Kate Banks's Page

On Wednesday, my diabetes nurse took me and five other girls from my clinic to Dublin to attend a conference for Teenagers from the age of 14 who have Type 1 Diabetes. A selected 70 teenagers from all over The Republic of Ireland attended, and in the second part of the day, some parents came to the review of the conference.
When we got there, we signed in and got name badges, and were split into seperate groups and each group had to attend separate work shops. Then we walked around and had a… Continue

When I was diagnosed, I was the only person in my school with Type 1 Diabetes. At the time there were 400 students attending my school and 70 teachers. When we went in to tell the Principal about my diagnosis, she was very understanding and agreed to let me do what I needed, when I needed, and made sure my teachers knew this too.
Most of the staff and my peers were receptive and let me do what I needed and left me to do my own thing.
At first, being the only diabetic in the school didn’t really… Continue

I have been pumping insulin since June of 2006. I started out using Medtronic Minimed pumps. They were the only company selling insulin pumps at the time in Ireland.

Pumping insulin has been one of the best decisions I have made so far for my diabetes management. It changed my whole lifestyle. I liked that I could skip a meal, that I didn’t have to plan as much, I could enjoy an occasional ice cream or random snack with my friends, and be like an almost-normal teenager without a chronic illness… Continue