D, I finally got why they are the way they are. No one was there for me at my diagnosis like they were, and I’m blessed to have them still to love and care for me just as much as they did the day after I left the hospital 10 years ago. Don’t forget to give thanks, kids. In this time we are living, there is surely more than enough of it to go around.

Holiday Treats + Festive Low Carb Cocktails To Enjoy This Season

By: Ariana Frayer from Cup of Oj

The holiday season is upon us, and as happy as we are to be sipping on our peppermint coffee and smelling our balsam candles once again, it’s impossible to ignore that this year feels a little different. Not only are we constantly managing a chronic illness every single day, but we are also experiencing a year with less socializing, which can feel extra difficult around the holidays when we’re missing our families and loved ones. Whether you’re spending the holiday season cuddled up with a virtual hangout, or are having a smaller household gathering, I’ve compiled some T1D friendly* holiday treats to enjoy while we wait for 2020 to end.

*I like saying T1D friendly because technically type 1 diabetics can eat anything we want as long as we take insulin but I also like to make subtle changes such as using a chocolate with fewer carbohydrates or a diet juice so please enjoy my treats and cocktails with better blood sugars in mind (but technically insulin will still be required for some of them because I like to live my life, ya know?).

I also want to note that I do not give carbohydrate counts in case ingredients differ. However, all of these cocktails are estimated to be under 10g of carbohydrates. The snacks will require some calculation and insulin depending on what ingredients you include and how much you consume, but as very capable diabetics who can do anything we want in this world, I trust that you will properly count your carbohydrates (or at least try) in order to enjoy the yummy snacks that I have created for you.

Enjoy!

Ariana

Cranberry Winter Whiskey

Serves 1

Ingredients:

• 1.5 oz of whiskey

• 1.5 oz of diet cranberry juice 

• Juice of half a lemon

• Diet ginger beer

• Cranberries and lemon slice for garnish

Directions:

1. Combine whiskey, diet cranberry juice, and lemon juice in a cocktail shaker with ice + shake!

2. Pour over ice and top with diet ginger beer.

3. Garnish with cranberries and a lemon slice

4. Enjoy!

NON ALCOHOLIC OPTION: Remove whiskey!

Blackberry Vanilla Gin Fizz

Serves 1

Ingredients:

1. OLIPOP’s  Blackberry Fizz Sparkling Tonic

2. 1.5 oz of gin

3. A handful of blackberries

4. 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract

5. A dash of cinnamon

Directions:

1. Combine gin, blackberries, vanilla extract, and cinnamon in a shaker with ice + shake!

2. Strain over ice and top with OLIPOP’s Blackberry Vanilla Sparkling Tonic

3. Garnish with a sprig of rosemary, blackberries, and a cinnamon stick + enjoy!

NON ALCOHOLIC OPTION: Remove gin and add your favorite sparkling water.

Cinnamon Spiced Vodka Pear Cider

Serves 1

Ingredients:

• 1.5 oz of pear vodka (I used Wild Roots)

• 3 oz of homemade pear cider (ingredients below)

For the pear cider:

• 2 cups of water 

• 1 cup of stevia

• 2 peeled pears 

• dash of allspice 

• dash of cloves

• dash of nutmeg

• 2-3 cinnamon sticks

• dash of orange peel

• 2-3 star anise 

For garnish:

• a few sprigs of thyme

• 1 cinnamon stick

• 1-2 star anise

Directions:

1. Add pear cider ingredients to a medium pot and bring to a boil. Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring frequently.

2. Remove from heat and let cool.

3. Shake pear cider and vodka in a cocktail shaker over ice.

4. Strain into a rocks glass over ice. Garnish with a slice of poached pear, cinnamon stick, a sprig of thyme, and star anise. Enjoy!

NON ALCOHOLIC OPTION: Remove vodka and enjoy the cider on its own!

Tasty Treats to Enjoy During the Holidays

Holly Jolly Charcuterie Board

Ingredients:

• A few different types of crackers (I used ak-mak crackers, water crackers, and pretzels)

• A few different types of cheese (I used unexpected cheddar, Comté, and Boursin Gournay cheese from Trader Joes)

• Salami

• Mixed nuts

• Chocolate pieces

• M&M’s

• Mini candy canes

• Cranberries

• Rosemary 

Directions:

1. Arrange on a wooden board starting with your larger items (cheese, meats, and crackers) followed by your smaller items (nuts, M&Ms, Cranberries).

2. Top it off with your rosemary garnish!

Festive Holiday Snack Mix

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of lightly salted popcorn

• 2 cups of pretzels

• 1 cup of paleo granola (no grain = less carbohydrates)

• 1 cup of dried cranberries

• 1 cup of chopped walnuts

• ¼ cup of melted dark chocolate (dark has fewer carbs!) 

• Optional: ½ cup of red & green M&Ms

Directions:

1. Combine popcorn, pretzels, granola, cranberries, walnuts, and M&Ms in a large bowl

2. Melt dark chocolate (I broke up a chocolate bar into in a glass bowl over a pot of water set to low and let melt) then drizzle over the snack mix. Enjoy!

Dark Chocolate Peppermint Bark

Ingredients:

• 2 bars of dark chocolate (Or use a chocolate with fewer carbohydrates like Lily’s)

• 10 mini candy canes

Directions:

1. Melt chocolate (I broke up a chocolate bar into in a glass bowl over a pot of water set to low and let melt) and pour over parchment paper on a cookie sheet.

2. Crush candy canes into small pieces and sprinkle over melted chocolate.

3. Set in the fridge and let cool for 3 hours.

4. Break apart and serve. Enjoy!

These festive drinks and tasty treats are perfect for any holiday gathering. I hope you enjoy these recipes as much as I do!

Find monthly low carb cocktail recipes, low carb starbucks orders, and a fresh take on living with diabetes on my website, cupofoj.com and be sure to follow me on Instagram @arianafrayer. Wishing you the most holly jolly season with manageable blood sugars and festive delights, cheers!