A Message of hope and encouragement
In this Video Pete Davies and Paul Coker, who are both veterans of living with, type 1 diabetes share a message of hope and encouragement. They both recognise that a diagnosis of type 1 diabetes can be challenging for families and between them, they have over 100 years of living with type 1 diabetes. In addition to a wealth of experience they have also redefined some of the standards of around diabetes and exercise including high altitude mountain climbing, they climbed Kilimanjaro together in 2014. In 2017 Pete climbed some of the highest mountains in Peru tocelebratee 60 years of living with type 1 and Paul ran 40 half marathons in a year to mark 40 years of living with type 1 diabetes. In this short video, they will share some of the tips that they believe will help people to learn to live with type 1 diabetes in their family.
Introductions
Good afternoon. We’re here filming this to offer hope and encouragement to people who’ve been newly diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.
So between Pete and myself, we’ve been living with Type 1 diabetes for over a 100 years now and we want to offer support and encouragement to people who are newly diagnosed to show them that diabetes does not stop you from achieving things in your life. We’re going to offer three top tips that we would give to you as a newly diagnosed person with diabetes or, if your son or daughter has been diagnosed recently. So Pete, what would be your top tip?
Tip 1 – Find others with Type 1 Diabetes & Learn from Them
I think probably the best thing I have ever done is to get to know other people with Type 1 diabetes and being able to share my thoughts, my concerns, my worries with people. I think that’s probably my most powerful message. Don’t feel alone, get to know other people. What about you Paul? What’s …
Tip 2 – There are No Limits
I think my tip would be that there are no limits. Diabetes does not stop you from doing anything and later on in this video, we’ll be talking about some of the things that Pete and I have both done to push the boundaries of what you can do. And anything else Pete?
Tip 3 – Complications are not Inevitable
I’d also like to say, I know complications can be extremely worrying to people. It’s been at the back of my mind throughout. But to learn that complications are not an inevitable thing. I’m extremely lucky not to have any serious complications after 61 years of Type 1 diabetes.
Tip 4 – Flatline Blood Glucose Levels are Not A Realistic Target
Don’t aim to get a flat-lined blood glucose level. We’re always hearing people saying, “No, I’m trying to get my blood glucose level to be absolutely at 5.0 or below 100 decilitres per milligramme,” and it’s not going to happen. You will put yourself into an early grave trying to get there and people who don’t have diabetes don’t achieve that either. Keep it real and manageable.
Tip 5 – Allow Children to be Children
I would also say to parents with young children with Type 1 diabetes that not to straight jacket them and expect them to be a really, really rigid five or six millimoles per litre. It’s just not realistic to aim for that. Allow them a bit more freedom. It’s not going to do damage in the long term.
Tip 6 – There is no such thing as a silly question
Ask questions, and there’s no such thing as a silly question. Nobody’s going to judge you for asking a question. It doesn’t matter whether you’ve asked it once, twice, or ten times before. If you’re not sure that you understand the answer, ask again. Somebody else may explain it in a different way and suddenly it will make sense.
(Pete) I certainly agree with that. I used to be very worried about questioning what the professionals, the doctors, especially as nurses used to say. But I think, don’t be afraid to ask questions and perhaps argue a little bit with them about things, if you believe something they’re saying doesn’t fit with your pattern. Don’t be afraid of doing that.
Why are we qualified to offer this advice?
Paul :
So you’re probably wondering why we’re qualified to be offering you this advice right now. So speaking for myself, I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when I was five years old. That was back in 1977 and I have challenged my diabetes in a variety of ways. In the early days most of them were negative and now I choose to challenge them in a positive way. And Pete was diagnosed in …
Pete Davies:
In 1956 when I was two years old.
Between us, we have a lot of experience of living with Type 1 diabetes. But not just living with Type 1 diabetes in a normal everyday sense. Pete and I first met when we climbed Kilimanjaro together with … there were 17 others who also had Type 1 diabetes who reached the summit of Kilimanjaro with us, that was back in 2014. Pete has gone on. What did you climb last year, Pete?
Pete climbed the highest trek in Peru to celebrate 60 years of living with type 1
I did part of the highest trek in Peru to mark my 60th year with Type 1 diabetes. I wanted to make it a special occasion so went there to raise money for JDRF and Diabetes UK, and had a wonderful time.
Paul ran 40 half marathons in a year to celebrate 40 years of living with type 1 diabetes
I celebrated 40 years of living with Type 1 diabetes in 2017 by running 40 half marathons in a year. Now I’m not saying that I’m a good runner because I’m not. But, conversely, I don’t know of any other people even who don’t have diabetes that could do that. So diabetes doesn’t stop you. It never will. It’s about your attitude and your approach, and it’s about asking the right questions of the right people. And, if you don’t know the right people by asking the right questions, you’ll find them.
Pete will be running his first half Marathon in 2018
Yeah. I’d certainly back you up on that. And I’d also like to say, I’m doing my first half marathon, the Swansea half marathon. I’ve never run in my life, really, except when I had to. But, I think, it’s a new challenge for me, I’m nearly 64. So it’s a new challenge for me.
Swansea Half Marathon 2018
And actually, that’s all Paul’s fault because he has compiled the largest team of people with Type 1 diabetes to run a half marathon together that’s going to be in Swansea on the 24th of June 2018 and we’re going to set a world record for the most people with Type 1 diabetes to run a half marathon. So the world is your oyster. You can do anything that you want to do. Just find a good support group. And, if you find a support group and it’s not the right one for you, find another one. There’s plenty out there. And the diabetes online community can be a wonderful thing and you can find some great support there. But not every piece of advice you get online is good advice. And some people can become very … they can own their own belief about what they think is diabetes and what they think you can do with it. You’ve got to find what your personal terms of reference are and, once you’ve done that, then life becomes so much easier.
Petes says “Don’t fight your diabetes, instead, learn to live with it”
I’d also just like to add something if I can. Learn to live with Type 1 diabetes. I think some people try and reject it, and it becomes almost their enemy, and I think that’s the worst thing you can do. Learn to live with it and accept it, and don’t let it stop you doing things.
There will be good days and other days that are not so good
Learn to accept that there will be good days and there will be days that are not so good. The days that are not so good, don’t take them as a negative. Take them as a learning experience. What went well the day before, may not work today. Why didn’t it work today? Try and learn something from it that you can take into tomorrow and make tomorrow even a better day than today.
In Summary
- Meeting other people with Type 1 is really valuable.
- That there are no limits. Diabetes doesn’t stop you from doing anything.
- Type 1 diabetes is not your enemy. Learn to work with it. It won’t necessarily ever be your best friend, but don’t make it an enemy.
- Complications aren’t inevitable. It is not necessarily going to happen to you, don’t live a life based on fear.
- Blood glucose measurements are good, and they’re valuable, there are no good values or bad values they are just data points that you can use to make decisions about what to do next.
Supporting Organisations
There are a number of organisations out there that are really worth connecting with. JDRF is certainly one of them. In America, they’re called the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, and their mission in life is to find a cure. Diabetes UK is also an incredible resource. In America, the American Diabetes Association are an incredible resource. If you’re living outside of those regions, you will have your own local associations that will offer great advice, great support. The other thing to do is to ask them if there’s a local peer support group that you can actually attend in person. Online support is one thing, but actually going and meeting people with Type 1 diabetes is something else entirely.
The video is being hosted by 1bloodydrop.com. It is a website that’s dedicated to helping people with diabetes. Primarily, we’re doing that through diabetes, sports and exercise, and we’re starting to look at diabetes and nutrition. Although we’re not nutritionists and we’re not healthcare professionals, visit the site, take a look at the site. If you can learn something from it, that’s great.
Diabetes, Sports & Exercise
We’re primarily based on sports and exercise, but that’s another huge challenge for people with diabetes. How do you manage your blood glucose levels whilst you’re exercising. Well, we don’t have all of the answers for you but we have answers from lots of people. And by sharing success from lots of different people, hopefully, somewhere in there’ll be something that rings true for you.