Now, I’m not going to lie… Diabetes is sometimes hard and I’m about to get really real with you. I am going to let you in on this diabetics’ small mishap at work last week. I was working at the Midnight Oil concert in Sydney’s Domain Park last Friday night, just behind the bar.

I will also be running it with my Medtronic 640g Insulin Pump attached on one hip and a Medtronic CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitor ) on the other. The CGM will monitor my blood glucose levels throughout the 42.2k distance.

We were told that he was in DKA (Diabetic Ketoacidosis). Diabetes was a word we knew, a word that sent chills down our spine. We knew our baby’s life was never going to be the same. ICU became our home for the next few nights, constant beeping of machines and a nurse that never left the room.

People often ask why I celebrate such an occasion, one that you would think begs misery.  Let me explain. Managing diabetes well is not an easy task. I’ve always said that barely a movement is made without first consciously (and sometimes unconsciously) thinking about how diabetes will be managed in every situation.

Why am I here? Where can I begin? How about with me? Right now? I don’t recall coming into the hospital. What I do know is that I was found unconscious, in my home, in my own mess, after having a hypoglycaemic event. I did not wake for another two weeks. When I did, I found myself in here, in the Royal Hobart Hospital.

I’m an avid traveler. There is no doubt about that. Adventuring, exploring, travelling, hiking, I am all about being outdoors and challenging myself. I have just come back from escaping to sunny Hawaii for a quick get away and I just want to disclose a few frustrations I have while on holidays as a diabetic.

Diabetes. Strapped by tubes in my hospital bed, doing laps around my ward to try to salvage some of my health and self esteem.