Using technology to manage type 1 diabetes: a personal journey (P1)

Let the questions continue

DV: Hi Sue, thanks for taking some time to share your lived experiences with technology to help manage your type 1 diabetes. Perhaps start with what tools were available back then to manage type 1 diabetes?

Sue: When I was 12, I still remember the glass syringe soaked in meth [methylated spirits] and rinsed out with boiled water. The needle was reused until it was blunt.

Then there was the Clinitest tablet. I would put my wee in a test tube with the tablet, and then compare the colour to see what my blood sugar levels were. Finger-pricking to test blood sugars was only used in hospitals back then.

DV: Wow that has come a long way indeed! How did you manage your type 1 diabetes through schooling and your teenage years?

Sue: I had my insulin injection once a day, and I did not test my blood sugars at school. I did rebel around 16-17 [years of age]. I still injected but didn’t eat the right foods. Just as well this only lasted a couple of years. My type 1 diabetes didn’t get in the way through my teenage years though. I used to ride horses and travel.

I saw a dietitian at the Royal Children’s Hospital once, when I was first diagnosed. Portion control meant a third of my slice of bread was cut off, and I couldn’t have honey on my toast. I had to count and weigh everything.

When I was at school, I remember at a barbecue day when other kids got a can of lemonade and I didn’t, and I hated being ‘special’ or different to other kids. I also had to eat all my food. Mum sent Marie biscuits with me to school for morning tea, and I remember dropping one on the ground once. I said to another kid: “I have to eat it otherwise I will go into a coma”. It was terrifying.

I went to diabetes camp once and got more education from that. I did have a good time even though I did not want to go initially. My parents managed my type 1 diabetes together with me, working it out as we went along. Well, there is a lot more education available nowadays.

DV: So, when and what type of technology became more of a turning point to help manage your type 1 diabetes?

Sue: Around 21, I went onto two injections a day when disposable syringes came out, and I even took them overseas on a Contiki tour to Britain and Europe for 6 months. I also brought along Clinitest urine test strips. Using fingerpricks at home with my own meter became more common by then.

DV: I remember you enrolling into the OzDAFNE program a few years ago. What did you learn from OzDAFNE? Also, were there any challenges applying any OzDAFNE principles?

Sue: Yeah, fast forward a few years indeed before I got into OzDAFNE. There I refined my carb counting techniques as I was already carb counting. There were some maths challenges around working out my carbs and insulin-to-carbohydrate ratios. I had a calculator on the kitchen bench and formula written beside me, and that was most challenging. Having said that I enjoyed OzDAFNE!

Getting an insulin pump later made managing diabetes more convenient, although I still needed to count carbs.

DV: How does diabetes affect your work, rest and play?

Sue: As a ward clerk in a hospital, I was active at work. By then I had a Libre 2 reader in my pocket. The nurses would hear my Libre go off and ask me to get some juice to treat my hypos. Libre has gotten people around me to support me, and I’m lucky to work with a bunch of nurses. I know for some other people it may be different, as some people hide their diabetes from their work mates. But it wasn’t always like that for me. I did not tell others about my diabetes at my first job. Again, I didn’t want to be treated differently.

For exercise, respiratory issues make going to a gym difficult, so walking is my thing. I try to do a bit more or step up the pace. I haven’t been horse-riding for a while now. I hated sports at school, and I did not like to exercise for fun. People with diabetes can’t just grab your keys and go shopping or head into the city without extra equipment. But now I take my Libre 2 and phone, and carry hypo treatments and spare syringes.

And for my social life, it is now great as I can quietly check my sugars without taking out my monitor and strips to do a finger prick and get blood all over my fingers.

Having said that, diabetes never stopped me from doing anything.

Please follow Sue’s second half of her story in our next edition of Membership Matters.

Useful resources:

• Diabetes management apps
• Diabetes in the workplace

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