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World Diabetes Day 2014, raising awareness

November 14, 2014 by georgia Leave a Comment

by Georgia Hall

On the weekend I went up to our holiday place on the river with a couple of my friends, it was the first time I went up without my parents and it surprisingly went well and was drama free.

We spent the day hanging out as it was a bit too cold for water sports. It was what I needed, even though I was surrounded by my closest friends it was an independent step for me, mum and dad weren’t around the corner (well they were but it was an hour and half away).

I was in good company and had zero worries. Of course I prepared for my mini trip, but going to a place I know makes it more comfortable anyway and every one of my friends would do anything if I needed them to.

Which brings me to Diabetes Awareness month. November is a time to raise awareness of diabetes as there are still so many grey areas no one knows about. Before I got diagnosed, if someone asked me what diabetes was or what it entailed I would have no idea, let alone the daily chore and endless monitoring and lifestyle changes it brings.

Awareness is important not only for the safety side of things, in case someone has an emergency or requires immediate attention, but also for the mental stress of every person who is living with diabetes.

There’s no thorough understanding on how it feels when you’re low or how it affects you when you run high. The worst thing about having diabetes (well, one of) is when my mood changes depending on what blood sugar level I am running at.
I can’t describe the frustration I get at myself, I can’t help the way I am acting and it’s moments like those where I wished I never had it, I either lose energy all together or gain a different type of grumpy mood I didn’t know I had.

I remember one time in high school, someone in my class stopped talking to me (I found out later it was all just a joke, how I don’t miss high school at all) but this affected me majorly. I turned into a different person, I got moody and emotional, I kept asking her what it was that I had done, and asking anyone to tell me how to fix things (turns out there was nothing to fix, just a high school girl, being a high school girl). It got to a stage where I was almost in tears from this when she finally cracked it and said ‘gosh it was just a joke, stop being so annoying’. At that moment I resented having diabetes.

Not too long after that I became a youth ambassador for Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and realised voicing my story and all the different situations could not only help people like me but also raise more awareness to all the other factors that are caused by having diabetes.

Sure it’s a rocky road, but it’s one I have no choice but to travel so I figure I can either enjoy all the bumps along the way or can get caught up at every pot hole.

I choose to enjoy it, because at the end of the day that road will bring you to many, many rewarding destinations and I am a sucker for adventures!

I am thankful, for every person who has been there and those who are there for me no matter what and accept me for everything I am.

So happy Diabetes Awareness month, promote the awareness and support each other!
Until next time,
Georgia

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Common denominator, the secret diabetes club

October 8, 2014 by Helen-Edwards Leave a Comment

I’ve been at my job now for 6 months, I’ve hit the half way mark.

As I am undergoing a traineeship we have to attend training days. The other day I attended my third training day, I had met most of them there already, the fellow trainees, who were experiencing everything I was, and somehow in conversation it came up that this girl has Type 1 Diabetes. I immediately chirped ‘so do I’! (as if we were both of a unique and mystified breed.)

Everyone at our table expressed a puzzled look, as if ‘how did we not know this’. I feel whenever I announce that I have type 1 diabetes, whoever I am talking to seem slightly offended and intrigued as if I should be introducing myself with it before my name.

Not that they say anything to that degree.

Immediately my fellow trainee and I had a bond, something only we share with everyone else who has type 1 diabetes. We went on to ask the standard questions, how long, pump or no pump, the moans and groans of the stereotypes and all the annoying factors that come with diabetes.

We shared a lot in common, one concern she had was living by herself, she said she would like to move out but having diabetes and not having anyone there in case of an emergency worried her. I have the same thoughts, though I am in no rush to move out, the thought of living by myself after hearing some pretty scary diabetes related stories (let alone all the rest) does terrify me.

It’s nice to know that I’m not going through this alone, and as I finish writing this post I am going to send her an email to see how she is going at her job and everything else.

Until next time,

Georgia from the ‘Secret Diabetes Club’

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Georgia’s Blog, turning 21

September 3, 2014 by Helen-Edwards Leave a Comment

Last week I officially become an adult and celebrated turning the big 2 1 and I got absolutely spoiled. I celebrated with family and close friends on the actual night of my birthday and had a 21^st on the Friday night where I had my friends from Sydney come out to help me celebrate. It was amazing the amount of love I received. It was great entering my next phase of my life with the ones I love most, not one bit of drama was caused, which is extremely rare for people my age and everyone told me they had fun. It’s a great feeling having good friends, because I know I’ll never have to go through life alone, they made it their mission to make me smile and the smile stayed on all weekend.

It’s scary to think now I’m 21, a big moment in my life that everyone is congratulating me on, I feel as though I need to make a big life change or decision, but I guess that will come with time. I can feel myself growing up, this year especially I have grown up a lot and I’m the same, yet a different person than I was this time last year.

One thing I am going to do is to be more proactive, to make things I want happen for myself, I’ve always been a goal setter but it’s time to walk the walk. I’m also making it a priority to live a healthier lifestyle, I wouldn’t classify myself unhealthy but there is always room for improvement.

I guess I have some thinking to do mostly, about what is really important to me and what I want out of life. Like I said I’ve always had a bucket list and to-do list, but this time round I feel as though life is going to wait for me and all those things I want to achieve, now is the time to do it.

I still don’t feel 21, I don’t know what 21 is meant to feel like, but I definitely feel my life and self-changing, in a positive way. With friends, they couldn’t get better. Work, I have endless possibilities. My health, is always a work in progress, but one that is getting a lot of focus and my dreams, are coming true bit by bit each day.

So like they say, live it up, drink it down and party on, because life is one big party and I’ve RSVP’d

Until next time,

Georgia

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Georgia’s blog, losing my voice

August 20, 2014 by Helen-Edwards Leave a Comment

I woke up Monday morning with no voice, great just what I need.

Okay yes I did have a relatively big weekend but not big enough to cause this.
It could have been due to having a sore throat and doing an overnight trip to Melbourne on the weekend – it’s been a big few weeks.

So yes, I went to Melbourne again, it was a bit of a spontaneous trip to surprise one of my very best and oldest friends 21st. Unfortunately she found out about the surprise minutes before, but nonetheless we were all happy to see each other.

We shopped, went to the Casino, and had our own little mischievous adventure around Melbourne and before we knew it, it was home time.

It was a short but sweet trip, but I was dying for my bed and sleep to help cure my voice. That didn’t happen, I got sent home from work as I did sound terrible – went to the Drs to find out what we already knew, I have no voice and unfortunately there’s no antibiotics that could speed the process up.

Stressed about going back to work, my upcoming birthday all without a voice, it was driving me insane, and as I write this I still have no voice! After the initial panic died down, I got to relax and bum around home for 2 days – I was ready to go back to work but it was nice doing nothing for a change.

Not having to get out of your pyjamas, food at your disposal and peace and quiet – it was well overdue. Maybe this was my body’s way of telling me I needed to stop.

I got to reflect over the weekend that was, already missing it but knowing that I have even more celebrations in the coming week. It would be my turn to become a 21 one year old and at this stage all I want for my birthday is my voice! So please if you have any miraculous remedies, please let me know!

Like they say, it’s great to get away but great to come home again – this weekend was what I craved, spontaneous adventure followed by movie marathons.

I suppose I can’t complain that much.

Untill the next time I lose my voice,

Georgia

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Georgia’s Blog: Travel with diabetes & no place like home

July 22, 2014 by Helen-Edwards Leave a Comment

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When I last left you all I was on my way to Melbourne, unfortunately for us it was raining when we left and arrived so it wasn’t the warmest welcome but we survived. Barely. We decided to fly with Tiger Airways to save us some cashola it was everything you expect, punctual, bumpy and cheap. However we arrived safely, but the journey didn’t end there. With Tiger you have to go to a ‘Warehouse’ to collect your bags then go back to the main terminal to catch the SkyBus which was a task on its own.

After lugging ourselves to Dinner then Coles, we could finally call it a night and crash.

The following day we had planned a full, and I mean full day of shopping, we caught the Tram which was first to do on my own. After hours of shopping and feet burning we decided to have lunch and although we have one in Adelaide, we couldn’t resist. TGIFS it was (If you have not heard of had the pleasure of indulging in TGIFs Mexican goodness then you better get on it – LOTS of Gluten Free options too!) After eating WAYYY to much, we forced our legs to keep going because our purses weren’t tired yet.

It was a semi-successful day shopping wise, and we were hoping the success would grow as we decided to head to the Casino, I’m not huge on gambling but I love the Melbourne casino although I have never been inside I’ve wondered past numerous times when in Melbourne. And just my luck I doubled my money on my first hit, which put my night on a high.

The next day we slept in, shopped and again ate. We had heard of this burger place called Grill’d which does Gluten Free Burgers, so we had to go and suss it out and it was everything I had hoped for and more, everything aside from about 3 items were Gluten Free, the burgers, the dips, the chips were all at my fingertips, I went into a food coma. To top that, I found out that there is a Grill’d now open in Adelaide too, which definitely was a highlight of my week!

On our last night in Melbourne we went to go see band ‘Bastille’ aside from the 1 hour line wait and the claustrophobic feel in the mosh pit it was a great night, an experience I’ll never forget and somehow I managed to monitor my blood while bodies were bumping in to me. Don’t ask how.

Overall my Melbourne trip was a success at a first time travelling without my parents, there were no issues with my diabetes or trying to find Gluten Free options which made the trip that little bit smoother, however I was extremely home sick and there’s nothing wrong travelling with my family, I love it actually.

Like good Ol’ Dorothy says there’s ‘no place like home’.

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