Type 1 on 1 | Diabetes Stories Jen Grieves

Business owner, fitness enthusiast and adventurer Tara Humphrey is a woman of action. As the CEO of a primary care management consultancy, wife and mum of three adolescent girls, life is already a juggling act, but the family have also been forced to adapt to not one but two demanding chronic illnesses in the household. And despite the inevitable challenges, adapt they have - with the help of a whole load of pragmatic organisation, communication, teamwork and a generous dose of fun too.
 
Tara's youngest daughter Tahlia was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes on Christmas Day in 2017 at the age of five. Now 12, Tara is balancing steadily letting Tahlia live a little more independently from Mum and Dad, while ensuring she remains safe from the riskier sides of life with type 1 diabetes.
 
In this insightful episode, Tara speaks candidly about the family's experiences - from herself being given a diabetes textbook as her daughter was diagnosed (and tested before Tahlia was allowed home!), feeling like a failure when diabetes technology wasn't working for them, to delegating diabetes appointments to her husband Mark after some frustrating interactions with Tahlia's care team.
 
We also speak about the interesting dichotomy between the experience Tara has as a Mum with multiple personal touch-points with the health system, and someone who also lives and breathes primary care in her professional life. 

CONNECT WITH TARA:
Follow Tara on Instagram.

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SPONSOR MESSAGE:

Thanks to my episode sponsors Dexcom. 

Pioneer and leader in Real-Time continuous glucose monitors, Dexcom's goal is to simplify and improve diabetes management for every possible person with diabetes.
 
They have a choice of systems, so you can find the right one for your lifestyle at https://www.dexcom.com/

When you speak to 27-year-old Avani Ved, you encounter an intelligent, focused, determined and thoughtful woman whose mission in life is to help people. She demonstrates this both in her professional career as a nurse and via her Instagram page, which spreads encouraging messages about life in general, as well as life with type 1 diabetes.
 
But her motivations come from some altogether more challenging and upsetting personal experiences as a child living with type 1 diabetes. Despite facing stigma and feelings of not being good enough since her diagnosis in 2005, Avani has somehow found the resolve to turn her pain into her power. 
 
‘When I was nine there wasn’t a lot of people in my culture that understood what type 1 diabetes was. That was a huge challenge and a huge barrier to overcome. I heard a lot of comments at nine… but at that age you’re not going to sit there and explain to a 40-year-old woman what type 1 diabetes is.’
 
Running parallel to those difficult experiences, Avani has thankfully always also had an incredible support network around her, and it’s thanks to positive interactions with medical staff in the hospital she was sent to as a little girl that Avani knew from the day of her diagnosis she was going to be a nurse - despite not knowing what being a nurse actually meant.
 
There is so much to learn from this uplifting and honest episode, and I’m grateful to Avani for sharing her story as part of her mission to, in her words, ‘become the person that I needed when I was nine years old.’

CONNECT WITH AVANI:
Follow Avani on Instagram.
 
JOIN THE TYPE 1 ON 1 COMMUNITY
We’ve got an Instagram account! Come and say hi @studiotype1on1.
 
SPONSOR MESSAGE: 
Thanks to my episode sponsors Dexcom. 

Pioneer and leader in Real-Time continuous glucose monitors, Dexcom's goal is to simplify and improve diabetes management for every possible person with diabetes.


They have a choice of systems, so you can find the right one for your lifestyle at https://www.dexcom.com/

It is apparent from the minute you meet James Ridgeway that he is one of life’s good guys. A Diabetes Specialist Nurse and Education Research Associate living in Leicestershire with his partner Stacey and son Alfie, it was his own type 1 diabetes diagnosis in 2012 while on shift as a student nurse that set him on his professional path.
 
James is incredibly passionate about diabetes education, and as well as supporting diabetes patients in clinic through his role as a DSN, part of his job is delivering diabetes education to other healthcare professionals through the renowned EDEN network. He also runs an innovative Podding peer support group to help people connect with others living with type 1 diabetes.
 
Through both living and working with type 1 diabetes, James is well aware that on average people with diabetes have just one hour of healthcare professional support each year. With his blend of lived experience, healthcare knowledge and belief in the importance of peer support, this episode offers a unique and encouraging perspective on living a better, less isolated life with type 1 diabetes.
 
CONNECT WITH JAMES:
Follow James on X.
Find out more about the Eden Network.
Check out James’s Podding peer support group for Omnipod Users.
Take a look at the Language Matters framework.

JOIN THE TYPE 1 ON 1 COMMUNITY
We’ve got an Instagram account! Come and say hi @studiotype1on1.
 
SPONSOR MESSAGE: 
Thanks to my episode sponsors Dexcom. 

Pioneer and leader in Real-Time continuous glucose monitors, Dexcom's goal is to simplify and improve diabetes management for every possible person with diabetes.
 
They have a choice of systems, so you can find the right one for your lifestyle at https://www.dexcom.com/

My guest today are Lochlan Murdoch and his mum, Lesley.
 
Lochlan was just four when he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Now 15, Lochlan has always had a deep love of football, but a serious leg injury at the age of nine left him unable to play his beloved sport. The subsequent impact on Lochlan’s blood sugars and his mental health inspired him to organise a stadium marathon, walking 28 miles in four days around the Scottish Premier Football League stadiums. But that was just the beginning - in 2020, the charity Lochlan’s Legacy was lauched with the aim to break barriers and reduce stigma around type 1 diabetes in Scotland and beyond. 

In the few short years since the charity's inception, it's already made an immeasurable difference spreading knowledge and awareness of type 1 diabetes through sport. With the help of some national funding, the support of Lochlan's beloved Kilmarnock FC and his mum Lesley working tirelessly for the charity as well as countless other organisations, there's no stopping Lochlan who says, 'I just want to help people.'

CONNECT WITH LOCHLAN'S LEGACY:
Visit Lochlan's Legacy website.
Follow Lochlan's Legacy on Instagram.
Follow them on X.
Join the Lochlan's Legacy Facebook page.


JOIN THE TYPE 1 ON 1 COMMUNITY
We’ve got an Instagram account! Come and say hi @studiotype1on1.
 
SPONSOR MESSAGE:  Thanks to my episode sponsors Dexcom.
 
Pioneer and leader in Real-Time continuous glucose monitors, Dexcom's goal is to simplify and improve diabetes management for every possible person with diabetes.
 
They have a choice of systems, so you can find the right one for your lifestyle at https://www.dexcom.com/

This is no ordinary episode, but Aviation Medical Officer and Boeing 737 First Officer Dr Jeremy Robertson is no ordinary man.

This undeniably extraordinary story takes us on a 14 year journey, back to 2010 when 31-year-old Jeremy, from Sydney Australia, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes while on a training course in the United States. He was still wearing his uniform when he was told to hand over his pilot’s licence in the doctor’s office, such were the restrictions banning type 1s from flying commercial planes at the time. He was also weeks away from getting married.
 
Heartbroken, Jeremy returned to Australia the next day, and soon turned his attention to retraining as a medical doctor. Fast forward many years and having gathered an incredible amount of medical knowledge, as well as his own experience as a type 1 and a precedent in regulation changes set by the UK and Canada, Jeremy set about gathering the hundreds of hours of flying data required in smaller aircraft to propose a case to change the medical restrictions in Australia. 
 
Step by step, over many years and with many setbacks along the way (not least a global pandemic that halted the entire aviation industry), Jeremy checked in as the first officer of his first commercial flight in 14 years just a few weeks ago, having successfully changed the restrictions to obtain a class 1 aviation medical. In doing so, he’s changed the prospects for aspiring type 1 pilots in Australia, forever. 
 
I told you it was extraordinary...
 
CONNECT WITH JEREMY:
Follow Jeremy on Instagram.
 
JOIN THE TYPE 1 ON 1 COMMUNITY
We’ve got an Instagram account! Come and say hi @studiotype1on1.
 
SPONSOR MESSAGE:
Thanks to my episode sponsors Dexcom. 

Pioneer and leader in Real-Time continuous glucose monitors, Dexcom's goal is to simplify and improve diabetes management for every possible person with diabetes.
 
They have a choice of systems, so you can find the right one for your lifestyle at https://www.dexcom.com/

‘We can do everything with type 1, but we can’t do everything.’
 
Beth Edwards is the kind of person with whom you instantly feel safe and seen. Through her work as a nutritional therapist, she encompasses a holistic approach to health, food, stress and type 1 diabetes in order to help people living with the condition reset their relationship with food.
 
Beth has helped countless people break free of the stigmas, shame and isolation that can overwhelm people with diabetes, particularly in relation to the complex relationship many have with the foods they eat, helping them to discover a sense of empowerment and enjoyment at mealtimes.

Beth has been able to blend her psychological training, nutritional expertise and her own lived experience in her practice, having lived with type 1 diabetes since she was nine years old. 

In this meaty episode (excuse the pun!) we chat through Beth’s own journey with her type 1, her motivations for wanting to help people with diabetes in ways that are often out of reach within the time constraints of hospital appointments, as well as ways in which people can start addressing their food and glucose level frustrations. She also offers loads of practical advice around mealtime rituals, dosing timing, insulin sensitivity, sleep, post-meal spikes and so much more.

This episode filled my cup right up - I hope it satisfies your emotional cravings too! 

CONNECT WITH BETH:
Follow Beth on Instagram.
Take a look at Beth's services and support guides on her website.

JOIN THE TYPE 1 ON 1 COMMUNITY
We’ve got an Instagram account! Come and say hi @studiotype1on1.

SPONSOR MESSAGE:

Thanks to my episode sponsors Insulet, the founders of Pod Therapy - only found with Omnipod. 
 
Pod Therapy uses a tubeless, wearable and waterproof Pod that continuously delivers insulin for up to three days.
 
Controlled wirelessly by its handheld companion, it allows you to personalise your insulin doses according to your own daily needs - no multiple daily injections and no tubes.
 
Head to https://www.omnipod.com/ to find out more.