I was diagnosed T1 at the age of 7. On 4th March this year I will have had diabetes for 30 years! The JDRF DiaDigits tool estimates that equates to over 90,000 finger pricks! As a ultra-marathon runner, I expect that number would actually be a lot higher.

My fingers are hard and calloused, full of prick holes you can actually see, and the skin is often ripping on them, due to the share number of finger pricks they have endured. Because they are so hard, I often have to prick my finger numerous times (despite being on the highest setting) before I can actually get any blood out for one test!

Being an ultra-marathon runner requires I have really good control over my BSL. I can be out on the trails, sometimes in the middle of nowhere for 5+ hours – this requires a lot of testing to make sure things aren’t heading south. Having a CGM or Flash Glucose Monitor would make this so much easier and a WHOLE LOT SAFER. Being able to see the trend of my BSL would be a game changer. Instead of often ‘running blind’ and hoping for the best, being able to stop swinging blood sugars (along with the inevitable swings in energy levels and mood) would be so helpful, not only with running, but with everyday life. Unfortunately though at present, the cost of such things is just out of reach for the average Kiwi family.

Funding for CGMs and Flash monitoring makes so much sense to me, I think it’s kinda crazy it hasn’t happened already. The increased control and the flow on effects of this, the decreased risk of hypos and flow on effect of that, the decreased risk of DKA… Seems like there could be a lot of money, and potentially lives saved, if they were funded.