Today marks my 25 year diabetes diagnosis anniversary - my diaversary.
It's a date in all honesty, I never expected to see, I lived a life of hedonism and living for today, because when I was diagnosed age 11, it was stated quite clearly, that my life would not be as long as my peers and I couldn't expect to do the things that I wanted.
So, I didnt care, why should I care when my life would be short and ultimately, the end would be painful.
But then Malaika was diagnosed, my heart broke immediately upon diagnosis as I imagined her beautiful life being cut short, but then I was told that advances mean that she could live a normal, long happy life and I realised that the only obstacle in her way of achieving such happiness was me, I am her role model, everything I do, she replicates. I had to make changes. I had to be who I wanted her to be.
So I began running in January 16, slowly at first, and then I stayed slow, but my distances increased.
I ran the Cardiff Half in October 2016
I struggled every step of that race because of my diabetes, every single step diabetes wanted me to stop and as I was running, I decided that enough was enough,
I decided to stop wishing there was a cure, and to start helping.
2017 is dedicated to Mission: Find a cure, I am going to be doing 12 challenges, one per month to raise awareness about Type one diabetes, to raise funds for JDRF, and to encourage people to get out and get active.
I don't want donations (although I obviously do) I want you to join me, every month you will have the chance to join a virtual event, to get out, get active and when you finish, get an amazing medal. Literally everyone has been catered for. As long as you can get out of the house, you can take part.
I have put my heart and soul into preparing for next year, physically, emotionally and digitally and I am very very proud to announce the launch of my website and the start of the #mightierthantypeone campaign
Please take a look at www.missionfindacure.com
Please share my videos, pages, events, follow me on twitter, on here on instagram, read updates on the blog and then sign up for one....or all of the challenges.
I am so excited to be doing this, and for the positivity I have already received despite the launch date being today,
Please tune into Radio Wales this afternoon at 1620 to hear me talking about the campaign and then tell all your friends.
Thank you for reading! Now go sign up!
Showing posts with label virtual race. Show all posts
Showing posts with label virtual race. Show all posts
Tuesday, 22 November 2016
Sunday, 20 November 2016
Malaika
We had a lovely day playing outside, had just eaten dinner and were sitting on the couch after bath time
Malaika climbed on my lap for a cuddle as she always did and was busy chattering away non stop
Then she stopped suddenly, I thought something on the TV had caught her attention, I looked down at her and saw something wasn't right
She was staring blankly at nothing, her eyes were glazed over. I started saying her name over and over
And then her eyes rolled back into her head and she began to shake
I lay her on the floor and watched as her tiny body began convulsing, her mouth foaming.
I grabbed my phone and dialled 999
I was placed in a holding system, Malaika slowly stopped shaking, her beautiful olive skin was pale and clammy
She began to convulse again as a call handler answered the call after 7 minutes.
It was the longest 7 minutes in my life, I have never felt so helpless
Malaika hadn't regained consciousness at this point but her colour had returned and she was breathing heavily but regularly
I think in the 7 minutes I waited for my call to be answered, every thought was filled with pain and loss.
I was lost.
I questioned what I could have changed, chastised myself for not playing more, for getting cross about things that clearly didn't matter
The paramedics arrived minutes after I'd given my address and I carried my little girls limp body into the back of the ambulance
She was boiling hot I hadn't noticed this before now.
She had another small seizure and then we arrived at the hospital.
A+E are a blur and we soon ended up on the children's ward
She was diagnosed with a viral infection and the seizure was a result of her temperature rising too quickly and it was nothing to be too concerned about
A number of tests had been done upon admission except for urine, so before we left Malaika's urine was dipstick tested and it showed a trace of glucose.
Again, I was told at this point there was nothing to be concerned about, but a finger prick glucose test was done to be sure.
Malaika's sugar was 16, normal is 4 to 5.
I inmediately asked it was type 1, I was told not necessarily, that her little body had gone through so much and she was still feeling poorly, so they would retest in an hour.
A long hours wait passed and Malaika's sugar was tested - it was 4
I breathed an audible sigh of relief, it wasn't diabetes and we were discharged
Life went on for the following four weeks. Malaika seemed to be more thirsty than normal but I assumed I was being paranoid
She was wetting through her nappy at least once a night in bed, I brushed it off - it was because she was drinking more in the day. Nothing to worry about.
On the 21st of September 2015 Malaika and her friend Chloe did a sponsored walk for an African children's charity.
They walked 6 miles every mile the had a gift with some sweets to keep the energy and motivation up.
The following day Malaika had wet through 3 nappies in the night.
I decided to start a little notebook to see if she was drinking a lot or if I just thought she was.
After a big Sunday lunch Malaika asked for a drink and didn't breathe as she frantically tried to drink it all.
Before she reached the end she said she was thirsty and asked for another drink.
It hit me like a lightning bolt, I remembered the unquenchable thirst before my diagnosis and let her have as many drinks as she wanted and then did the inevitable blood test using my meter.
Her blood glucose was HI, that reading means her glucose was too high for the machine to read, which meant it was over 33
We went back to hospital and the diagnosis was confirmed.
My beautiful princess was diagnosed type 1 diabetic aged two and a half years on the 22nd of the September 26th 2015
Symptoms of undiagnosed diabetes are:
feeling very thirsty
urinating more frequently than usual, particularly at night
feeling very tired
unexplained weight loss
Malaika climbed on my lap for a cuddle as she always did and was busy chattering away non stop
Then she stopped suddenly, I thought something on the TV had caught her attention, I looked down at her and saw something wasn't right
She was staring blankly at nothing, her eyes were glazed over. I started saying her name over and over
And then her eyes rolled back into her head and she began to shake
I lay her on the floor and watched as her tiny body began convulsing, her mouth foaming.
I grabbed my phone and dialled 999
I was placed in a holding system, Malaika slowly stopped shaking, her beautiful olive skin was pale and clammy
She began to convulse again as a call handler answered the call after 7 minutes.
It was the longest 7 minutes in my life, I have never felt so helpless
Malaika hadn't regained consciousness at this point but her colour had returned and she was breathing heavily but regularly
I think in the 7 minutes I waited for my call to be answered, every thought was filled with pain and loss.
I was lost.
I questioned what I could have changed, chastised myself for not playing more, for getting cross about things that clearly didn't matter
The paramedics arrived minutes after I'd given my address and I carried my little girls limp body into the back of the ambulance
She was boiling hot I hadn't noticed this before now.
She had another small seizure and then we arrived at the hospital.
A+E are a blur and we soon ended up on the children's ward
She was diagnosed with a viral infection and the seizure was a result of her temperature rising too quickly and it was nothing to be too concerned about
A number of tests had been done upon admission except for urine, so before we left Malaika's urine was dipstick tested and it showed a trace of glucose.
Again, I was told at this point there was nothing to be concerned about, but a finger prick glucose test was done to be sure.
Malaika's sugar was 16, normal is 4 to 5.
I inmediately asked it was type 1, I was told not necessarily, that her little body had gone through so much and she was still feeling poorly, so they would retest in an hour.
A long hours wait passed and Malaika's sugar was tested - it was 4
I breathed an audible sigh of relief, it wasn't diabetes and we were discharged
Life went on for the following four weeks. Malaika seemed to be more thirsty than normal but I assumed I was being paranoid
She was wetting through her nappy at least once a night in bed, I brushed it off - it was because she was drinking more in the day. Nothing to worry about.
On the 21st of September 2015 Malaika and her friend Chloe did a sponsored walk for an African children's charity.
They walked 6 miles every mile the had a gift with some sweets to keep the energy and motivation up.
The following day Malaika had wet through 3 nappies in the night.
I decided to start a little notebook to see if she was drinking a lot or if I just thought she was.
After a big Sunday lunch Malaika asked for a drink and didn't breathe as she frantically tried to drink it all.
Before she reached the end she said she was thirsty and asked for another drink.
It hit me like a lightning bolt, I remembered the unquenchable thirst before my diagnosis and let her have as many drinks as she wanted and then did the inevitable blood test using my meter.
Her blood glucose was HI, that reading means her glucose was too high for the machine to read, which meant it was over 33
We went back to hospital and the diagnosis was confirmed.
My beautiful princess was diagnosed type 1 diabetic aged two and a half years on the 22nd of the September 26th 2015
Symptoms of undiagnosed diabetes are:
feeling very thirsty
urinating more frequently than usual, particularly at night
feeling very tired
unexplained weight loss
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