A bit of history

Diagnosed at the age of 4 in 1973 (oddly my first memory is being incredibly thirsty and drinking a lot of water, and being told by my mum not to drink so much - most people didn't know about diabetes back then.

This is an explanation of some of those things, what I've learned over the years and the things that keep me going (generally distracting myself with stuff to make sure I don't stop and think too much).

I have interests in cars (car repair at home is a hobby, but I tent to keep my hands of my daily car so it's reliable), cycling - love my Brompton, and fiddling with computer things.

I've been playing over the last 8 months or so with Tidepool and xDrip glucose monitoring, and the technology to make it work, which has been one of the massive leaps in life quality.

For the major changes during my experience I'd say:

• Blood Glucose Monitoring - I was around where urine tests were all we had
• Multiple daily injections (MDI) made a huge difference in control
• Insulin pumps - still the best way to get a near normal life (as much as is ever going to be possible with the current drugs and tech anyway)
• Freestyle Libre - Amazing to be able to scan as often as needed and get a graph through the night
• MiaoMiao and xDrip - Now able to see my blood glucose on my watch

More history and details on how I  keep things going soon, stay safe everyone