The Diabetic's New Clothes

 

Doing a lot of great work for charidee, mate. Well, I'm trying! I've volunteered and raised funds for various charities for a good chunk of my life, not all Diabetes related! Some simply because I felt touched by the cause, others because the cause came very close to home. In relation to Diabetes charities, it's only the last 4 or 5 years - coinciding with my social media presence - where I've started to help out in that area. 

It started a few years ago with a Stoptober fund raisers for DUK. I gave up alcohol for the month, typically a 31 day month! Why I didn't choose a non-leap-year February? I do not know. That thirsty month raised over £300 and it felt good to give something back, almost as good as that first pint on November 1st.

Without directly contributing money, I've done a few things for JDRF and still do with an involvement on their Insight panel. At the tail end of 2021, I hosted the T1 Today quiz as a part of their conference and helping out the smaller charities is equally as important as being in bed with the bigger ones, in my view, so that felt like a really nice cause to give my time and energy to.

You might remember my December 2021 blogs. All the Buy Me A Coffees from those posts were donated to three different charities, inc one which specifically helps youngsters with Diabetes in South Asia because Diabetes has no borders, why should we?

2022 arrived and so did the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Social media was ablaze with ways to help which was, and still is, an amazing sight. I decided to donate every penny from this blog to MSF to try to do what I can to help the people of Ukraine and the HCPs who are working there in unimaginable circumstances. To date we have raised over £70 and you can help with that by scrolling down to the last paragraph in this blog.

Spring... sprung? in the UK a couple of weeks ago and as the sun shone I started looking for a few new T-shirts and tops to wear in the warmer weather. Some fun slogan-laden Tees found their way into my online basket and then it occurred to me that a T-shirt or more generalised apparel store might be a fun way of raising funds for another charity. In 2018, I sold some Diabadass clothing and towards the end of that little venture I donated the profits from each sale to a couple of Diabetes charities. Why not everything from Day 1, this time?

The problem with selling apparel is everything! Order handling and processing, dispatch, losses, returns, refunds, cancellations, yada yada yada. Online retail is work, trust me. Instead of handling all those processes on my own I decided to go the semi-affiliate route and use Teemill. Teemill are very environment conscious and will handle everything apart from the design and slogans. Slogans?! I have slogans! and so was born:

Diabetic Dad's Diabetes Clothes Store

Catchy name, right? I could never open a bricks and mortar store because it would need to be 400ft long to accommodate the signage.

Charidee? Oh yes! Well, each order generates a small profit. The tote bags make around 80p, coloured T-shirts around £2 and white ones around £3. Teemill send those funds after 30 days have passed to allow for returns and cancellations, seems reasonable. However, sending funds to a charity every day from Day 30 onwards is going to get difficult to keep track of. Instead, I'm going to send one lump sum payment every 90 days to a Diabetes related charity. That should allow ample time for sales to be generated and funds to be transferred. A screenshot of the donation and amount will be publicised for transparency. 

What do I gain from this? I'm not paid by any charities. My reward has already been delivered to me through the help, support and friendship of the Diabetes community. I try to give that back by supporting the GBDoc community accounts and by offering mentoring to others who request it. Perhaps the charitable things will help others who I will never meet, I hope so, and that provides me with enough reward in my heart.

All that said I MUST mention that donating to charities, buying me coffees, ordering incredibly funny and fashionable T-shirts and the like should only happen if it's affordable to you. Personally, I think it's pretty horrible to pressure anybody into a financial contribution to any charity. Do what's right for you without fear of judgement.

As you might have seen, a conflict has broken out in Ukraine as Russia has invaded that country. The scenes on TV and on social media are horrifying. What can we do? Well, I don't think there is a wrong way to help if you donate to charities who are active in helping the people of Ukraine. I support many charities but one which has always had my heart is MSF. Medecins Sans Frontieres translates as Doctors Without Borders. When it comes to the health of others in disaster areas, war zones and the like then I think we all have a duty to do what we can to help and help those who directly help! such as MSF. With that in mind, all donations to me via Buy Me a Coffee and all the pennies generated through the ads dotted around my pages will be donated to MSF. I will make up the difference for the fees taken by PayPal and Buy Me a Coffee. That will run until further notice, no time frames and possibly until Ukraine is a free country again. Thank you for reading my blog. 

BUY DIABETIC DAD (MSF) A COFFEE HERE

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TAD 2022 - Talking About Diabetes Conference

The weekend of March 19th saw the 5th TAD (Talking About Diabetes) annual conference back in London. Following Covid-19 restrictions and subsequent postponements, this conference was a couple of years delayed but it was certainly worth the wait.

The Royal College of Physicians building played host to the crowds of T1D folk and what a lovely turn out it was! I was immediately struck by the diversity of the attendees. Do you remember me calling out for more diversity in advocacy? Yes! Great start and this continued as the event began with speakers from different backgrounds, ages, accents, ethnicity and disabilities having their turns on the mic.

I was seated in what became known as The Royal Box. This area was actually for wheelchair users so it was nice to see good accessibility on offer but, while attending with actual Diabetes royalty - HRH Jules, it seemed correct to recognise this area as Regal. The view was pretty good, as you can see from the photo at the top of the page and the company was excellent.

(from left to right; Me, Jules, Kate, Beth & Anita)

Five pretty happy faces, considering the early starts to catch various trains from various stations. Caffeine is a marvellous thing.

So, Partha got things underway with a short intro before handing things over to Natalie India Balmain. I've been social media buddies with Natalie for years so, it was lovely to see her confidently compere the event as well as offer snippets of her own story in-between the talks. Oh! and her red jumpsuit was absolutely amazing.

Our speakers took their turns and I found myself choked up at many points throughout the day, beginning with George who attended with his dad. Dad got through his talk admirably, despite relaying the moment when he thought he was going to lose George, soon after T1D diagnosis. I think something landed in my eyes at that point.

Jasmine was next. She told her story and how she uses Instagram for her Diabetes advocacy. Inspiring stuff! 

Before lunch, Dan Newman took to the stage. Dan and I have some similar experiences in regards to our early T1D lives and eye complications, further down the line. Keep checking Dan's socials for his podcast with me - we spoke for ages! I reckon he'll need to edit a lot! He is such a cool and calm presenter and offers his story in such a brilliantly relatable fashion. 

As stomachs began to rumble, it was wonderful to see James Norton back on the stage as he took questions and had a brief chat with Partha about Bond, hair, technology, Marvel and more. One question which especially caught my interest came after James spoke about the possibility of moving to an insulin pump - he injects up to 15 times per day and appeared to be toying with the idea of switching to a pump. The question/comment rightfully noted that pump access wasn't a given, right now and that it's a battle for many to access that technology. James agreed, Partha agreed and noted that it's being worked on and that most attendees are a tech using bunch which can give a skewed view of just how much insulin pumps are used (circa. 20% of T1Ds are pumping). I was pleased to hear him say that it's being worked on, I'm sure that once the looping trial data hits the media and CGMs are readily available to all, the demand for pumps will increase dramatically.

Then it was time for lunch! Hurray! SOME of you might remember me passing an observation on the lunch of TAD 2019. This was better! lots better! The picnic boxes were especially good and there appeared to be a good variety of choices dotted around the room. A happy Diabetic is a well fed Diabetic!

The afternoon session began with Ros, telling us about the changes in her life with Diabetes and noting how the community had influenced things for the better. I assumed Ros had done this sort of thing before because she was excellent. Later on, I spoke with her in a pub and she confirmed it was her first time. What?! I was a shambles after talking to 20 people, Ros clearly has an aptitude for public speaking.

Next up, we heard from Sophie who is a mind-bogglingly talented musician. She captivated all with two pieces of music played on the cello with a talk about her story in between.

Just as I was regaining some emotional composure, the Tadpoles came out and displayed their artwork to us all. Each had drawn a tremendous picture of their superhero and told us about their superpowers. They were so confident! and so happy to relate diabetes through their pictures, with pumps on display for some of the heroes.

Those kids are my heroes and as adults we must, must, must! do all we can to give them the best life with their T1D. I hope that when they're my age, they won't need to think about Diabetes, that it's a fading memory and that a lot of funny looking adults gave them a huge round of applause once, when they were young.

The Tadpoles

Phew! What a day! I loved every second of it and I encourage you to attend a TAD event in future if you're lucky enough to get a ticket.

Of course, after a such a day and with the sun shining you'll need to hydrate and where better than a pub? A large group headed to The Green Man pub for the remainder of the day and good chunk of the evening. Many stories were exchanged, hypos a-plenty began, photos happened... it was your standard Diabetes get together, really. As usual, at such get togethers, it was lovely to talk to old friends and make some new ones! 

Type 1 Diabetes is a prick, a bully, a gaslighter and it spends 24/7 trying to hurt us or kill us. I think that because of everything we go through, how we live and the shared experiences, the bond between many of us is very strong. I believe that the friendships made through our shared condition will last a lifetime and I'm so grateful and happy about that. I'll never be happy to be a Type 1 Diabetic but the good things that we create because of it sends a middle finger it's way and a bucket load of joy our way.

Hydration

As you might have seen, a conflict has broken out in Ukraine as Russia has invaded that country. The scenes on TV and on social media are horrifying. What can we do? Well, I don't think there is a wrong way to help if you donate to charities who are active in helping the people of Ukraine. I support many charities but one which has always had my heart is MSF. Medecins Sans Frontieres translates as Doctors Without Borders. When it comes to the health of others in disaster areas, war zones and the like then I think we all have a duty to do what we can to help and help those who directly help! such as MSF. With that in mind, all donations to me via Buy Me a Coffee and all the pennies generated through the ads dotted around my pages will be donated to MSF. I will make up the difference for the fees taken by PayPal and Buy Me a Coffee. That will run until further notice, no time frames and possibly until Ukraine is a free country again. Thank you for reading my blog. 

BUY DIABETIC DAD (MSF) A COFFEE HERE

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WHO Are You?

Do you remember reading a blog post of mine from a little while ago titled; Hearing Voices? It's one of the most popular posts that I've tapped out and still gets many visits, to this day. I won't link to it - I think if you're interested then just scan down my blog posts list and take a look however, if you're not that interested then in short, it basically promotes the idea that we need to hear from a diverse range of people when it comes to Diabetes advocacy. A good idea, I think and I stand by it in 2022.

And in 2022, I was delighted to be given the chance to attend The World Health Organisation (WHO) Global Diabetes Compact to hear from others and offer my own views on Diabetes Lived Experience. It was a two day virtual event which allowed individuals from around the world to "link up" and share experiences. The meetings were recorded and the WHO will report back on their findings in due course.

That's the gist of it. Of course, you're not here for the gist of things. You want my views and, as always, you get my honest (sometimes overly) and frank (always) views on things which stir me.

I am stirred.

I consider myself to be the Joe Bloggs (blogs! ha!) diabetic. I know! I have a presence online and I know some incorrectly read authority into that presence but I do try to just be who I am, I don't even try really! What you see is what you get, at least in thoughts and personality. As I logged into the GDC, I was hopeful of meeting other "everyday" folk who were living with Diabetes and I did but, sadly, not enough of them.

Let me just explain that I consider every lived experience, from every person managing Diabetes, to be equally as valuable as everyone else's. Clear? K...

...Instead of a large group of individuals from around the world, I noted that the attendees were largely individuals from around the world who work for or have ties with various Diabetes organisations and charities. So, what's the problem if they all have Diabetes? The problem is that if those people were dominant in a group discussion, if they are the facilitators of the break out group chats, then they can easily steer the discussion to their own narratives. Essentially, offering the views of their employer, papers they have worked on, the words of the charities and organisations they represent and their own narrative which they have set as "educators". The value of those views are questionable when salaries and other "agendas" are brought into the equation.

The everyday folk had their chance to talk, including me, but it felt that the tone was being set by those mentioned above as they swallowed up large chunks of the time available to offer "their views". I sat in two different break out groups with different people, the feel and dominant nature of some was apparent and after discussing with two other attendees they felt the same.

*Sigh* how frustrating. Part way through Day 2, I left. I'd heard enough of the same voices and the text messages on my phone proved others were feeling the same way. I am less patient than those kind people and I will leave anything which fills my time but does not fill my heart. It was heartening to hear one person note from her group the following in this tweet. If I'm wrong about this then I'm glad to not be wrong on my own.

At this point I'd like to note the following, also in bold to be clear, to avoid causing upset to individuals:

- Several attendees were lovely, genuine, and just living their lives with Diabetes. I gave them my full attention and probably even a social media follow.

- The WHO reps repeatedly noted that organisation critique was fine and we should "let them have it with both barrels" but individual critique was not.

So, if you attended and we hooked up on SoMe later then you're the sort of person who I value the most at such events; the everyday folk, the non-affiliated. If we didn't hook up and you're that sort of person then you know where your Twitter app is!

Alright, while that is likely increasing the blood pressure of a few, it's important to offer balance because honest and frank, right? So, although I am not entirely happy about the large number of attendees with affiliation to Diabetes organisations, I am pleased with the idea of the WHO communicating with individuals living with Diabetes to get a better picture of how we live and how to communicate with us. It can and should be done better and I also think it's important to not come across as totally negative about the experience because these events will only serve to improve the communications of organisations such as the WHO and ultimately reduce the stigma which many face. I hope more will happen and I truly hope the voices heard are not the same.

The photo? Keith Moon, the drummer from The Who. He also made a lot of noise and caused a lot of commotion.

As you might have seen, a conflict has broken out in Ukraine as Russia has invaded that country. The scenes on TV and on social media are horrifying. What can we do? Well, I don't think there is a wrong way to help if you donate to charities who are active in helping the people of Ukraine. I support many charities but one which has always had my heart is MSF. Medecins Sans Frontieres translates as Doctors Without Borders. When it comes to the health of others in disaster areas, war zones and the like then I think we all have a duty to do what we can to help and help those who directly help! such as MSF. With that in mind, all donations to me via Buy Me a Coffee and all the pennies generated through the ads dotted around my pages will be donated to MSF. I will make up the difference for the fees taken by PayPal and Buy Me a Coffee. That will run until further notice, no time frames and possibly until Ukraine is a free country again. Thank you for reading my blog. 

BUY DIABETIC DAD (MSF) A COFFEE HERE

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BUY DIABETIC DAD (MSF) A COFFEE THROUGH PAYPAL 

Diabetes Mentor

 

I mentioned Diabetes Mentoring on Twitter, two days ago. I had no real intentions of discussing it let alone to write a blog post about it but here we are. I wrote about it in passing as I tweeted what was an unusually busy few days of Diabetes related things involving focus groups, podcasts and commercial interests. Then, yesterday, I took a video call from somebody I am mentoring and, as is my want, I tweeted what was a positive experience for me. Again, no real intentions to discuss just an outlet for some positiveness which can be rare for people managing Diabetes. The response has been very encouraging!

Most of my tweets get a few likes and a few comments and that's cool. The mentoring tweet appeared to get more than average engagement, with a couple reaching out to me in direct messages to ask how they can help. Amazing! So, let's get into how this began and where it might go...

...I try to be an open sort of fella on social media. If you tweet me then I'll try to at least acknowledge it or reply to you. If you direct message me then I'll nearly always reply. Why not? social media is about engagement, for me and if you talk to everyone then you can form better, rounded, views of your preferred subjects, for me, mostly Diabetes and mostly T1D. Because of my openness, I've been approached for help and guidance on many Diabetes related issues and I'm very happy to try to help or signpost to someone else who could. Recently, I suggested to one person that it might be better to talk about their issues via a phone call or a video call. That conversation moved to the suggestion of a more frequent "catch up" with each other and so began a mentorship which has progressed well to date. 

Of course, I am only one person and there are some who might welcome a mentor but not me! I get it, I won't take offence at that, so where can that be addressed? It seems apparent that such a thing is needed and if I take into account the interest expressed in helping by others then there is no shortage of potential mentors. 

Safety must be a high priority in such ventures. In my 5 years of Diabetes online engagement, I've seen evidence of horrendous things done and said by individuals who were seen as role models, respected advocates and to this day still hold positions of power and influence within Diabetes organisations. Scary, huh? So, it's vital to never put a single person at risk of exposure to individuals who have nefarious motives. 

Some discussions have taken place within the #GBDoc community already. However, that community (in which I'm very active)  has seen some big changes in the last year and things are still in the process of settling down. A new and potentially large step in the direction of peer supporting will likely take some time and a lot of energy. Still, that would seem the best avenue to direct individuals needing one on one support and potential mentors, while offering a safe environment for all concerned. 

Potential helpers/mentors, I have noted your names and I will keep you up to speed on developments. Please be patient and remember that we're all volunteers within #GBDoc. If you're interested in helping then please let me know.

Do you need support? Then do feel free to send me a direct message on Twitter or you can email me - daddiabetic@gmail.com I can't offer support to everybody but I will try to direct you to someone who can help you if I can't. Obviously, I don't offer medical advice or counselling - If you do need those things then I will direct you to the right places.

That's it for today. A short blog that was too long for a tweet and I hope it sheds some light on that particular subject. Fire any questions at me should you have any. Mentoring is a feel good thing to do. Do you know what else is a feel good thing to do? Helping those who are literally fighting for their lives in war zones such as Ukraine...

...As you might have seen, a conflict has broken out in Ukraine as Russia has invaded that country. The scenes on TV and on social media are horrifying. What can we do? Well, I don't think there is a wrong way to help if you donate to charities who are active in helping the people of Ukraine. I support many charities but one which has always had my heart is MSF. Medecins Sans Frontieres translates as Doctors Without Borders. When it comes to the health of others in disaster areas, war zones and the like then I think we all have a duty to do what we can to help and help those who directly help! such as MSF. With that in mind, all donations to me via Buy Me a Coffee and all the pennies generated through the ads dotted around my pages will be donated to MSF. I will make up the difference for the fees taken by PayPal and Buy Me a Coffee. That will run until further notice, no time frames and possibly until Ukraine is a free country again. Thank you for reading my blog. 

BUY DIABETIC DAD (MSF) A COFFEE HERE

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BUY DIABETIC DAD (MSF) A COFFEE THROUGH PAYPAL 

Carb Counting Assessment Appointment

As experts in the field of maths, seasoned Diabetics are expected to be pretty competent at carb counting. Carbohydrates are one of the dominant forces in the world of Type 1 Diabetes and you may have been given a crash course in carb counting at some point, following your own diagnosis. Some of you may have been on educational courses such as DAFNE and picked up your first in "Normal Eating" - whatever that is! All super, fine and dandy but what is a Carb Counting Assessment appointment?

As a part of my previous (and excellent) appointment, I agreed to attend a Carb Counting Assessment despite being a little confused at what to expect. I imagined a table, full of foods all of which would be challenging to carb count. Maybe a pot of rice? some pasta... random items from a Chinese restaurant?! all my favourites! This wet daydream was far from the truth and there were no foods on offer / to guess the carb content of. Instead, I spent a good 20 minutes talking about how I'm coping with dosing for foods and drinks, what my day to day meals might look like, snacky snacks, MDI vs pumping, Fiasp, exercise and tonnes of good stuff.

This was hugely unexpected. I thought I'd be tested, quizzed, marked on my competence. I even Googled the carb contents of various rices because I felt certain I'd be shown a portion and asked to estimate the carbs. No such challenges happened, I never felt assessed.

There was an immediate understanding that my HbA1c, time in range and longevity with T1D probably means that I'm getting along okay. Once we'd got through the main course of the appointment, I was given time to ask my own questions. Amazing! What has happened to Dietitian appointments in the last 30 years?

30 years?

Ah, yes. Possibly longer! but 30 years is in the ballpark. Rewind those 3 decades to a time when I was a teenager, angry at the world and especially angry at having this stupid condition. Diet? Pft! Yes, I know, eat more fruit and vegetables, good chat. My last appointment did contain that iconic piece of advice alongside many other fear provoking gems. I've spoken about scaremongering and how it's ineffective and a pretty mean tactic to use on children to get them to tow the line, actually! it's a mean tactic to use on a person of any age - don't do it. The dietitian appointments of old are one of the reasons that I hated attending clinic and a driving force in me not attending appointments for many years. 

I've been offered appointments in recent years and declined, a carry over from the horrible appointments of the past perhaps. However! The new (around 5 years old, now) fully engaged with his T1D, version of me submitted to attending this one as a way of showing goodwill to my new consultant, the consultant who is recommending me for pump funding, it seemed only reasonable to meet half way and allow for a check in that particular box. And what would I have to lose? A few hours of my time at the most. I'm glad that I attended and I will certainly be checking in with the clinic Dietitian again in the future.

Should you?

I think if you can iron out any wrinkles in your chosen diet and lifestyle for a smoother time with T1D then you should. Ultimately, a Dietitian is there to help us and not judge and chastise. If the opportunity arises then I encourage you to at least give that appointment some of your time and go into it with an open mind. If it's awful then avoid for a while and shout at me about it on Twitter.

So, there's that for today's blog post. As you might have seen, a conflict has broken out in Ukraine as Russia has invaded that country. The scenes on TV and on social media are horrifying. What can we do? Well, I don't think there is a wrong way to help if you donate to charities who are active in helping the people of Ukraine. I support many charities but one which has always had my heart is MSF. Medecins Sans Frontieres translates as Doctors Without Borders. When it comes to the health of others in disaster areas, war zones and the like then I think we all have a duty to do what we can to help and help those who directly help! such as MSF. With that in mind, all donations to me via Buy Me a Coffee and all the pennies generated through the ads dotted around my pages will be donated to MSF. I will make up the different for the fees taken by PayPal and Buy Me a Coffee. That will run until further notice, no time frames and possibly until Ukraine is a free country again. Thank you for reading my blog. 

BUY DIABETIC DAD (MSF) A COFFEE HERE

Prefer PayPal?

BUY DIABETIC DAD (MSF) A COFFEE THROUGH PAYPAL