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Showing posts from August, 2017

T1 and Uni Life Survival Guide

I have a lot of different roles, one of them is a uni student. I've been at the uni thing for 4 years now (which is a little mind blowing when I think about it) so it's fair to say I have a decent idea on how it goes. Having had t1 for the duration of my uni degree I've accumulated my fair share of tips and tricks.  It's certainly not easy managing a chronic condition and an intense uni degree. My degree isn't just lectures and readings, it's also placements. Many placements. Placements that don't end when the work day does. Placements and lectures and tutorials and big assignments. Add in 3 jobs, voluntary work and a hobby for good measure and it gets a little crazy sometimes! But it's possible to handle if you keep these in mind: 1) Eat. Seriously. If you're inclined to power on through the day and forget about lunch, that's a recipe for a hypo. I know these things. I forget to eat a lot. I went well over 6 hours without eating once when

Speech Pathology Week 2017

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Happy Speech Pathology Week! It's the week where your local speechies are far too excited about getting you to try thickened fluids because yes, we assess and treat swallowing too! Credit: @AmeliaLaurendet Why am I excited? I'm a 4th year student speech pathologist. What's that and does it involve blood? No, the pathologist part means we study, diagnose and treat disorders relating to speech, language, voice, stuttering, swallowing and more. We treat everyone from newborns to the elderly. Quick surface level breakdown: - Speech= the sounds we make - Language= the words we use, how we put them together and how we understand others - Literacy= reading (decoding words and understanding what you read) and writing (spelling and putting ideas together) - Voice= loudness, pitch, quality (is it rough? is it excessively nasal?) - Stuttering= repetitions of sounds, words and phrases, blocks in speech or prolongations (stretching out a sound or word) - Swa

A Reminder

We often talk about diabetes being a constant. It's always there in the back of your mind. Typically, this isn't such a big deal and I don't spend every moment thinking about it. It's rare that I resent it for being there.  But sometimes it has terrible timing. My nan passed away recently, and when I found out in the car, my pump alarmed with a high sugar. It was 20 (normal range is 4-7). I didn't care. The thought of winding down the window and throwing my pump on to the freeway crossed my mind. Not even joking, Tonks is lucky to be in one piece. My sugars have always reacted strongly to my emotions. I like to think I hide it reasonably well most of the time. But having a CGM (24/7 sugar sensor) means it's a dead giveaway when I'm nervous, stressed or upset- I alarm. Don't get me wrong, I love having a CGM and really couldn't do without it now, but it's frustrating. I can't experience an emotion without having my diabetes there, wanti