About Brett
My Story
Type 1 since I was five. Over 40 years of learning, losing and starting again.
I am not a medical professional
I am not a doctor or a nurse. I am a person who has lived with Type 1 diabetes for many years — since I was five. What you read here is my own story and my own experience. It is not medical advice. Please seek proper advice from your own diabetes team before you change anything about your treatment.
“This is what happened when I stopped pretending I didn't have diabetes.”
1985
Diagnosed at five
It started with bedwetting. Then came two weeks in hospital. I call the nurses who cared for me ‘my angels’.
Back then, it was urine sticks, blood sticks and matching colours on a chart.
The teenage years
When I stopped caring
The ‘not caring’ started in my teens.
That old voice still shows up on tired days.
“The old voice doesn't get a vote anymore.”
The cost
Losing my sight
Years of poor control cost me my right eye. My left eye has no side vision and poor night vision.
I lost my driving licence, and a big part of my independence.
The dark places
Pretending I was fine
Burnout, self-doubt, alcohol and addiction. I've been through them and come out the other side.
I told myself my diabetes was under control when it wasn't.
Approaching 40
The 100-day challenge
After lockdown, I was about to turn 40. From 20 May to my birthday on 27 August, I gave myself 100 days to ‘reprogramme’ my life.
Eat consciously. Move every day. Measure everything. Stop pretending.
2022–2023
World stage
19th in the world in the 2022 CrossFit Open (Adaptive Blind). 13th in the world in 2023 (Adaptive Blind).
With Type 1. With limited sight.
Now
Conscious Diabetic
Podcast, content and community.
Helping others accept their diabetes and take control.
Next
The book
The full diary of those 100 days.
A daily challenge so you can do your own 100 days.
What I recorded
In the first week, my background insulin came down by about a third.
My 5km run went from 42 minutes to 30 minutes by Day 27.
These were my own results, not a promise or a plan for anyone else. Talk to your diabetes team before changing your treatment.
From colour charts to today
I've lived through colour charts and finger pricks. Now I use a Dexcom continuous glucose monitor (CGM) and a Tandem insulin pump.
“Acceptance allows change. Change allows growth.”
Diabetes lives with you 24/7, 365 days a year. I had to stop pretending I didn't have it.
“Be conscious, measure, move every day, and own it.”