Mastering Diabetes Blog
Alcohol – friend or foe?
Alcohol - friend or foe?I recently discovered something and have been refusing to believe it’s true. I must be mistaken. Diabetes wouldn’t do this to me… surely not? As another weekend rolls around, a few wines in the evening is followed by a day of hypos (low blood...
November 2015 – a key milestone
November 2015 - a key milestoneAs Diabetes Awareness Month came to a close, I took time to think about what I’d discovered. If I’m honest, I’d never really heard about Diabetes Awareness Month or World Diabetes Day, which falls smack bang in the middle. I’ve been a...
Type1Day1 short film
Type1Day1 short filmI am pretty excited about the Type1Day1 short film that was released today as part of World Diabetes Day. See if you can spot me about 20.30min in. A type 1 diabetic all the way from New Zealand!! "Neil Greathouse teams up with Beyond Type 1 to...
Wellbeing linked to mastering diabetes
Wellbeing linked to mastering diabetes I wasn’t expecting the journey to mastering diabetes to be quite so draining, mentally draining. Yet it probably shouldn’t come as a surprise as I internally review every high blood sugar, asking myself: What did I do wrong?...
CGMS – could this be the answer?
CGMS - could this be the answer?It’s been a quiet couple of weeks and it certainly feels as though at times, any progress has been two steps forward, one step back. I continue to test my blood sugars, analyse the results and tweak my insulin pump programming with the...
Is it all worth it?
Is it all worth it?It’s been a rough few days and I’m wondering, what's the point? I’ve been using an insulin pump for five weeks and my blood sugars are still all over the place. To try and determine why and when my blood sugars are unexpectedly spiking through the...
I am not alone.
I am not aloneThe battle has been worth it! There is still a long way to go, however after using an insulin pump for 14 days I can see what it can do and will do for my health, wellbeing and quality of life (not just for me, but my family too). I recently spent two...
One step closer to mastering diabetes.
One step closer to mastering diabetes.Four weeks after we’d appealed Pharmac’s decision to decline my insulin pump funding, we had a response… I had the green light - funding approved! This was really happening. Had Pharmac made a mistake the first time? Was I...
The answer is no!
The answer is no!In an attempt to control the diabetes rollercoaster, I’ve been working closely with the Diabetic team at the Lower Hutt hospital. So far we’ve:changed my medication analyzed my food intake and reintroduced carb counting (in my opinion something all...
What is diabetes?
What is diabetes?To quote Maria from the sound of music, "let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start". What is diabetes? I've heard many things. Your pancreas has died and stopped working. It's what happens when you eat too much sugar. Your cells...
It could all unravel…
It could all unravel...I’ve always considered diabetes to be a balancing act. The aim of the game being to defeat the highs and the lows, arriving somewhere in the middle. Surely it can't be that hard? For just over 15 years I’ve played the game pretty well, with only...
A letter to my future self
A letter to my future self...This weekend I opened a letter I'd written to myself over a year ago. Doing so reminded me of the incredible women I shared the day with. We sat underneath the mighty Castle Point lighthouse soaking up the sunshine and sea air as we wrote...
Please help us wake in the morning…
Please help us wake in the morning...This is hard to write because doing so means I need to drop my guard, remove the armor, wade through the thick growth mindset and my ‘I will not be defined by diabetes’ persona to acknowledge my deepest, darkest fear when it comes...