My name’s Daisy Shaw and I have been living, loving and sometimes struggling with Type 1 diabetes for the last 14 and a half years. I am just about to leave home to start my degree course at University, studying Speech and Language Therapy.
I was diagnosed in November 1996, one month before my 4th birthday. As I was so young, my memories of my symptoms and diagnosis are very vague. It was my parents who suspected that I had diabetes, rushed me to the hospital and who saved my life (D-Parents, I salute you all!)
In the last 14 years, I reckon I’ve probably felt every emotion possible about my diabetes – positive and negative. During my early teens I rejected it as if it were the plague, but in more recent years I have come to not only accept it as part of me, but also feel compelled to raise awareness of the life-changing monster that is the D!
By being a Diabetes UK blogger, and writing for my blog Diabetic Dais, I hope to give an honest portrayal of what I feel it is like to have Type 1 diabetes – the highs and the lows (no pun intended, fellow diabetics!).
Read all of Daisy Shaw’s posts here.
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Thanks Tim – we’ve emailed you!
i have only just heard about this through an article in a magazine and i think its brilliant, i was diagnosed when i was three and i am now twenty i cant remember alot of it from when i was younger but have always found it hard to cope with as i have got older, doing insulines and watching my diet, i have no friends that are diabetic and never went on any of the diabetic trips as a child as i felt that i wasnt a normal child with diabetes, i am glad i have found this it makes me feel that i have people that inderstand that i am going through, x
ive only just been diagnosed im nearly 21 and found out on tuesday im type 1, sometimes i dont no weather to laugh or cry, coming to terms with it isnt easy, a friend told me about diabetic dais and what youve done daisy is amazing i feel like im not alone :) xxx
Hi Daisy,
1st September my daughter Justine 7yrs was diagnosed with type 1. I am still coming to terms and like katie said it is isnt easy my heart crys out for my daughter as she is so young. It’s nice knowing that she is not alone but trying to cope as a mother feels very lonely even though i have the support of my husband and family. Is it common to find your sugar level at 2.7? I gave her a glass of milk and 2 digestives plain and an apple and it went up to 5.3 after 30mins then i gave her glucose sweet to bring her sugar level between 6-8 for the night time as not to find her in hypo in the morning. It is very scary at the moment and i start to panic inside. Nice reading your blog it is giving me more insight. :)
Hi everyone,
Thank you so much for your kind words and for reading my blogs – it really means a lot to me so thank you :)
Anita, I’m really sorry to hear that Justine has been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes but it sounds like she’s got a really supportive parent in you so she is already more likely to live a completely normal lifestyle. Diabetes should never have to prevent her from doing anything she wants to do, just so long as she learns to manage it as best she can. In response to your question, it is completely normal to occasionally have a blood sugar level as low as 2.7. Unfortunately it happens sometimes but it sounds like you treated it in the right way. The only tip I can give, and which my diabetes nurse gave me, is to always try giving fast-acting hypo treatment first (eg. a really sugary drink like Lucozade or a few glucose tablets) which will make her blood sugar rise quicker and then follow it up with some long-acting treatment like a couple of digestive biscuits of a piece of toast. The reason for this is because the fat content in milk, chocolate, biscuits etc. slows down how quickly the sugar gets into the bloodstream so it’s usually just a bit safer to give some Lucozade or glucose tablets first. I hope that helps a little! :) x