Diabetic Armour- My Story
I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes the summer of 2020 after experiencing a variety of uncomfortable symptoms such as chronic fatigue, constant thirst and blurry vision. Most people discover they are diabetic after becoming very ill or experiencing a medical emergency, I was one of the luckier ones. My mother was diabetic and therefore we had access to the technology that allowed me to test my sugars when the symptoms first became noticeable. My blood sugar read as 25 mmol/L on that first test (for context a healthy sugar level would be between 4-7 mMol/L), this is when I knew my life was about to make a huge shift.
Living with diabetes has many obvious challenges, such as keeping blood sugars stable, knowing how to incorporate exercise, having to constantly think about numbers and bouncing from lows to highs in effort to find a balance; but a challenge that may not be so obvious is the social interactions that come with having a visual medical device. You become very accustomed to getting unprovoked advice, being asked personal questions and told stories that you are supposed to relate to just because you require special tech to survive. Don’t get me wrong these interactions aren't always bad but needing to wear a medical device shouldn't make you automatically a subject to questioning and conversation. During my early years of being diabetic I remember dreading going to work as a server because every shift my omni pod would get pointed out by customers. It made me feel like I stuck out and that I was being perceived differently because of my illness. I became very insecure of my appearance while wearing a medical device and began to intentionally hide it. Friends of mine often would try and reassure me that it was so small and barely noticeable however the constant interrogations told me otherwise. The way I like to explain the discomfort is as follows: imagine waking up one day with a tattoo you didn’t ask for and don’t particularly like, now imagine it being a constant subject of conversation, it gets tiring. Obviously this isn’t the case for every diabetic, everyone has their own experiences. I’ve since been able to grow out of this discomfort but it took a long time. This discomfort is what led me to create Diabetic Armour.
The concept came to me as I was getting ready for my graduation. I had every detail of my outfit planned down to the colour my toe nails were painted. The only thing on me that wasn’t personalized was my insulin pump. I am someone who's artistic style can be described as quite maximalist and I’ve always had a habit of personalizing everything I own yet the item I carried with me everywhere all the time seemed to lack personality. I designed Diabetic Armour because I wanted to enhance the aesthetic of my insulin pump while also leaning away from the instinct to hide it. I call it Diabetic Armour because these words aligned with the way I wanted to be perceived. I found that I was often seen as a victim to this illness and that diabetes gave me a weakness. Instead I wanted to be perceived as someone who was strong enough to overcome this illness and be resilient against its obstacles. Diabetic Armour is how I show myself and others that in a lot of ways chronic illness has made me a stronger person.
Now my goal is to share this feeling of resilience with the entire diabetic community that exists around the world. It’s time we stopped being treated and seen as victims, our strength deserves to be acknowledged as strength.
If you are interested in making Diabetic Armour part of your journey feel free to check out the shop and customs section of my website:)