diaversary

Woman with T1D stands on pier in Penticton, reflecting on her diaversary

Diaversary: 35 years with T1D

Diabetes, Diabetes Dietitian

Thirty five years with T1D. It’s my diaversary! To celebrate, or not to celebrate. That, my friends, is the question of the week. I was forever branded with this disease on Aug. 23, 1987. My sister had turned 16 the same day I was rushed to the hospital. This disease couldn’t even wait one more day; it just had to dance all over my sister’s birthday. Sorry about that Jules. But honestly, as many of us with this disease will surely confirm, that’s the way of T1D. T1D: the all consuming disease Type-1 diabetes is everywhere. It is all the time. It is an insufferable attention seeker. T1D is the first thought I have when I wake up in the morning and instantly grab for my phone to check my CGM. It’s also one of my last evening actions, and middle of the night actions too when I get up …

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Registered dietitian Katie Bartel reflects on 34 years with type-1 diabetes

Type-1 Diabetes: the 34-year diaversary

Diabetes, Registered Dietitian, Running

Katie Bartel’s type-1 diabetes turns 34 today. In this “diaversary” themed post, the registered dietitian takes time to reflect on the achievements she’s had with type-1 diabetes constantly at her side.

29 years: “Perfect storm for an eating disorder”

Diabetes

Apparently furniture is to be given for the 29th anniversary, but for me, all I got was guilt. There’s a part of me I am not fond of; a part of me that scares me; a part of me I’ve feared, hated, fought and succumbed to; a part of me I don’t like discussing much, but a part that is very much there – always. It is something I have lived with for 29 years. My relationship with food. The other day I was chatting with a pediatric dietitian who works with young diabetics at a local hospital, and so much of what she said to me resonated. We were talking about the different methods of treatment specifically with diet, post diagnosis. There’s the Nazi-like conventional method: no sweets, no treats, you best be perfect or you’ll die. And then there’s the flexible method: make it personal, make it healthy, do …

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26 years of Dear Diabetes

Diabetes, Running, Uncategorized

About 30 years ago I had a dream. In my future, I wanted to be a doctor and an author. The author part was natural; I loved reading and I loved making up stories. But the doctor, well, that was the more the evil meanderings of a younger sister 😀 You see, my big sister Jules is nine years older than me, and back then (and sometimes still) she was always the boss! Jules, at the time, had great notions of becoming a nurse, and me, at just five or six years old, already knew doctor trumped nurse. Finally I’d be the boss. Mwahahaaaa! Fast forward a few years to the day I got diabetes. It didn’t take long to change my mind about wanting to become a doctor, what with the long hospital stays, trips to the ER, endless amounts of blood-sucking needle jabs. No thank you. Thanks for …

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