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- 5,222
- Type of diabetes
- Type 1
- Treatment type
- Other
Today marks the twentieth anniversary of my type one diabetes diagnosis. A funny thing to celebrate, but I kind of am. I’m not thrilled about having T1, but I’m not dead. Had I not been lucky enough to be born when and where I was, it would have killed me very quickly and unpleasantly - as we all know, insulin was only discovered less than a century ago, and in many countries is prohibitively expensive. Hell, I’ve even been seeing crowdfunders from American diabetics trying to raise money for insulin. In 2018.
It’s almost killed me twice and landed me in intensive care with DKA. But thanks to medical science and our wonderful NHS, I’m still alive. And that’s what I’m celebrating. With (keto) cake and everything.
But while a diabetes diagnosis used to be a death sentence, it is still a life sentence. It’s psychologically incredibly draining, every single day you are making life or death clinical dosing decisions with a drug that can kill you. Every day. Even doctors get a day off every now and then from that shi... stuff. In my twenty years I think I’ve probably taken over 40,000 injections of insulin.
But I’m still here, and I’m mostly pleased about that - I’m not ashamed to admit it’s driven me to the brink of suicide more than once. My life fell to pieces at the time, I was only 24. My emerging, very bright and promising science career was wrecked because my twice a day fixed mixed dose regime meant I couldn’t work the long and erratic hours my research needed, stopping for food was just not possible with some of the stuff I was doing. Since then, I’ve found new things to challenge and stimulate my mind, and now I have my own business silversmithing. I’m currently working on a range of alternative medic alert jewellery made from reclaimed silver and gold - on top of my usual (low carb
) bread and butter work. I managed a successful T1 pregnancy, and my rudely healthy son was born at a not-too-massive 7lb 4oz, he’s almost 15 now. I’ve travelled, climbed (small) mountains, ridden my motorbike around Europe, and apart from not being able to fly a jet or drive an HGV, I don’t think it’s stopped me from living a fulfilling life. I’ve had ups and downs with it, haven’t we all? I don’t think it’s made me a better person, like some do - I’m quite bitter about it all to be honest, it’s a lonely road even when you have supportive family, as I do. But it is what it is, so thank you to the folk here on the forum for all the support and advice I’ve had in the few short months since I joined. It’s amazed me just how much it’s helped me get on top of the accursed thing. Peer support is so underrated.
Apologies for the self indulgent ramble, I may have had more than one glass of rum this evening. But to make up for it, have this:
Cake recipe, modified slightly from this one, partly because I have no idea what a Meyer lemon is but mostly because I hate recipes in cups.
90g finely ground almonds
1tsp baking powder
Zest of a lemon
Pinch salt
2tsp erythritol (an artificial sweetener without a nasty aftertaste), I have to get mine online because I can’t find it in shops.
Juice of the lemon
25g melted butter
1 beaten egg
In a bowl, mix the dry ingredients together and add the wet stuff. Spoon into a cake tin of your preference and bake at 180C until cooked and golden brown on top. These wee bugs took 20 minutes, a bigger cake would take a bit longer. You can also split the mix into two, and microwave in mugs for 1 minute 20 seconds. One little bug (1/8mof the mix) has just 3g carbs
It’s almost killed me twice and landed me in intensive care with DKA. But thanks to medical science and our wonderful NHS, I’m still alive. And that’s what I’m celebrating. With (keto) cake and everything.
But while a diabetes diagnosis used to be a death sentence, it is still a life sentence. It’s psychologically incredibly draining, every single day you are making life or death clinical dosing decisions with a drug that can kill you. Every day. Even doctors get a day off every now and then from that shi... stuff. In my twenty years I think I’ve probably taken over 40,000 injections of insulin.
But I’m still here, and I’m mostly pleased about that - I’m not ashamed to admit it’s driven me to the brink of suicide more than once. My life fell to pieces at the time, I was only 24. My emerging, very bright and promising science career was wrecked because my twice a day fixed mixed dose regime meant I couldn’t work the long and erratic hours my research needed, stopping for food was just not possible with some of the stuff I was doing. Since then, I’ve found new things to challenge and stimulate my mind, and now I have my own business silversmithing. I’m currently working on a range of alternative medic alert jewellery made from reclaimed silver and gold - on top of my usual (low carb
) bread and butter work. I managed a successful T1 pregnancy, and my rudely healthy son was born at a not-too-massive 7lb 4oz, he’s almost 15 now. I’ve travelled, climbed (small) mountains, ridden my motorbike around Europe, and apart from not being able to fly a jet or drive an HGV, I don’t think it’s stopped me from living a fulfilling life. I’ve had ups and downs with it, haven’t we all? I don’t think it’s made me a better person, like some do - I’m quite bitter about it all to be honest, it’s a lonely road even when you have supportive family, as I do. But it is what it is, so thank you to the folk here on the forum for all the support and advice I’ve had in the few short months since I joined. It’s amazed me just how much it’s helped me get on top of the accursed thing. Peer support is so underrated. Apologies for the self indulgent ramble, I may have had more than one glass of rum this evening. But to make up for it, have this:
Cake recipe, modified slightly from this one, partly because I have no idea what a Meyer lemon is but mostly because I hate recipes in cups.
90g finely ground almonds
1tsp baking powder
Zest of a lemon
Pinch salt
2tsp erythritol (an artificial sweetener without a nasty aftertaste), I have to get mine online because I can’t find it in shops.
Juice of the lemon
25g melted butter
1 beaten egg
In a bowl, mix the dry ingredients together and add the wet stuff. Spoon into a cake tin of your preference and bake at 180C until cooked and golden brown on top. These wee bugs took 20 minutes, a bigger cake would take a bit longer. You can also split the mix into two, and microwave in mugs for 1 minute 20 seconds. One little bug (1/8mof the mix) has just 3g carbs
