Now that I’m out of NZ, I’ve been going through somewhat of a shift in my appreciation of the ease with which I used to be able to get healthcare, support, medication and diabetes paraphernalia. The effect has been though I’ve started using a whole new set of tools which I didn’t pay that much attention to in New Zealand or didn’t have occasion to appreciate as much as I do now.

Some of these Nic and I have talked about heaps but some of them might be new:

Log for Life

Everything that you want to know about this is in this post by Nic and at the Log For Life website. Now that…

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I was perusing the annals of the internet last week and saw this article on Stuff.co.nz about how scientists have research indicating that fathers with high fat diets may be a cause of diabetes in their daughters?

You can read the full article here.

Seriously, I am all for research and understanding the causes and contributing factors behind T1 but come on, isn’t this a little ridiculous? It feels like there are all sorts of links between so many different conditions (white bread and cancer is one I hear often) and they just keep coming. Certainly, there are links between food and lifestyle which it is essential to know about for preventative measures but I…

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A good friend of mine is a GP who has fairly recently emigrated to the UK and I got to talking to her recently about the logistics of moving countries as it relates to those with health issues like diabetes, HIV/AIDS, cancer, mental illness and everything else that occasionally plagues us.

For those of us lucky enough to live in relatively wealthy and developed countries like New Zealand we wouldn’t necessarily stop to think about how damn lucky we are to receive such outstanding healthcare compared to the billions of people in the work that simply don’t, often resulting in death from simple infections let alone chronic illness like diabetes.

Now imagine that for whatever reason you have immigrated somewhere for whatever reason be…

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I dunno about you guys but when I was a kid (less so as an adult now) I got the distinct feeling that here in NZ, we were very, very behind in the treatments, technologies and knowledge from a diabetes perspective.

Lantus has only just been subsidized in NZ compared to at least 6 years ago in Europe, we didn’t seem to get blood testers anywhere near as fast as North America or even Australia did and Analog insulins had to be fought hard for back in the 1990’s so that we had the luxury of not having to wait for 30 minutes after taking a dose of Actrapid which along with monotard was pretty much the only choice of treatment I…

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In my search for Canadian experiences with which to fill my days and ensure that I make the most of our time here, I have been looking at several cultural activities and trips which are must see and must dos in and near Montréal.

On the list so far are:

New York baby!
Hiking in the Laurentides mountain ranges
Cirque Du Soleil (which comes from Montréal)
See an Ice Hockey game live
Go Ice Skating on a frozen lake/river
Jump the boarder to the states and see Vermont
Go to Niagara falls
Check out the great lakes
Ski at night (under lights)
Stay in a cosy wood cabin on the side of a lake in all 4 seasons
Eat as much

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