On Diabetes
When I tested positive for Covid-19, my first thought was:
Am I going to die?
It sounds over dramatic I know, but I’m sure it’s a thought that goes through most people’s minds — whether living with an underlying condition like Type 1 diabetes or not. I work in media and just weeks before my diagnosis, I’d been reading a news story about how the risk
of dying of Coronavirus is higher for people living with diabetes than people without the condition.
For the month of November I will be doing 100 burpees a day to raise awareness for #DiabetesAwarenessMonth!
That’s 3,000 burpees across the month! My aim is to have a vehicle from which to make people aware of, or remind them about, the serious impact diabetes has on the 422 million people living with it, and the almost 4 million people killed by it, every year.
Edit: Since writing this I have become aware that what I have discovered and told you about here isn’t pure cranberry juice but a cranberry juice drink, essentially watered down craberry juice with sweetener. May not seem like an important difference, but I am conscious of trying to provide the most accurate information possible on this blog and would hate for someone to go and mistakenly drink loads of pure cranberry juice on my recommendation only to have their blood sugars spike!
So, a couple of days ago I discovered something that I just had to share with my fellow diabetics. I was walking through Co-Op looking for something to go as a mixer with some spiced rum (Kraken Spiced Rum for anyone who’s interested) and slimline tonic (because, no sugar right?) when something caught my eye.
There are many times in a diabetic’s life when they’ll have a hankering for something sweet. My opinion is that, depriving yourself of a treat every time you get a craving isn’t the right way to go. It can quickly lead you down a path of resentment and frustration and turn what may already be a poor mood downright nasty.
However, smashing back a bag of Haribo Tangfastics every time you fancy it probably isn’t the right way to go either. So below is a list of some genuinely tasty, much healthier (but also still sugary so remember to test and correct!) healthy sweet alternatives.
Where would I be without the NHS?
A few ideas spring to mind:
1. Really, really dead.
2. In a substantial amount of debt
3. With a significantly shorter lifespan
All pretty bad places to be.
Free at the point of use, the NHS has been an incredible thing for so many people close to me and so many more than that too.
From the moment I got diagnosed the NHS has been right by my side, giving me all the support I need whenever I need it. Nothing seems to be too much. The nurses and consultants help keep me accountable to the changes I’ve been forced to go through and what it means if I don’t. All while working abhorrently long hours, supporting an overstretched and underfunded infrastructure. And while smiling…
I was diagnosed on the 5/11/16. This is already an infamous night in the UK, Bonfire Night, and a date that was readily stuck in my head due to a legendary rhyme about Guy Fawkes and his failed plot to bring down the Houses Of Parliament.
Remember, remember, the 5th of November. Gunpowder, treason and plot…
Well, it suddenly became unforgettable for a number of other reasons…