
About Alex
I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at the age of 17. From this point on I’ll refer to it simply as T1D. By choice I follow a simple, some would say “old school” approach to managing my T1.
Most aspects of living with T1D are incomprehensible to most people. Firstly, most people living with T1D look no different to anybody else. Secondly, most people cannot comprehend the fact that in the 46 years I’ve lived with T1D, I’ve had about 55,000 injections and make my fingers bleed at least 4 times every single day. Finally, in this world where many people worry endlessly about their weight, their grey hair, whether they have the latest mobile phone or whether “their bum looks good in this”, 30 million people around the world are living with something that could stop them from seeing the sun rise tomorrow.
An important point to mention is that in addition to T1D, I also live with coeliac disease, ie. gluten free. As this blog is focussed on T1D, I won’t bother mentioning “gluten free” unless it has an actual affect on the flow of the story. Apart from a statistical relationship, there is nothing with coeliac disease that impacts T1D. The impact of living with both though is interesting. The way I describe it is that the T1D affects the HOW MUCH.
- How much food is too much
- How much food is not enough
- How much food have I had? (for those who follow a more modern approach)
However the coeliac (gluten free) affects the WHAT.
- What is in this food
And living with both leads to the never ending mental question – “Is there any gluten in this food and how much carbohydrate does it have?”
In this blog I hope to remove some of the mist from the topic of living with Type 1 Diabetes.


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Good morning. I am furious.
Good morning to all. We all know that (anti)social media is a great source of news and discussion. But we also know that it can easily lead to misunderstanding and disputes. And I have joined / caused / created a potential dispute this morning on FacePlant / FacePalm / FaceBook – choose whichever term suits… Read more
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Universal Health Services and Living With T1D in Australia
I’ve just returned from the chemist, where I picked up my latest prescription for insulin. And I received a very pleasant surprise. But first, some background. As most would be aware, there has been an ongoing ruckus in the USA about Universal Health Care, known by them as Obamacare. The rest of us outside the… Read more
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