Ep. 14 - Living Type 1 Diabetes for over 40 years! Meet Mark

How has life with Type 1 Diabetes changed over the past 40 years? Listen in as our guest, Mark Boulton, talks about his life after being diagnosed at 17 months old - just a baby! He shares some very raw experiences of some 'close calls', and discusses things that motivated him to get his diabetes 'on track' in those young adult years. Mark talks about his Mum being his nurse on school camps and throughout his childhood. We chat about how tech has changed life with Type 1, and how the transition has been for Mark. 

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Transcript

Jaimee 0:10

hi everybody. Welcome back to another episode of Diabetes in Thero. We've got a guest on again. this one's very different to the last, where we had Martine talking about her newly diagnosed type one diabetes as an adult to tonight, and I say tonight it's eight o'clock on a Tuesday night. Thanks for joining us. We've got Mark Bolton and Hayley, my co-host. Mark's had type one diabetes for, am I gonna say over 40 years, or very close to 40 years?

Mark 0:37

Yeah. Yeah. 40. It's 40 years. It just ticked over to 40 years. Last month. 17 months old I was diagnosed, so yeah, it just ticked over a couple of months ago, last month. So, yeah.

Jaimee 0:48

crazy. And so this is a really, really raw episode because I haven't spoken Mark since. Uh, bit of a backstory. We went to primary school together, back in Victoria on the Mornington Peninsula and we literally haven't spoken since then, I don't think. Good old Facebook connected us a few years back. and Yeah. Flicked you a message and said, how about it? And you jumped at the opportunity. so we are so happy to have you on and Hayley's never met you, but she's got some questions to throw at you because she's got two young boys with, with type one. Do you wanna give us just a bit about yourself first before we jump into the type one.

Mark 1:27

Yeah, absolutely. Yep. Sure. Thanks. So, yeah, uh, grew up in Rosebud. I met you back in the day. we moved over to Geelong after that, for years and then moved back up to Melbourne. Went to uni for a year and didn't really enjoy that. Got into hospitality life and working life and that took me, back to, uh, or eventually back into golf. Um, which I've been doing management in different formats, uh, in golf clubs for the last. 15 years. Um, and about three years ago we moved down here to Tassie and have not looked back ever since. Cuz it's been fantastic down here. golf. was all part of our life, growing up with my dad being a golf professional. Um, and when we went to the motel business, it sort of threw a spin on the work, so we weren't expecting it, but it was a great move to go to Geelong. And then after that, I didn't see myself coming back into golf, but hospitality and smoking and diabetes, they weren't a good mix and. Man, actually at another golf club asked me back and I haven't looked back. Um, been loving golf again, so yeah, it's good.

Jaimee 2:32

Haley, do you wanna start with some questions? Just cuz you know you've got your boys that were diagnosed pretty young as well. So Mark said he was diagnosed at 17 months.

Hayley 2:43

Yeah, so quite, quite a bit younger than my boys. My youngest was diagnosed just after three. So you clearly have no recollection of life without diabetes. Have. you got an earliest memory of diabetes or what it meant, or living with it

Mark 3:00

No, I think the first memories were school camps, and sort of realizing that mum either had to come to camp with us or we had to, and I guess it's kind of a blessing for some of the camps you went to in the cold and that, but I'd stay at home and then get taken in the morning and go home at night. And I thi I guess that's my first memories of it. Needles and tests and all that sort of thing. You know, there's somewhere in the, the back of the brain there somewhere, but it was more the. The, the things that had affected me on it was never negative. Like I always thought I've got diabetes. Like, like you said, I haven't known any different and I think I've been lucky to not know any different. And I know Jamie was diagnosed a little bit later. I never ate chocolates and all that sort of thing and all the bad foods as a kid, and I just was a diabetic that grew up knowing that I was a diabetic, I suppose, and not getting, um, any different food habits before. You know, that needed to be changed completely. So that was kind of a, a lucky thing in a way, I think.

Hayley 3:58

So given that we are talking 40 years ago have you got memories of, of what it was like that, you know, there's so many different ways of approaching it now of people, you know, they might be keto, they might be eat what you like. you as and all that sort of stuff. I've heard from somebody else we know who he's in his fifties now and was diagnosed at a young age, a much more sort of restrictive diet. Was this is what you ate at that time? Do

Mark 4:26

I, I Do And mainly from camps. Like, mom just did it for me, you know, like, oh, here you go. Here's your food, here's your you meat and two veg. Cuz we were the simplest eating family going around. am. But at camps is when I sort of, Understood a bit more cause it was portions and all that sort of thing back in the day. And I don't think portions were a thing anymore. It's more about carb counting and, um, I, I think the technologies of things too have changed immensely. So I remember, um, Back in the day, like it was a three minute test for, to, to check your, your blood. Now it's like four seconds. Like, and I remember going to Frankston Hospital to get my H B a one Cs is a little one, and like they were scraping blood into the, you know, the test tubes. and you'd sit there for half an hour and they just kept scraping and scraping and scraping your dry. So the technology of that has changed a lot too. So I, it's just unbelievable what they can do now.

Jaimee 5:17

It's, it's actually crazy. It blows my mind, you know, like I've been into some of the Diabetes Australia offices around, cuz I've lived in different states and I've seen some of the older technology, you know, like boiling up the syringes. And I know you weren't diagnosed in those days,

Mark 5:31

No, that's full on.

Jaimee 5:33

I even think of, you know, I've been diagnosed over 25 years now. I think how it's changed, so it blows my mind where you've come from and, and where you've. Gone. Um, but just jumping back to your restrictions with your food, it's, it's cool that you think you didn't miss out and that it's a good thing you didn't know different because now it's a bit more like Haley said, it's sort of like, eat what you want, we'll dose for it with insulin pumps and that. So, obviously parents will raise their kids differently and I remember your mom being incredible and I remember you at your birthday party going behind your kitchen bench and getting the the needle in your bum probably. And

Mark 6:09

It would've been, yep.

Jaimee 6:10

And I don't think we had anyone else in primary school with type one, so.

Mark 6:15

I felt like it was a real, and it's probably not right, but like diabetes back then was just not well known. And even with my diagnosis, the, the doctors didn't know it was actually a chance encounter with my nan and she said, oh, it's not that, that diabetes is it. And they're like, oh, oh, we can do a test for it. So they weren't even sure back then. I think it's one of the first tests they do now, your blood sugar levels and see what you are. So back, you know, 40 years ago, I was really lucky that Nan sort of suggested it. I'm not saying that, you know, they wouldn't have found it out, but certainly it wasn't known back then. I, I

Jaimee 6:45

Did you, do you know if you went into, um, sorry, mark, do you know if you went into ICU or anything? Because when you're so young, it's obviously harder to pick it up and. You deteriorate much quicker than

Mark 6:54

Yeah, I, I believe I did. And I was just, you know I was drinking and I said to mum one day with our little one, I sh cause I was worried I, she was drinking too much. She said you were drinking probably four or five times more than what she was drinking that day. And that was just, in my mind, was mind boggling as well, how much I was drinking and, and, and weighing. And that was when they took me into hospital cuz it wasn't right. And I, I think, yeah, I was in I c u while they're doing tests and stuff just to monitor me 24 7. So, Yeah. Uh, long time ago,

Hayley 7:25

Mark. Mark, do you, do you, sorry. Do you have memories of younger of what? Of, um, what? support, uh, medical input or care team, whatever you wanna call it that you had then, because I'm, I'm gonna guess that that's perhaps changed somewhat

Mark 7:42

Absolutely. It was just pediatrician back in the day. Um, so I remember my pediatrician, Dr. Banister and Frankston remember going up there fairly regularly. Um, you know, get to. Could go and see him. And I think that was really all, it was like, I don't think, obviously the GP knew, but he wasn't involved with the maintaining of the, of the sugar levels and that it, was purely the pediatrician and mum going back and forth and trying stuff. There was no diabetic educators or dieticians or specialists that, you know, the, the pediatrician works in so many different areas. Now you can find a diabetic specialist and there wasn't that back then. So I think even that has changed so much. Which is good for all the diabetics out there now for sure.

Jaimee 8:24

Yeah, it's crazy because you know the, I. Feel like I'm biased cuz I'm a diabetes educator, but, um, I feel like diabetes educators kind of take the reins like we will see. Yeah, we'll see families a lot more than the ped. So where I work the, there, there's pediatricians, and where I used to work is pediatric endocrinologists, so it's still general peds doctors, um, that manage some, some kids and families. But yeah, we've got dieticians, diabetes educators, psychologists, social workers. It's recognized that you need the full multidisciplinary team and you didn't have any of it. Your mum, Your family didn't have any of

Mark 8:58

yeah, it was mom. It really was like, you know, I, I used to refer to her as the nurse. She was the Yeah, absolutely. Like, I I wouldn't literally wouldn't be here without her. So, I mean,

Jaimee 9:08

yeah. and I. remember her coming on camps and stuff as

Mark 9:11

Yep. Yep. Absolutely. And that didn't phase me. I didn't care that mum was on, you know, she wasn't watching what I was doing every five seconds. She was maintaining my sugar levels and helping with that. You know, like, it wasn't like I missed out on anything either. So, yeah. But now I, I've embraced, I, I wasn't for a while, but I've embraced, like the diabetic educators, I've got a really good relationship with my one. She's a member of the golf club, which helps. Um, but yeah, and my, um, my specialist. Gary Koff, I'm not sure if you're familiar with Gary Koff. He's a type one diabetic as well. So he, he speaks it because he knows it. And that's a really good combination I've got going at the moment down here. So, yeah. Yeah, and that's, you know, there's been times when coming outta school I was, um, you know, I was a, uh, a young man that just wanted to go and live life and not worry about diabetes, but I, I sort of, yeah, come 2005 when I settled down a little bit, that it was back on the front. You know, front from my mind of being diabetic man, um, management, and I was hesitant to go with the pump, but the pump changed my life as well,

Jaimee 10:13

so, when did you jump over to a pump?

Mark 10:15

Right. So I was very close to not having my license renewed cuz I had a, a blood sugar level, oh sorry, H B A one C of 10.1 and I think the min maximum was nine for them to be able to sign it off. So my, uh, doctor at the time said, you've gotta get it down, otherwise I can't sign it off and you've gotta show me within two weeks that you've got it down under 10. And I did, I got it down from 10.1 to 9.2. Within three weeks. But it was, yeah, it was pretty grim times like, you know, wasn't looking after it. And the pump situation was more, I was playing lots of sports and I thought it's gonna restrict me. But the reality of it is you just unplug if you're playing sport, if you really need to, like at worst. And that in my mind wasn't, I don't know, sort of. Putting two and two together. And then once I did that, uh, yeah, Fran Brown got me onto it. Um, diabetic ed, diabetic educator in Melbourne. And after that I've yeah, been a lot better.

Jaimee 11:16

Yeah. Well, uh, as we've said in podcasts, you know, I'm on a pump, Haley's, boys are on pumps, but I completely understand why people would be hesitant, especially after so long on injections. Um, and those restrictions with the tubing. And, you know, it, it is still annoying, especially if you're an active person and that, but that's really cool. I, I was involved in a pump study with adolescents and it was the catalyst for change. And while it might not have been the pump Exactly. It's just a change in management. It's something exciting. It reengages you with the team. So, yeah. Good on you for, uh, for being able to do that.

Hayley 11:51

Coming, coming from, you know, all you knew were was injections, pumps weren't around, or we've all seen those pictures of, you know, pump size of a backpack on someone's back, but they weren't around, they weren't commonplace, they weren't every day. Whereas for my boys went as soon as they were diagnosed, we knew about pumps at the get go. So for some it is that natural progression. Um, some go straight onto them, but I think to make that jump, to make that move from. and let's face it, some people do do extremely well on injections and there's no denying that. But to, and to make that leap of faith, make that jump, that's a huge step for somebody who has known for several years another way of management and treatment. So, you know, I applaud you for embracing it and, um, and

Mark 12:39

Yeah, and I think looking back, like it was just a no-brainer to. To be on the pump. You know, like it, I think I sort of felt, oh, what would they know the specialist, what would they know? I've had it for however many years and that's so, it's so silly. So yeah, to those listeners that are a bit unsure, you, your specialist and your diabetic educator, they, they know what is best for you. There's been a lot of studies and that's one thing that I think, looking back on it, I wish I had a got on the pump earlier just to,

Jaimee 13:12

Yeah, that, that's really good for our listeners to hear. And, and it's still individual, it's not going to be for everyone. Um, the biggest change in terms of, you know, all the evidence lately is with these closed loop systems, you just can't possibly manage to do the same thing without the same burden, I guess, you know, on injections. But some families still manage HBO one Cs in the five and 6% range. It's crazy, you know? There's, yes, some very motivated parents and families and that out there, but um, yeah, and I always say to people that you, you're not stuck on a pump. If you go on a pump and you hate it either, like, as you said, you can take it off you can take it off for six months, you can take it off for six or six, well, not six

Mark 13:52

yeah. No, don't do that. Yeah, yeah.

Jaimee 13:56

Sorry,

Hayley 13:56

Um, No, I was just gonna say, talking about that with, with, the closed loop system, just upgraded our boys to the seven 80, um, g Medtronic or it was just a software upgrade for us.

Mark 14:09

Yeah.

Hayley 14:10

Um, and we have seen a drop. We've just had their first H b a1c, so they probably weren't quite on it for three months, but both of them have had a drop by three or 4% in their H a1 Cs since being on that. So, and I can only really attribute that to the pump because we haven't particularly been doing anything any

Jaimee 14:30

Do you mean Haley? I have to jump in 0.3, 0.4.

Mark 14:34

Yeah, that's a big,

Hayley 14:35

and 0.4.

Jaimee 14:36

know where your boys usually sit and that's not possible.

Mark 14:40

I've been in a bit of trouble, do you think?

Hayley 14:42

we, it, we, yeah, we would be in a bit of trouble. Yes. Sorry, 0.3, 0.4, which, you know, for us, for James, he's back under, um, he was sitting at 7% for a few months And having him back under there. Great. Really happy. Um, so yeah, that, that closed loop system, I do think

Mark 15:00

It's outstanding, isn't It it

Hayley 15:02

it,

Mark 15:02

Yeah. And like the pump was a life changer. This one's even more so like its next level because it literally does everything for you other than the carb counting and putting, you know, a couple of tests in. And I think you know, that there'll be a time where you won't have to calibrate, you know?

Jaimee 15:20

Yeah. and so I'm on the other system, the T Slim and Dexcom G six, and I love that. Um, But I always say to people, it's like choosing an iPhone or an Android. You, you've gotta just look at the features. You've gotta have a touch, a feel and see what works for you because they all, they all deliver insulin. They've all got slightly different systems and that, but yeah, check'em out. Um, if you haven't and you're semi-interested, mark, can we just jump over? So you've touched on, you've had, you had some years there where you maybe disengaged from the team and, and your H B C was over 10%. Do you know. Did you have years and years where you sort of disengaged and went well, say, went off the rails, or you know, did you have some rough.

Mark 16:01

yeah, yeah, I guess it was, um, turning 18 and being able to drink and go out and go to nightclubs and all, you know, the, the stuff that you, you do when you first get outta school and turn 18. I think that was, you know, uh, and I worked some hospitality jobs, so in that crowd, when you work, you'd go out or you'd stick around, and I think that's the 2005 question by dad to come back to golf was a bit of a, All right, let's get back on, get things figured out, um, and work a job that's more realistic than, you know, finishing and closing up a place at 3:00 AM and then coming to work the next day to open at eight 30 or whatever. That helped too, a bit more routine. I feel like, you know, working hospitality and going out all the time and doing this and that, you just couldn't get any routine. So you, you, you do a needle when you ate, but it was never a consistent, whereas more of a full-time job. There was consistency. And that's when I sort of said, okay, well my blood sugar levels are way too high. I've gotta start seeing someone a bit more often. And even then I wasn't seeing them as much as I probably should have, but, A few things happened. I had a, a really serious, um, hypo where I was very close to, to, to losing my life and that was a bit of a wake up call too. But yeah, um, no good. But it was, um, more just, I guess cuz I'd had it for 18 years. I, I, I, I just wanna live life, but I knew that it was also something I had to do to stay alive. So it was a bit of a weird one looking back, like, what was I

Jaimee 17:34

Yeah, I think it's, oh, it's very hard for parents. You know, I work with adolescents and Haley's boys are, you know, getting to that transition age, not, not to that, leaving home, going to uni, that sort of stuff yet, but it's just so hard to navigate and, um, And it's very normal to wanna go and do all those things. I, I, I never went off the rails, you know, for years or, or even probably months. But I, I had drinking episodes that, you know, because of diabetes, the outcomes, you know, it was literally call an ambulance and re if I didn't have diabetes, no one would've called an ambulance cuz I just didn't admit that drank too much. You know, it's like, But it's just that flow on effect. And even you said it then pushed you into a different career path. And I've done shift work with nursing and it's, it's doable and it's easier on a pump. You would've been on injections when you were doing those shifts, which would've been even harder. But I, if you wanna look after yourself, but you do make choices that sort of make it

Mark 18:30

Yep. Absolutely. Um, and again, routine was very hard to, to get a routine, which I think is vital for diabetes. Like you can vary and fluctuate from that, but you gotta try and keep it pretty consistent, obviously to, to have good sugar levels. And I think that was, it was an easy excuse for me to get out of the hospitality game when dad said, Hey, Why don't you do that? Cuz Yeah. Again, I wouldn't look back from getting back in the golf game and having regularity and down here I'm nine till five, Monday to Friday, so it's, that's very handy.

Jaimee 19:00

Yeah. Yeah. Haley, have you got any questions around the uh,

Hayley 19:05

I do have to, but I also wanna wanna jump back in time in a bit. But with that transition, so Jamie's already said that she remembered your mom just being amazing, and you referred to her as the nurse. Can you recall that time of moving from parents doing your management to that transition to care? Do you, it, is it too far back? You know, I don't really recall it

Mark 19:29

was probably, probably about the time, um, that Jamie's talking about the, the, the birthday parties. It was about then, because that's when I started to go to school, uh, uh, diabetic camps and I think I. Obviously going to those camps, you'd need to be able to do your insulin or, or, or know Nelly, how to Do it if you need some assistance with it So that, I remember going to diabetic camps, uh, in Gunda, Wendy, um, a few other places around Australia, which was really cool and I, I loved going to them. I think the takeaway from that was that I could do it myself and all of a sudden I was a di, a diabetic that I could look after myself with it. So I reckon it was probably about.

Hayley 20:08

Hmm.

Mark 20:09

Had to be about 11 or 12, I would've thought maybe, maybe a touch younger. But yeah, that's doing my needles. It was still, obviously, I didn't necessarily draw it up and go through those things cuz it was, um, you know, syringes in the, in the, day. But I could administer it. And I think at the camps there was a bit of a transition that'd teach you how to do it. And that became, and you, you're doing your portion control and all sort of things. So all of a sudden, You were maintaining your health and your diabetes, and I think that was, um, when it all changed, the transition was actually pretty good. I I didn't feel like, um, I was missing out by, um, doing anything. Like it was just doing what you had to do. And it was, it wasn't too hard.

Hayley 20:52

Did you ever feel, Self-conscious with either testing or

Mark 20:56

I think the administering when you're out is the hardest thing. and it was probably not as a kid cuz I wouldn't have worried about what people thought cuz mom was doing or whatever. But certainly in the ages, you know, around 18 and, and finding a spot, but not, I didn't care per se. I was just conscious of it that, you know, people will be watching whatever, but I knew I just had to do it.

Jaimee 21:18

Can you remember when it went from syringes to Novo pens and stuff? Cause I. I'm trying to think. I, I would've started on pens, but I feel like they were pretty

Mark 21:27

Yeah. I, I I would be guessing. I would, I wouldn't be, I I Maybe when we're 14, 15, does that sound about right?

Jaimee 21:35

Yeah. Yeah. So, and that, you know, that's when I was diagnosed, so they probably, I'm very lucky because, you know, drawing up syringes and getting those doses, can you imagine hay, like trying to

Hayley 21:46

Those, the only time we actually use the insulin syringes is, we unfortunately have had to use mini dose glucagon yeah, just trying to read and getting the air out, of them, it's it's it's horrible.

Jaimee 21:57

even, you know, the, the rapid acting insulins now. you know, like you probably would've been on Act Rapid as one of the fastest, cuz I know I was so, Nova Rapids come since then and now you got FIAs. It's just. Like even as a diabetes educator, I'm so spoiled to not have to teach. Okay. We teach syringes for, yeah, mini dose glucagon and that, but yeah, dial this up to that exact number and push a

Mark 22:20

I was very, very sensitive to, act Rapid, so I was mainly a prod Ofone boy, but I remember when mum had to mix it up, it was just, yeah, it was just stress. You didn't have to worry about it. And already, you know, she's already trying to count Portions and stuff already, and it's Oh, and actually did it. did it. She must have gone, gone home, had a few wines after, after a day out with me.

Hayley 22:43

I think as well, just, you know, people listen to us will know this, but we we're not trained per se. You're given a bit of information. Your mum back then doing all of that. I mean, mixing the insulins, that just blows my mind totally. The thought of having to do that. So, you know, that's even more pressure on parents and, and look, I think there's a foreign against with it because now we've got all this technology and we can achieve good outcomes, long healthy lives. Few adverse health impacts, but you also know other stuff. And with knowing that other stuff becomes a fear, whereas back in the day, as my boys like to say, you know, way back when I was a wee, wee young las, you didn't know that you didn't know so much about poor health outcomes or that there was another way of doing things. The knowledge and technology hadn't reached that stage yet. So, you know, we look back on it now and go, oh my gosh, how could you have done it like that? Yeah. But you were doing what you could with the knowledge at the time. Whereas now we've got that greater knowledge and it's now down to each of us to decide how we want to manage and what we do with it. It just, it's almost like we're talking to whole different

Jaimee 24:07

Yep. Yep. And yet Mark's

Mark 24:10

yeah, yeah, Still there. Still kicking.

Hayley 24:13

yeah. that's, that's exactly

Jaimee 24:14

And you know,

Mark 24:15

Yeah. Oh yeah. Absolutely. Geez. Who knows what'll be happening then? They might have, uh, pancreas by then. Yeah.

Hayley 24:25

Oh, wouldn't that be the dream? mentioned that you do quite a bit of sports, so do you ever have, Pump off time and go back to injections or

Mark 24:34

No, not anymore. No. So I played, inline hockey as a goalie. and it was pretty fast paced and on blades and, you know, I just, back then I didn't have the pump. And it was a reason not to have a pump cuz I was, you know, sporty and playing, you know, elite hockey or whatever. and I think since going on the pump, there hasn't been a time where I've gone, oh well I can't play that. But I just, I've moved on from that. The body got too sore playing hockey and, and yeah, now it's just more leisure sports like golf obviously in being in the industry. where the pump just stays in my pocket and I just monitor it, you know, and I set it to 8.2 for a couple of hours while I'm out the golf course and have. Sugar on hand if need be. but it's just walking. It's not high powered sport and running around like crazy. It's just leisurely strolling the golf course. So there's no times where I really need to take it off anymore. you know, other than Sharon, it's the only time I take my pump off now.

Jaimee 25:32

I should just mention that, you know, from in primary school, I think all we used to do was kick the footy and play cricket and. So you, it hasn't stopped you being active your whole life. Like even, you know, we see how challenging it is for parents with really young kids And that, but again, credit to your mom, your dad, everyone, yourself. You've just, you've just lived a very healthy, normal life. I say normal

Mark 25:57

Yep.

Jaimee 25:58

In regards

Mark 25:59

I've been very lucky. Yeah. I've been very lucky. And I, people ask me, would you change it? I, I wouldn't because this is the way I've lived life. and yeah, there's been some challenges and some really close times. Um, but it's helped me be who I am, I guess. And growing up with it, it, like I said, I, I wouldn't, I wouldn't change it. Yeah. And not, and not knowing any different probably helps to, to an extent. I know you going from not being a diabetic to a diabetic and your teens was probably hard and you, you get used to it and that's fine, but I, it would scare me for my little ones to get diagnosed when they're just, you know, starting to go to school and uh, starting to eat this and that. So, you know, I've been lucky, I, think. Yeah.

Jaimee 26:42

and I, and that's your attitude and it's a credit to you. And I think we, if you don't mind, we'll do a part two and we might sort of talk more about you, your fatherhood and, I mean, I look at my life in that I had 14 years without diabetes, so I was lucky in primary school to go to the parties and not have to think twice about what I ate and. So, I think you sometimes you have to think the way you do so that you don't feel like poor me

Mark 27:05

Yeah. Yeah. And I've never been a poor me sort of person, you know, it's just, you just go and grasp what gets, you know, you dealt, you dealt some interesting cards in life and you just gotta play with the ones you've got and hopefully it's a good outcome. And so far, so good. Very lucky. I think, you know, really

Jaimee 27:20

Hundred percent. Haley, have you got any closing questions, statements, anything,

Hayley 27:27

I am gonna ask one question, n not a question that you are thinking. Um, we, we touched on earlier about, um, how diabetes wasn't really known so much when you were diagnosed. So over the years, Do you think you've noticed a change in attitude? Probably generally, health awareness, but also in people's attitudes toward you I mean, do you still get the, can you eat that? Should you be doing that? have you noticed, a, change in

Mark 27:57

Yeah, most definitely. I think even 10 years ago being, you know, pretty small and, you know, my, my appetite's always been huge, but my metabolism has helped I people look at you when you say you're di type one diabetic or a diabetic, and go, oh, if you're not fat, Or, and, you know, I, I drink Diet Coke way too much, diet Coke, but they're like, oh, you don't need to drink. That doesn't have, so I think people's perception between the two diabetes is probably changed more now. Type one diabetics are probably more known. Oh, there's insulin. Whereas 10 years ago it's like, oh, you must be, you're not controlling your, yeah. It's like, actually it's almost two different. Diseases, in my opinion. Anyway, that's a whole other story,

Jaimee 28:38

I'm a hundred percent with you and

Mark 28:40

yeah. Yeah, absolutely. anyway, that I think that in itself, has changed. But yeah, definitely like 40 years ago, it was hardly known 20 years ago it was more known 10 years ago. People are still, you must be fat to have it Now. I think there's more understanding around it. there's more. wonderful work done by Juvenile Diabetes Foundation and, and other programs that probably educate the non-diabetics as well as the diabetics and families. And I think that makes a big difference too, for people's understanding of it. Um, yeah, I, I definitely think they are more, it's more common and more known now, which is great.

Jaimee 29:19

Yep, a hundred percent. There's been a lot of work around it and it is still still going on, that's for sure. But, just one closing question and probably something we can elaborate on in part two, but have you got any long-term health. Effects from the type one, you

Mark 29:36

Touch wood. Touch wood. No. I've been very lucky. I think the last. Six months or so, the eyes have been looked at a little bit more intently, and I certainly, where it used to be once every couple of years to get a test. It's, it's been once a year and now it's getting to once every six months, because there's signs of it, but it's still okay. But other than that, yeah, touch wood, everything's been going really well with, you know, kidneys and, All the other body parts are going well.

Jaimee 30:05

That is, that is not luck. That's credit to you. That's credit

Mark 30:08

Thank you.

Jaimee 30:09

Um,

Mark 30:10

Yeah, there's that scare tactic of are you gonna lose your feet and No, I, I, you know, like I'm trying to do the best I can and I, I'm aware that that might happen, But again, you can just deal with what you, what you dealt.

Jaimee 30:21

Yeah, and there's no, no point looking back and going, I wish, I wish, I wish. But, that's fantastic news. You know, without all the technology, 40 years of type one, no long term impacts so far, so, Everyone, make sure you get your checks because these days they can actually do things if they see early stages of changes in the back of the eye and that.

Mark 30:42

Yeah. That's an important one for the, for the listeners. Absolutely. You, you, you get onto it and your doctors know more than they ever have. you know, their advice is, Just outstanding at the moment,

Jaimee 30:52

And the and the technology for those eye checks is, one of my big favorite things lately, not to have to get that, those drops and the dilated pupils where you can't see for three hours and your sun burns your eyeballs.

Mark 31:04

Yeah, yeah.

Jaimee 31:05

so, yeah, mark, is there anything you wanna add for our listeners or anything before we sign off and then get you on for another part two at some point?

Mark 31:16

No, I'm, all good. Yeah. Happy.

Jaimee 31:20

much for having coming up. We'll let our listeners chuck any questions out too if, if we do get a part two happening in the, in the next six months or so, if not sooner. And yeah, thanks so much for coming on.

Mark 31:31

Very welcome. No worries. Thanks for having me. It's, yeah, real pleasure to come in and be asked.