Emma's Story

Hi, I’m Emma. I’m 26 years old and was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes one week after I turned 4… my 6 year old sister was diagnosed two weeks later (my poor parents)!

18 months ago I started my CGM journey with thanks to a medical trial in hopes of doing my part to show how beneficial a pump with a CGM can be.

I was labelled as ‘poorly controlled’ no matter how hard I tried, I could never get my HbA1c any lower than 69 and spent a fair amount of my first 12 years in and out of hospital. Having been a diabetic for 22 years and supposed ‘bad control’ I am very lucky to have very few ongoing issues; a touch of diabetic eye disease, thyroid issues (in turn fluctuations in weight), recently diagnosed (and operated on) carpal tunnel in both hands and the beginnings of issues with my kidneys.

I can’t help but wonder, if I had the opportunity to have a CGM and pump after my honeymoon stage, would I not have these issues or be such a burden on the health care system? With easier control and less symptoms from blood sugar levels, how could this not be beneficial!

I have the 780g Medtronic system and my levels have drastically improved, I went from 78 to 58 in the first month and have consistently held that level. My blood sugar range is between 5-7, anything below 4.5 and I feel low and anything above 8 and I begin to feel high. Normally I would not feel a low coming and run the risk of passing out before being able to tell anyone, and also getting to 18 before I feel like I need to intervene.

I look at the app on my phone as well as my pump and see how easy it is to intervene or just to check my level and can imagine how simple and effective this would have been for my parents who had two young children running around that they needed to keep an extra eye on.

I cannot believe that methadone is funded and yet something, that would greatly benefit the health system and an individuals life is not.