Type 1 on 1 | Diabetes Stories

What is screeening for type 1 diabetes? Who should be screened? Is it right for my family? In this episode, attorneys turned authors Rhodes and Alana Ritenour discuss the potential benefits of screening and their decision to screen their own children. Rhodes and Alana are no ordinary couple - they’re also the characters of their own book series, The Adventures of Rhodes and Alana. The series is ba...

At first glance, it may seem that Vanessa Haydock has type 1 diabetes all figured out. The behavioural analyst and health and fitness coach speaks of ‘dominating diabetes’, but it was her struggles to accept her condition and care for herself that have enabled her to help hundreds of others change their health for the better as The Diabetic Health Coach. Diagnosed with type 1 diabetes as a toddler...

Learning to accept and live with type 1 diabetes has not been a linear path in my experience. 29 years of life with type 1 diabetes and there are no hard and fast conclusions here, just a juicy subject to chew on for today's solo episode! I reflect back on my own journey to discuss how I’ve come to accept living with type 1 diabetes, what that looks like, the relationship I now have with type 1 di...

Hannah McCook first hit a golf ball at the age of 6. With the Scottish Highlands as her course, Hannah’s talent for the sport soon became clear. In the confusion and chaos of a type 1 diabetes diagnosis at the age of 8, it was thanks to a single sporting type 1 role model, Sir Steve Redgrave, that she realised she didn’t have to give up her favourite hobby. Fast forward more than 20 years and Hann...

The path to acceptance with type 1 diabetes can be a bumpy one - but what about acceptance for the parents of children with type 1? It's just one of the topics covered in this episode with business owner and mum of three Abby Lyons, who has published a book to help other families trying to come to terms with a child's type 1 diabetes diagnosis. Abby's youngest son Rocco was diagnosed at just 2 yea...

As heart-warming ends to a series go, they don’t get much more heart-warming than this episode. Hypo Hounds is a diabetic alert assistance charity, helping children with type 1 diabetes by training assistance dogs to not only detect hypos, fetch testing kits or even bring a bottle of Lucozade, but helping children to live with more independence and freedom, and families to communicate better and f...

My dear friend and fellow type 1 Ami Bennett returns to the podcast to look back at what 2024 has served us from a diabetes perspective. As always, Ami keeps it very real and regales us with one of her most memorable escapades involving a particularly disastrous urine sample… but to balance it out, she’s elevated her game by entering the world of homemade granola. Meanwhile I talk about being haun...

In this special 3-person episode, I’m speaking to Sharon Harrison-Barker and her son Lewis.   Lewis’s son Marty was just 10 months old when he was rushed to hospital in DKA in 2017, plunging the whole family into crisis and shifting the dynamic of the family forever.   Today Marty is a happy, healthy 8-year-old, but those days in the hospital were the some of the worst of dad Lewis and nan Sharon’...

As a young athlete, Mel Stephenson-Gray was forced to travel far and wide to get the information she needed to stand a chance of competing in her sport with type 1 diabetes. Although she was only a teenager, and newly diagnosed herself, Mel wanted share what she’d found to ensure no-one got left behind, and set up her own peer support group with the little spare time she had between school and tra...

When you meet Abi Woodliffe-Thomas, you meet a thoughtful, articulate, intelligent and confident 25-year-old. But for more than a decade, Abi carried her type 1 diabetes in secret as her ‘biggest insecurity’ - hiding it from everyone in her life. Abi went through a traumatic diagnosis at the age of just 12, and the experience immediately plunged her into intense feelings of shame around the condit...

Veerle Huigen is, it’s fair to say, a powerhouse in the corporate world of diabetes. Successful, determined and focused, Veerle achieved career success in the Dutch charity and tech sectors before moving into the world of global pharma, spearheading huge changes in the future of diagnosis in her role as the North Europe Public Affairs Lead for autoimmune Type 1 Diabetes at Sanofi.  Veerle’s drivin...

Today’s guest is Kyle Parsley, marketing manager and one of the DJs behind Type One Community - a collective of radio shows, club nights, events and livestreams that brings people together under the slogan, ‘Where everyone parties to make life with diabetes better’. Type One Community started out as a celebratory space for people who like a party, and who happen to be connected to type 1 diabetes....

The average age of type 1 diagnosis is increasing, and studies show that more than a third of people are now being diagnosed after 30. Today’s guest is Shonagh Price, who was diagnosed at the age of 50 in the midst of the pandemic. Since that very surreal and isolating experience, she’s had to deal with a huge shift in not only her daily life, but her identity. In this very raw and very poignant e...

Please note we had a few technical difficulties with this episode! Tino had a power cut at the time of recording, so he was using his phone signal to record and as you will hear, it’s a little patchy at points. But do stick with it because this is a really powerful conversation.   ‘I want to be the bridge between the knowledge and my community.’   How do you strike a balance between pushing for ch...

Welcome back to a new season of Type 1 on 1! Series 13, come through! I always say the parents of children with type 1 diabetes are the unsung rockstars, and today’s guest is no exception. Angela McMahon is a busy mum living in Northern Ireland with her husband Steven and their four girls. Twins Sienna and Arianna were just 11 months old when their big sister Iszara was diagnosed with type 1 at th...

The content in this episode of Type 1 on 1 should not be construed as medical advice, nor is it intended as a replacement for professional guidance. They are a true and authentic reflection of the personal experience of the host. Please speak to a healthcare professional before making any changes to your diabetes management, or if you feel you could benefit from emotional support. This is part two...

The content in this episode of Type 1 on 1 should not be construed as medical advice, nor is it intended as a replacement for professional guidance. They are a true and authentic reflection of the personal experience of the host. Please speak to a healthcare professional before making any changes to your diabetes management.  What’s a hybrid closed loop system? How does Automated Insulin Delivery...

Taylor Efford is a comedian, actor and content creator from Toronto, Canada. She’s also a self-proclaimed ‘rat, on a mission to normalise normal things.’ Since 2020 that has included type 1 diabetes, which she was diagnosed with in the midst of the pandemic at the age of 25.  Caught between two identities, Taylor’s humorous and poignant perspective on the many dualities of life is what makes her c...

Please speak to a healthcare professional if you feel like you would benefit from support with your mental health. ‘Most people just want to feel like they’re being heard.’ Anyone living with type 1 diabetes can tell you that it’s not easy, but how do we transfer that awareness into diabetes care? The research that Maartje De Wit, senior researcher and principal investigator of diabetes and psycho...

Please note this episode of Type 1 on 1 contains honest discussions around addiction, mental health and diabetes complications. ‘I think type 1 diabetes is a selfish disease up until you realise that the resonant effect of diabetes just doesn't finish with you. I always used to say it's about me, it's my disease, but my wife was the driving force for me to realise my potential and it's all to hono...

Get ready for a double diabetes delight, as we spend a delightful hour with Beth McDaniel and Ellen Watson, also known as The Diabetic Duo. Type 1 since childhood, Ellen was busy living her best university life alongside bestie Beth, when at the age of 20 Beth also joined the type 1 diabetes club. Not too long after, the girls caught the internet’s attention in 2019 when a TikTok video of them get...

'You have to care. If you don't care, it becomes a really miserable job. But that strength also means you take it home with you, and it opens you up to being spread very thin.' Dr Mike Natter is an artist and physician who, through this episode and through his work, centres the humanness of not only the patients in his care, but the peers and the medical doctors working tirelessly alongside him to...

This week's audio offering is a solo episode from yours truly, in which I reflect on some of the mindset tools I've gathered up and honed on the long road that is living with type 1 diabetes. These skills are things I draw on regularly to help me navigate all the weird and wild situations I find myself in thanks to this tricksy chronic illness, on top of the medicine and devices. I chat about my p...

34-year-old Jonty Brown is a humble Yorkshire man who went out for a little jog in lockdown… and ended up changing his entire life. He quickly hit marathon distances, and then Ultra Marathon distances - becoming the first person with type 1 diabetes to run across the UK. Jonty’s now an Adidas running coach and co-founder of of Runlimited, a London running community on a mission to create the most...

Did someone say Season 12?! My first guest is the lovely Divya Joshi, a university student living in Cardiff, two years into life with type 1 diabetes after being diagnosed in 2022 at the age of 20.   Since her diagnosis type 1 diabetes has not only changed the course of her studies, but she has also had to reclaim her sense of worth after unsolicited comments about her type 1 diabetes diagnosis l...