I have a list of humourous diabetes-related slogans that I endeavour to print on t-shirts…that’s a dream for when Lance is a little older, and the current dramas of oscillating BSLs and waiting-for-the-pump become issues of the past.

On a particularly miserable Monday morning, my extremities were about to snap. Yes,despite living in a sunburnt country, we happen to reside in a notoriously cold city, known for its westerly winds and early morning frosts.I had just muttered a list of expletives as I tiptoed across the icy floorboards to grab Lance’s insulin. The reason being that my 2am bsl check that I perform on Lance nightly flashed an offensive 19.5mmol/L at me. I couldn’t believe it. He was 7.7mmol/L before we went to bed. I began assembling the insulin pen it so I could administer the life-serum to my sleeping son. Before I left the kitchen, I held it at eye level, whilst checking for air bubbles, and said out loud, ” Pleeeease do your job, you’ve been terribly slack lately!” in an exasperated, pleading tone.

The insulin was delivered into a perfectly exposed spot on Lance’s tummy, thanks to a button that had come undone on his Tranformers pyjama shirt. I was thankful that I didn’t have to put my icy hands on his warm little body. I was too wired to go to sleep, so I plotted a few days blood sugar trends on www.sugarstats.com. All done. I googled the word: “pancreas” just for the hell of it. I had already had a conversation with an insulin pen, found myself drumming out the rhythm of the theme song that gets so much airplay at our house-…Transformers, more than meets the eye..” with two innocent pencils on a stack of books, so why not look at a bunch of pancreas pics whilst I was at it? I mean, I know it isn’t standard 2am behaviour to engage in, but after the craziness of the past weeks, it made sense that I appeared to be somewhat delirious.( My only witness was our devoted whippet, He isn’t going to tell anyone about his Master’s mother and her early morning cuckoo antics…)

The nights events came to an unexectedly hilarious peak when I discovered this.

I was so intrigued to see such creative and hysterical use of a pancreas! I chuckled quietly to myself as I read on. The folks at www.iheartguts.com are devoted to making internal organs come to life with snappy little catchphrases, and their products are perfect for those with a troublesome condition that is usually wrapped up in a stockpile of seriousness and only ever mentioned in hushed tones.

 They boast an impressive range of t-shirts, featuring all of your favourite organs for men and women. (Lance is getting the “Gimme Some Sugar” shirt in a ladies Size Small.) They have stickers, pins and even plush, colourful replicas of your sick, tired, or damaged organ, all with a guaranteed belly laugh or two.

 Why not give his pancreas a voice? It may as well be used for something..

Ha. I just imagined a sad little pancreas with a weather-beaten, six-year-old “For Lease” sign stuck in the middle of it. The humour is rubbing off!

For anyone who has problems with their liver, pain from their kidneys, a literally “broken” heart, a devastatingly vacant uterus, synapses that are slightly askew in their brain,or a spleen that is more trouble than it’s worth, you must visit www.iheartguts.com , even if only for a good old-fashioned guffaw. (However, something tells me that the uber cool design, plus the given ability to have a laugh about your imperfect organ, and the passion shown towards guts in general will find you with your credit card in hand, ready to purchase a rib-tickler. It worked first shot with me!

I’m tired of Diabetes being so serious and overwhelming. I caught myself frowning in the mirror recently, and I actually gasped aloud at the deep folds of skin that have developed in my brow. ( I quickly made an appointment and dashed off to get a professional sea weed facial and a miniscule jar of cream that allegedly “plumpens prominent wrinkles with continual use”… It worked psychologically anyway..) The first thing that came to mind was Botox,( I then slapped myself for being so absurd and narcissistic,) and just a few seconds later, I decided that I really need to concentrate on how a quality of life that Lance doesn’t  know exists, and  that I have long forgotten existed will be handed back to us significantly, once we commence insulin pump therapy, and, that one day, Lance’s pancreas will welcome a bunch of excited, lively, brand new islet cells that will deliver insulin when required without any intervention from him or me.

Thank you SO much to the team at I Heart Guts.

You are the first to make me laugh-out-loud and slap my thigh at my son’s defunct pancreas. 

Austin Cooper was fifteen years old when diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes.

He had to walk away from his old life, and embrace what his new life with Diabetes held in store from him.

After going through booklets and scouring the net, Austin was still not comfortable with the chunky chains he needed to wear for life-saving identification. It doesn’t make a young person diagnosed with this  condition feel any better about it when they are presented with clunky, unhip bracelets with a red cross in the middle screaming, ”I’m a walking emergency!!”

In fact, it’s quite poetic.

When I see people with Diabetes dragging the clunky versions of medical ID along with them , it almost feels like they have resigned themselves to the fact that they are “chained” to Diabetes.

Austin tried four different versions of the “chain” before deciding that the market for Medical ID was left behind in a time way before his years. He couldn’t make himself wear what was available, so he decided that he needed to make a difference.

Look no further. Austin Cooper has just brought bling to sting.

Austin’s website, www.evasionid.com, showcases his two very modern, sleek, stylish and funky medical ID designs. They are suitable for anyone with Type 1 Diabetes; on the front,they have a stainless steel engraved medical panel, “Type 1 Diabetes“ stamped on the back and are 100% leather to boot!

Not only that, but with every purchase, Austin donates 10% to our favourite charity, JDRF.

Take a look at Austin’s Mission Statement on www.evasionid.com.

EvasionID boasts a range of funkalicious, fashionable bracelets that are perfect for day/work/evening wear. They are unisex, stong, durable and very affordable!!  In fact, I announce here on this post, chunky, clunky ID chains-be gone with you!

Whether you are newly diagnosed, a teen, or an adult of any age, Evasion ID has a modern, fresh new approach for your Type 1 Diabetes Medical Identification requirements.

Just in case you missed how much I love Austin Cooper’s new diabetes innovation, check out his website

www.evasionid.com

(My son, Lance already has his picked out. Actually, he wants one in two colours to mix and match.)

While I’m at it, I think huge kudos need to be given to Austin, one so new to life with Diabetes, yet one so determined to honour himself through his creativity, AND the entire Diabetes community worldwide. With 10% of his profits going to JDRF, he is also contributing to help find the cure that kids like my Lance and Austin deserve so, so much.

We, who put fashion before function, we praise you, Austin Cooper!!

In this post, I wanted to write about my favourite Uncle Dan. 

My Mum did an interview on ABC South East Queensland radio on Friday over the phone. I watched her and listened to her. She explained to everybody that was listening how important the Jelly Baby is to a person with Type 1 Diabetes. (Even my Pop was listening at his home and he was so shocked to hear his daughter talking on the radio!!!)

The lady that interviewed Mum said that I had become the “Face of Diabetes” in our city!!! This means that I can help people with Diabetes who are too shy, sad or sick by raising money for  medicines and better equipment, and giving them hope by promising that I am going to try my hardest to help scientists by giving them money that I raise, and educating politicians about what we have to go through every single day.

Kevin Rudd is the Prime Minister of Australia.

I saw him on the news recently on holiday in China.

People with Diabetes can go on holidays to China, but they can’t leave their Diabetes at home.

It is with you for life.

When I go on holiday, my Diabetes supplies and emergency kit is bigger than my luggage. It’s more important too, a thousand times more important, in fact.

It takes up so much room and time no matter where you go or what you do.

I think that sometimes people forget that.

I would like to sit down with Kevin Rudd and tell him about kids with Type 1 Diabetes and what they go through.

(Oh, and even though I know this man will NEVER read this because he was a stranger, but I just wanted to say, that when you were talking to my Mum and me about Type 1 Diabetes, and you told my Mum that she needed to “toughen me up with a good few wallops and that would see me better in no time,” you made me so mad.  Sad at the same time as well.)

(I thought my Mum was going to chase you she was so furious.)

We sat down on a bench together and we were angry for a few minutes, and then we laughed at how silly you were to think that hitting or punishing someone would make their Diabetes go away.

When I come to think of it, it’s the funniest concept I’ve ever heard!

Then there are the people like my Uncle Dan. He is the type of man who would help anyone with an illness, even though he isn’t well himself. He helps charities and uses his own free time. He lives in Sydney and goes to University there. He would talk to anyone who needed help. He has a heart that is so big!  He is a member of JDRF, and he always emails us if he has heard any new exciting information about a cure. ( He is my Mum’s Info Tech Guru and brother. He makes my Mum laugh a lot, and sometimes when she has been looking after me all day when I have had a severe hypo, I don’t hear her laugh at all. If Mum talks to Uncle Dan though, her spirit comes alive again. He knows a LOT about computers!!!  He would do anything to see me free from Type 1 Diabetes. ( I would do anything to see him free from his pain too.)

 I know how much he really does love me now, because he sat down and actually made out a donation for me to go towards Jelly Baby Month. That was one of the most special things anyone has ever done for me. I will remember that when I am an old man; how my Uncle Dan helped out my charity, for me.

If every person with Type 1 Diabetes gave $1, we would already have over $140 000. Scientists and researchers could do so much with that!!! Donations don’t need to be big. Even $1 is one dollar closer to helping buy some important equipment.

I love you Uncle Dan. Last year, JDRF sent me a certificate that said that I was a Jelly Baby Hero.

This year, I am passing the title onto you.

Note from Kate:

If you are not in Australia, or you like to do your shopping online, JDRF have an online store that displays all of the merchandise that is available during Jelly Baby Month.  There is nothing over $10 in value, however there are some items that would make terrific gifts or even stocking fillers for Christmas time. (Any purchase over $2 is tax deductible.) The funds from any purchase made goes directly to JDRF Australia, who offer the best Diabetes research and support for children like Lance, and the tens of thousands of fellow sufferers who live with Type 1 Diabetes in Australia.

It’s that time of year again!!!

Each May of every year, JDRF Australia and the Type 1 Community celebrates Jelly Baby Month.

The humble Jelly Baby has become quite the unsung hero, even pulling Lance out of a severe early morning hypo at 7am this morning!!! (8 Jellybabies later, and I could gradually see my son returning from the brink of unconsiousness.)

Every year, thousands of JDRF staff, Youth Ambassadors, JDRF Advocates, volunteers and many other generous souls go doorknocking, approach hospitals, businesses, passersby, friends and family, selling packets of Jelly Babies, pens, keyrings, teddybears-all baring the simple but poignant message:

Jelly Babies Save Lives.

Last year, almost $858 000 was raised in the month of May. This year, for the tenth anniversary of Jelly Baby Month, JDRF is aiming for $1 million, that would be donated directly to finding a cure!!!

How can YOU help??? If you shop at any of the 700 Woolworths/Safeways stores within Australia, you will notice at the checkouts colourful boxes, jam packed with the “Jelly Baby” featured everywhere, as well as groovy, fun examples of colourful, exciting merchandise. All products are $10 or less, and anything over $2 is tax deductible.

Amcal Chemists,Medibank Private and Wendy’s also help us out by selling our merchandise.

Who do you contact if you want to make a donation on behalf of a loved one with Type 1 Diabetes???

Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation — All States (Australia)
Tel 1300 363 126
Email info@jdrf.org.au

(If you would like to support make a donation exclusively in Lance’s name, please contact our Queensland JDRF Government Programs Manager

Queensland - Georgina Duncan on (07) 3221 1400 or gduncan@jdrf.org.au

If every person with Type 1 Diabetes donated $1, we would instantly have over $140 000. ( In 2007, Lance and I raised $2500 on our own, simply by doorknocking from house-to house in our neighbourhood!!!!!)

This is a fantastic project to get involved in. If your children receive pocket money, how about suggesting that they contribute just $2 during JellyBaby Month, explaining that people with Type 1 Diabetes must have numerous needles AND fingerpricks, in order to survive?

Jelly babies save lives – and so can you!

Cate Blanchett is my all time heroine.

Without seeming like I am  fraudulently boasting, I feel like that if I could have only opened a few more doors in the Australian Arts Industry, I could have had the pleasure of taking her and her families’ jackets whilst they dined in Sydney City. I was SO close.

However, it was not to be, but I had to spread my heartfelt congratulations  to her for her role in the Bob Dylan Biopic. ( The character she plays is a man! Is there anything this woman cannot do?)

Cate won the Best Supporting Actress award for her role at the Independent Spirit Awards.

She looked consistently sublime, glowing in her fifth month of pregnancy, and quietly paid tribute to Heath Ledger, her co-star in the film, friend and fellow Australian, and dedicated her award to him, as did director, Todd Haynes.

The Independent Spirit Awards are the day before the Annual Academy Awards, where Cate is duelly nominated. Personally, I think that her statuette at the I.S Awards would have left her just as elated as the ‘little gold man.’ Her achievement in this film is frighteningly amazing, nothing short of brilliant. However, she isn’t one for fanfares and accolades.

Haha. Listen to me. I’m in fantasy land, imagining that I’ve just spent the summer with her, drinking iced tea, running off to meet Karl Lagerfield regarding costumes for The Sydney Theatre Company upcoming theatrical delights. Cate has devoted herself with Andrew (’we are on first name basis, of course..) to producing plays whilst her ever growing family grow up and plant their roots in Australia. Cate and I grew so used to having stylists come to our suite in Sydney and laying out clothes for us to sample, swanning off to premieres, and letting her boys play with Lance. Conversing in French, of course.

Did I happen to mention that I worship this woman?

(I am not deluded or pyschopathic, simply an adoring fan, with an overactive imagination.)

For what it’s worth, I do hope that she walks out of the Auditorium tomorrow with her bun safely in the oven and at least one statuette clasped in her Harry Winston bejewelled hands. It would be an apt opportunity to distract the still-grieving Australians the chance to switch their attention to a woman who knew him well, and adored him. It’s time for us to leave Heath rest in peace.

Lance and I are both keen and passionate recyclers.

I love to see him peering under bottles or on the back of packets looking for this symbol.

He will race straight to our recycling bin and tell me that he has saved a can or a piece of paper.

I am obsessive when it comes to recycling. I always feel triumphant when my recycling bin is brimming over and my garbage bin contains only household scraps.

Therefore, Lance and I were very impressed when we noticed “the symbol” on the packaging of something we have to have in our possession, like it or not.

An empty box of Accu Chek Performa Strips.

Not only that, but the plastic container that holds the strips can also be recycled!

In these photos are an empty vial and box from a used batch of lancets. Accu Chek packaging can be recycled, which means very little to the average person, but a lot to passionate recyclers!

Diabetes cost the Goverment billions of dollars each year. It is a small but positive step that drug companies are going green in regards to their packaging being recyclable. Some days it’s tough to think of anything good about having Diabetes, but my son and I were both excited about the “symbol” appearing on essential Diabetes equipment.

Insulin is not a cure.

I watch a lot of films. I’m more of an independent-film -made-on-a-shoestring-budget lover, rather than Hollywood blockbusters and billion dollar box offices.

Once in a blue moon I come across something very close to home in a film.

A character portraying a Type 1 Diabetic.

Of course we have the likes of Steel Magnolias, Derailed, Memento and Panic Room-all great films in their own rights, each giving the viewer a sneak peak into the life of a person with Diabetes, how it affects the family, and the high stress levels and devastation trail it leaves behind.

You can imagine my surprise and intrigue when I found a very realistic Diabetes theme in a highly acclaimed, Australian recent release called Noise.

Released last year in cinemas Australia wide, I put it on my “Wait until it comes to DVD list.” On Friday, I was so ecstatic that there, in my beloved arthouse DVD store, sat one lone copy of “Noise,” that was clearly meant for me.

Having an MA rating, with plenty of obsenities and violence, I was stinging for Lance to go to sleep last night. Thankfully, he was pretty compliant, and went off to “Yugi-oh Dreamland” quite easily. He was 9.1mmol/L, so I felt comfortable to hike up the volume and relax.

I don’t want to give away the plot for those who are interested enough to watch it, but briefly, Noise is set in Melbourne and deals with several confronting issues, including a chilling shooting that leaves one teenage girl the sole witness.

Whilst she was being interrogated by a female Detective, the girl suddenly asks for her
“pink bag.” The cop kindly obliges and sets off on a mission to retrieve it. Upon returning, she finds the girl slumped over on a bench, eyes rolled back in her head and barely conscious.

The Detective starts manically rummaging through her bag, when an all too familiar orange box shows itself.
 

“Oh f**k, she’s a diabetic, somebody get an ambulance!”

Wow. I was so shocked to see a glucagon kit fall out!(I felt slightly macabre rewinding for another viewing, but I couldn’t believe that a scene in a film actually moved me enough to go and observe my sleeping son; I even resorted to  checking his blood sugar level.) That orange box is so significant to me; it has saved my son’s life dozens of times and here was a replica of a severe hypoglycaemic episode, and the medication that reverses the effects of critical low blood sugar being depicted in an Australian film.

The next scene shows the girl sitting up and lucid on a stretcher, sipping a drink and being monitored by the ambos. Swap the teenage girl for my own son, and we have the exact same scenario, too many times to count.

Later in the film, the girl is alone, walking, and senses that she is being followed. She instinctively rummages through her bag and opens a glucagon kit, ready to use the syringe as a defense tool. (My mind wandered…what would happen to a person without Diabetes who was given a blast of Glucagon? I assumed that they would be suffering from almost instant vomiting, mind numbing headache, and raised blood sugar levels that would leave them feeling extremely ill. They would surely need to be hospitalized, and put on a drip with added insulin? (I will do some detective work and see if such an incident has ever occurred.)

I felt really proud that the people all over Australia, who watched this film either at the cimema or on DVD, would have seen the kit fall out of her bag, and have the Police immediately connect it with a Diabetes emergency that was serious enough to require emergency treatment from the ambulance. Stranger things have happened…Someone’s life could be saved if a kind soul passing was willing enough to intervene and associated the orange box with Diabetes from a “movie” they had seen.

The scenes concerning severe hypoglycaemia were portrayed with perfect accuracy and I really commend the Director, Matthew Saville for choosing to use the female lead character as a “normal,” beautiful, employed, everyday girl, whose Diabetes was only disclosed after her “episode”. He really did his homework in regards to what really happens-people need to see that a person with Type 1 Diabetes will not always recover from a handful of jellybeans. It was such a relief that the dreaded, expected stereotype of a “Diabetic” was nowhere in sight.

This film is available on DVD internationally.

NB: A valued reader informed me that “Noise” is not out in the States yet. Thanks, Chris!)

*Noise does contain some scenes that would be identified and shamefully recognised by most Australian viewers after  events that occurred a few years ago. I apologize on behalf of the repugnant racial attacks by Australians against other Australians that happen to have European background. These people add to the diversity and multicultural reputation that Australia is proudly reknowned for.

A while ago, Lance and I decided that we would write a letter to our regional newspaper in honour of International Diabetes Awareness Day. ( November 14.)

The topic that JDRF asked us to concentrate was although the numbers of Type 2 cases is alarming and reaching epidemic proportions, that there was also another type of Diabetes called Type 1 Diabetes.

 The type where you depend on insulin to live.

The type where you can never leave the house without jelly beans again.

 The type that causes insidious long term side effects.

 The type that predominantly affects children and adolescents.

 The type where you can have no family history of Type 1 diabetes.

The type that  grows like a weed after a downpour and as a result, uproots your life.

In this photo is my letter, entitled”Become Aware Of The Other Type Of Diabetes,” and a photo of Lance in the centre that thenewspaper had on file. (Media Jockl!!) The editor left my letter as it was and didn’t alter any statements or opinions. I was delighted that the paper took International Diabetes Awareness Day seriously enough to publish my letter on Nov 14.

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Diabetes is visual, destructive, menacing, mentally exhausting and can really exhaust the human spirit. With the 1st EVER International Diabetes Awareness Day, it felt like finally, “we” had a voice. Finally, people understood. Even if they only remember the world icons like the Eiffel Tower and the Sydney Harbour Bridge lit up in ” blue” for the day, that’s better than silence.

The pride and quiet recognition on my son’s face whilst he watched the celebrations taking place made me want to applaud the World Health Organisation for finally acknowledging that “a sea of blue” is empowering to any person who has diabetes.

Just like my Mum is in charge of my diabetes, I am in charge of Rufus’s.

My friends at JDRF gave him to me to look after and protect after I had come out of hospital.

He has Type 1 Diabetes, too.

Sometimes, I have to sing to him when he gets an injection that hurts, and give him pretend honey when I prick his finger. Mum takes a mini-honey pack in our diabetes bag just for Rufus.

Mainly, Rufus is waiting for me in bed and I don’t take him out anymore. I feel like I am going to be safe if he is with me whilst I sleep.

In this picture, is Rufus The Bear. A lot of other kids’ with Type 1 Diabetes have a Rufus, (the girls’ have “Ruby,”) but to me he has his own personality and he has seen me go through lots of bad times.

Here he is in bed, waiting for me to snuggle up.

Type 1 Diabetes is a very lonely, confusing condition for a child to grow up with. You can’t go and play without having your sugar levels tested first. You can’t accept a treat from somebody without thinking whether or not it’s worth feeling miserable later. Then there are all the needles. Kids without Diabetes don’t know a life with life saving injections, and are often scared or unknowingly cruel to a child with Type 1 Diabetes. My son has been told that he has AIDS, and that he is “covering” it by saying he has Diabetes. (Thankfully, he is too young to grasp the meaning of such a concept.)

A JDRF Parent came up with the concept of Rufus and Ruby Bear. The idea behind the bear also having Type 1 Diabetes is that the child can feel that he or she is not alone, and they have someone to tell their diabetes-related secrets to. Rufus receives insulin each night, when Lance has his. (Lance has learnt to become quite skilled at administering an injection, I must say!) Often, out of the blue, Rufus will receive a fingerprick, and if it is “high” or “low” he is “treated” accordingly.

Lance speaks most eloquently, and I am beginning to hear some feelings that he wants to share with me about what is like to feel hypoglycaemic, or what it is like to feel insulin working. Concepts such as Rufus are excellent at helping children express how they feel-and Type 1 Diabetes is a particularly difficult disease to explain to someone. I’ve read all the books, listened to all the experts, but to hear my own child tell me what it’s like to be so disorientated that he cannot take a sip of a sugary drink to get his blood sugar levels up is nothing short of a blessing.

Insulin in not a cure.

Type 1 Diabetes means having to remember to do a lot of things to keep healthy, everyday.

I must have at least four injections of insulin in my tummy, everyday.

I must test my blood sugar by pricking my fingers at least 10 times, everyday.

I must eat at least seven meals whether I’m hungry or not, everyday.

I must have lots of pasta and rice, 2 pieces of fruit and 5 vegetables, everyday.

I have to look after my feet, everyday.

I have to learn not to get stressed or frustrated, everyday.

I have to exercise for 30 minutes hard ,everyday.

I have to try not to let my blood sugar go too low or too high, everyday.

 I have to think of my future, everyday.

I dream about donuts, everyday.

I have to control my Diabetes and not let it control me, everyday.

But I still have Insulin Dependent Diabetes, EVERYDAY.

I don’t hope too hard, but a tiny part of me wishes for a cure, everyday.

Insulin is not a cure.