I've always believed the happier I am, the happier I'll be. Since I was diagnosed with diabetes I chose to be strong. Positive mind. Positive attitude. Positive body. On the 11th February 1998 the nurse in the emergency room gave my first insulin injection in my thigh. And I did every single one from that moment on. I'm still proud, obviously. I've been the same height since I was 14, 173cm (5'8") tall. I weighed 50kg (110 pounds), but not for long. 


I had diabetes for at least two months before I was diagnosed. I remember drinking about 10 litres of fluid per day, anything I could get my hands on. I was just sooooo thirsty. My regular size drink soon super-sized to a 2 litre juice or soda.. the worst things I could possibly go for, but how was I to know? I had to pee every half an hour. Before bed I’d slam down a 2L Coke and keep peeing until 2 or 3am. With minimal sleep, I’d go to school. It was like ground hog day. 


Coming home, the train tracks always looked blurry - I’m short sighted. But one day the train lines were so clear, I could see the parallel lines it was like a miracle. Almost like my un-diagnosed diabetes cleared up for a moment. Then one day it all took a turn for the worst.


My dad took me to McDonalds (in Australia we call it Maccas) for breaka (Aussie for breakfast). I ordered the pancakes with plenty of sugary goop on top, only to find myself vomiting out the car on the way home.. we went to my doctor and I was given medication to stop me vomiting - end of story?!.. not so fast..


I told my god mother the things that were happening to me and she suggested that I could be diabetic. I checked out Encarta* on our trusty family computer and looked up diabetes. Sure enough, I had every symptom on the list: excessive thirst, frequent urination, loss of appetite, loss of weight, blurred vision, vomiting. These symptoms were initially overlooked by my doctor!  *For the younger generation, Encarta was an encyclopaedia on a CD that did not require the internet!


I’ll never forget the moment mum and I went to our local doctor, my normal doc wasn’t there that day so some random doc took my blood sugar level, and changed my life forever. My blood sugar was 28mmol/L (505 mg/dl). She said go straight to the emergency room at Flinders Hospital (same place I was born) and get admitted for type 1 diabetes.


At first I had no idea what diabetes was, all I knew was that I had my appetite back and wanted to eat eat eat!!! I was the girl in ward 4 with the sign above her bed "diabetic." When the nurses came through with the food trolley, they knew I needed breakfast, lunch or dinner to feed four people. In addition to my snacks! I just knew, inject then eat, inject then eat. And smile. I would literally eat four sandwiches for lunch and still want more.. Smile at the nurses and the snacks were in abundance. I put on 10kg (22 pounds) in 7 days. 


It was a whirlwind week. Everyone kept telling me it could be worse. And I was fully aware of that fact. My positive attitude helped me make sure I never took for granted just how lucky I am to be graced with diabetes.. something that makes me stronger every single day. On discharge from hospital, I felt like a (very) mini expert on type 1 diabetes and was left in charge of my new condition/life/lifestyle. Left in charge?? All right, I'm gonna take this thing (whatever I wanted to label it) and not let it stop me doing anything! 


Smiling can lift you out of even the crappiest of moods. So when the tough was going, and the going got tough, I would always hold my head up high, take a deep breath and smile. Now this can take effort.. A lot of effort some times. But the more I don't sweat the small stuff, the more the small stuff doesn't sweat. 


Smile from the inside. It will transcend you to an overall positive feeling and help you smile externally. Then others will smile back at you. I love how smiles are contagious. I make a concerted effort to smile at others.


Keep smiling!

​Birthday week is always an exciting time for me… well, for us. I’m so lucky to be a twin and share my birthday. Hang on, sharing hasn’t always been a strong point growing up. We fought big time over silly things like who got the bottom bunk bed (we were both too lazy to climb to the top each night), whose teen poster got majority of the wall space and who got to play their favourite music in our cassette player!! 

Twin “personal space” is sugar coated with a warm fuzzy feeling knowing you shared a womb, so you WILL share everything for the rest of your life. Especially her wardrobe and shoes… but it works both ways.. good thing we have same same but different fashion styles. That same same but different twin thing has worked to our advantage more so than not. Although, when people find out I’m type 1 diabetic, the first thing they ask is, is your twin diabetic? No she is not.. and fortunately that’s one of our differences. Thank goodness I’m the one who got this. I believe part of my mission is to share my story and inspire everyone to love themselves more (put your oxygen mask on before helping others). Then use that love to spread love. 

Anna (my twin) and I love birthdays!! We love anyone and everyone’s birthday! Every year we have a theme and love to get dressed up. This year we’re having a birthday brunch. The dress code is to wear white to ring in summer. Living in Dubai we finally get to celebrate when the sun is shining (or more like an outdoor oven)! Growing up in Australia we were winter babies where the weather was damp, but our spirits were full of sunshine each birthday. Last year we had a Karaoke Party, our 30th we had a red carpet theme and for our 29th we had an alter ego party… naturally we dressed up as Miss Universe.

Every birthday it’s nice to reflect on how far I’ve come, I don’t do it enough. I want to take this moment to ask you, my dear reader, to congratulate yourself for how far you’ve come in life. For all that you’ve achieved, whether externally recognised or not, you know how hard you’ve worked and you deserve a little self praise. Literally pat yourself on the back! Whether you have a twin or not, you always have a best friend in yourself. 

Marinate your thoughts in positivity and simplify what it means to be happy. The rest will follow.