A reality CHECK

It’s uplifting to see the power of people supporting others in the darkest times, says our resident type 1 columnist, Rob Palmer

After recently receiving a message from a distraught lady who had lost her 30-year-old brother due to T1 complications, I sat back and thought about how words delivered in a public arena can affect people in such different ways.

While I discussed the merits of positive thinking and celebrated the advent of new technology that was increasingly reducing the negative effects of this relentless disease, and enabling those living with T1D to climb mountains, tackle obstacles and let nothing get in their way, there was a group of people amongst the T1D community in front of me who felt immense emotional pain.

They had lost a brother and a friend, and were there to come together and walk for a cure for the disease that had been so cruel. A young man had possibly made one mistake and happened to be alone at the time. Tragically, it cost him his life. For the tears I brought to those walking in support of his fight, I am sorry.

There is a fountain of positivity that can blur the lines between the aspirational and the realistic. I think it is important to be aware of the dark, morbid side of T1D. Yes, it can kill. Years of daily toil and maintenance, the constant battle to ensure normality, can seemingly be for nothing when one mistake costs so much. Yes, T1D can lead to complications – including death – that would scare the pants off the bravest of people.

On the other side of dark is light, hope and determination. As important as it is to understand the risk, it is vital to hold up positive outcomes as a target to strive for. I have no medical background and not much more than an optimistic demeanour to offer, so I’d prefer the risk and downside of diabetes was info that came from professionals with the credentials to back it up.

My role, as I see it, is to find and share the positive. Stories of challenges overcome, mistakes made that give way to learning and the times when I take great pleasure in telling T1D to “back off”. My words are never planned, aside from the will to express a good feeling and positive attitude.

The technology available now has opened my eyes to how far from ideal my management of diabetes must have been as a young bloke. Considering hypos, hypers and what must have happened in my sleep, I may be lucky to be here at all. Insulin pumps and

CGM now show us so much that, combined with diligence in attitude, mistakes and their potentially devastating consequences are being reduced daily.

I’ll continue to be positive because the bulk of the T1D community tell me that it’s reassuring, encouraging and helpful. Whether you are fearful, hurt, curious, determined, positive or a little of each, I think that an improved life and a cure for T1D are things that we all want to make a reality. ■

On the other side of dark is light, hope, determination