Me and the things that keep me alive. This is the latest from my mission to raise awareness of type 1 diabetes and fully come out as a type 1 diabetes person using pictures I’ve taken of myself. I have an intense and complicated relationship with these things, not least because there are 3 of us in this. I have 2 different pens that I jab into my leg or stomach 3 or 4 times a day. One contains short-term insulin for a quick hit to combat carb consumption and the other is long term milder stuff that lasts 24 hours for general blood sugar lowering. I have a healthy respect/fear of them particularly as I’ve suffered from the intense anxiety that happens when you mix them up and give yourself a mega hit of the short term stuff thinking it’s the long term stuff. The sudden realisation that you’ll need an awful lot of fast acting sugar very quickly is not something you ever forget. The consequence was a 999 call and the quick sucking down of 16 packs of banana flavour energy gel. I was ok thankfully, apart from a tummy ache. Now to keep our relationship on track, my 2 pens live in separate rooms.