100(ish) Days of Type 1 Diabetes

When I started producing 100 Days Project Scotland back in 2018, little did I know how much that decision would end up changing my life, and in more ways than one. But let me back track…

One of my favourite prints in my home is this colourful 100 called ‘Catching Unicorns’. It was created by a good friend of mine, and 100 Days Project 2019 participant, Alex Durussel-Baker. Alex’s 100 days goal was to produce a poster a day which was either “a visual pun, a repurposed logo, or nod to a design trend – subverted to raise awareness of Type 1 Diabetes, the invisible disease that affects over 300,000 of us in the UK”

Day 2/100 ‘Catching Unicorrns’ - Alex says ‘Catching Unicorns’ refers to when you measure your blood glucose by pricking your finger or swiping your monitor and a “100” flashes up on your screen! 100mg/dl or 5.5 mmol/l for the UK readings are very hard to catch so when you do, it’s basically as good as riding a unicorn across the sky with rainbows coming out its behind.

I followed this highly personal project with admiration and curiosity, and in November 2019, Diabetes Awareness Month, Alex launched her first solo ‘Diabetes by Design’ exhibition. It was a roaring success; the opening night was a blast, there was a massive rainbow cake, and, though I was struck by how many of the posters I wanted to buy once seeing them in print, I knew the first I had to get my hands on included a giant ‘100’.

I would never have guessed then, that two years later almost to the day, the project which helped my friend come to terms with her newfound condition would, in turn, help me understand mine.

On November 4th, 2021, I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes.

For those that don’t know, type 1 diabetes is a chronic autoimmune condition that occurs when the body’s own immune system attacks and destroys the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. After the attack, the person is left with little or no ability to produce insulin, the hormone responsible for regulating blood glucose. High blood sugar over time can affect major organs in your body, including heart, blood vessels, nerves, eyes and kidneys.

People with type 1 must inject or pump insulin every day and carefully regulate their blood sugar or otherwise risk life-threatening complications.

I started struggling with my health in Spring 2021.

I was so tired, we all were, let’s face it, 2020 sucked. I had been teaching online for over a year and working from home was blurring all the lines. I was still getting excited about the upcoming 100 Days project – one of my favourite times of year. Though the 2020 project exhibition could not go ahead as hoped due to the pandemic, an opportunity arrived via Creative Scotland and Crowdfunder’s Crowdmatch, to fund the work involved in bringing the exhibition online. I summoned all the energy I had and threw myself into 4 weeks of evenings and weekends organising the crowdfunder, on top of my normal teaching and freelancing work. Thanks to my sister’s help and our amazing community, we amassed oodles of fab pledge rewards by way of peoples’ time, skills, and creative outputs. The response was amazing, and we smashed our target on the first day…I could have slept for a month.

Day 19/100 of my 2021 project (4 months before diagnosis) #100MarksToMarkMyDays

I ran out of steam during the 100 Days project, and had to stop my own painting project, to allow me to keep engaged with the community. 

Some days I couldn’t get out of bed at all, so I explored my mental health and asked for some help. Feeling buoyed by taking some action, I found some renewed spirit as I went back to teaching on campus, excited to see my students in person. Then some days I would get home and would fall fast asleep without making dinner, or on days when I worked from home, I would lose hours often taking time to sleep rather than eat at lunchtimes. I thought this explained my hunger, and my weightloss; moving more, being back to work, using more energy, maybe? My healthier habit of drinking lots of water everyday…by the pint…through the night…certainly explained why I was peeing so much?

When both my mum and sister mentioned that I had lost weight, I started to make connections – I was eating more than normal, but still hungry and with no energy; I was drinking so much water, yet always thirsty. When I sat and worked it out; I had lost 2 stone over two or maybe three months. When mum said this again only a week later, and I had lost another 7 pounds, I called the doctor. 

Four days later I was sitting in the metabolic unit of the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh administering my first injection of insulin, something I now have to do every day, several times a day, for the rest of my life. 

It is a fairly undramatic diagnosis story; I was not admitted to hospital, I was not told I was days from a coma like so many who are diagnosed with Type 1 as adults. Yes, my body was shutting down, yes it was using muscle as energy because it couldn’t get to the glucose in my blood, and yes, left unchecked it would have killed me; but thankfully I recognised the symptoms and called a doctor.  

I sat, in what is for so many people a scary and overwhelming consultation with a diabetic specialist, less scared and less overwhelmed because of my friend’s art.

I called this post ‘100ish days of diabetes’ as I have been trying to find the words to share my new normal with you.  I have thrown myself into learning about this condition – diabetes podcasts and books have taken the place of most other things – and of course I am learning to listen better to my body.

I have no doubt Alex would have done something with her design skills to make sense of her diagnosis, but the 100 Days Project was the momentum and platform that enabled her to share her work with the world.

And this is my creative call to arms to you. As was the case for Alex, the 100 Days Project could be the place to exercise and share your creativity; I truly believe that someone somewhere needs to see your art, however grand, small or tongue in cheek. You never know, you might change their life.  

So why not join us when the 100 Days Project Scotland 2022 kicks off on June 1st?

Thank you for showing grace and patience in relation to all things 100 Days 2020 and 2021 – it is needed and appreciated. This community keeps me alive in more ways than one.

I’ll see you in June.

Love, Isla

P.S. To find out more about Diabetes By Design go to @diabetebydesign on Instagram, orwww.diabetesbydesign.org and I urge you to share the infographic about the signs and symptoms of diabetes with your family, friends, and colleagues.

20/100 ‘Do The Best You Can’ - Alex says" “The hardest thing about Type 1 for me isn’t the needles or running to the pharmacy when I am out of supplies - it’s the invisible, daily grind of coaxing your diabetes to behave.”