Diabetes

type 1, insulin pump, blood glucose

Diabetes Awareness Month – let’s advocate

Diabetes, Diabetes Dietitian, Pregnancy in Diabetes, Registered Dietitian

Today is December 1st, which means we’ve just left the month of November – Diabetes Awareness Month. This post is a reflection on this year’s Diabetes Awareness Month, and the role that I – as a person with T1D, and as a person working in T1D – played in it. Diabetes Awareness Month: the preamble Two days before our diabetes month began, I shared a short story to a large group of T1D researchers and influencers on a day in the life of T1D – my T1D. I am a member of the Breakthrough T1D Lived Experience Advisory Group. And this presentation was part of the Breakthrough T1D Centre of Excellence annual meeting. For my part, I talked about how diabetes tech is amazing, super amazing … until it isn’t. This was the story of the day both my insulin pumps spontaneously combusted (okay, maybe it wasn’t quite that extreme, […]

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When insulin pumps fail

Diabetes, Diabetes Dietitian

When insulin pumps fail, it sucks. It really, really sucks. The other day, shortly after getting off my Peloton bike, my insulin pump spontaneously broke. Like, broke broke. It started flashing a whole bunch of error codes and then repeatedly flashed the home screen on and off. I was still relatively calm at this point, though. I’ve got a backup PDM for just this kind of situation. I grabbed some batteries, put them in, and… oh freaking frick, flashing screen there too. Bloody hell. I tried a hard reset for both, but to no avail – they were already well on their way to insulin pump heaven. Cue the panic. I called Omnipod customer service, knowing in the back of my head nothing could be done. My pump, the original Omnipod Eros, was well past it’s best before warranty date. They essentially told me “Good luck, we can’t help you.” I

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Pregnant with T1D – the weight anguish

Diabetes, Diabetes Dietitian, Pregnancy in Diabetes, Registered Dietitian

Once upon a time I was pregnant with T1D, and in that pregnancy I struggled greatly with preserving my mental health. The reason: the constant, incessant, judgemental focus on my weight. My son turned 13 last month – how is that even possible??? Some days, I feel like it was just yesterday that I was pregnant. But, friends, I am so happy it was not just yesterday. Overall, my pregnancy was not a difficult pregnancy. But, because I have type-1 diabetes, I had to attend many, many healthcare provider appointments that often made the experience feel extremely difficult. Some of these appointments included: Maternity clinic High risk obstetrician Diabetes and pregnancy clinic, which featured appointments with an endocrinologist, nurse, and dietitian Non-stress tests Multiple ultrasounds Etc., etc., etc Of all, it was the diabetes and pregnancy clinic that had me constantly fretting about weight gain in pregnancy. Pregnant with T1D:

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T1D and tasting menus: oh the challenge

Diabetes, Diabetes Dietitian, Personal, Registered Dietitian

T1D and tasting menus are not an easy mix! My husband and I celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary last weekend, and it was a full-on trial and error experiment with regards to my T1D. We went for dinner at The Mackenzie Room with our dear friends who were married the same day, same year – how cool is that?! Our friendship started just shy of 3 years after our weddings, and we’ve mostly been celebrating together ever since. For dinner, we opted for the chef’s tasting menu: 12 dishes served over 5 courses. T1D peeps, you know the struggle, don’t cha? Here’s what I love about tasting menus They are social. We were sharing the same dishes, chatting about the foods, and everything else, and comparing favourites from course to course. They are experiential. If we were to limit ourselves to just one or two dishes, we would not have

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T1D community breaks down the discomforts of eating

Diabetes, Diabetes Dietitian, Registered Dietitian

Fact: T1D community is such an important thing for our overall T1D health. Hi friends! This post is long overdue. Way back in July, I presented at Connected in Motion’s Western Slipstream – an adult camp for us T1Ds that is all about community. The topic I explored with my fellow T1Ds was discomforts of eating in uncertain environments. This was my fourth year presenting at Slipstream. The first was virtual during Covid times; all others have been in person. Every year I go, I leave with my heart feeling so full. I am inspired, energized, reassured, and invigorated. I always leave with a mindset motivated to create more positive change for our community. And I always leave with a notebook full of new workshop topic ideas to further explore. You – my T1D peeps – do this 🙂 Slipstream: all about T1D community I love camp; seriously, I love

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