About Pumptastic Scot
Successfully Navigating Life with Type 1 Diabetes
My name is Alyssa and I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in 2013!
Welcome to my blog – The Pumptastic Scot! I am from Scotland and have been blogging about Type 1 Diabetes on Pumptastic Scot for around 8 years now. For my current diabetes management, I use Dexcom G6 and a Tandem T-Slim, using the control iq hybrid closed loop system. In my spare time, I love reading (mainly fantasy books!), playing netball, weightlifting, and crafting, and I work at a Scottish children’s charity focused on Children’s Human Rights.
I have been involved in the diabetes community ever since I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Initially, I joined Facebook group for teenager living with Type 1 Diabetes and met some of my closest friends, and from there I joined twitter and discovered the #gbdoc (Great British Diabetes Online Community). I started volunteering at Diabetes Scotland in their youth project, and all of these things helped me pluck up the courage to start The Pumptastic Scot!
From there I have been involved in many different projects that have changed my life. In the Diabetes Scotland Young Leaders project, volunteered at Diabetes UK Type 1 Events, IDF Europe Youth Leadership Camp, JDRF Scotland’s Discovery Days. I have been involved in campaigns, spoken at events, participated in projects and raised awareness of diabetes, all for one goal. I want everyone living with Type 1 Diabetes to live the life they want to live, as successfully as possible.
I don’t want Type 1 Diabetes to be a contributing factor in holding people back from doing what they want to do. And so we keep fighting. We fight for adequate healthcare for all. We fight for access to diabetes technology. We fight to get rid of stigma. We fight to feel less alone and ashamed in our condition. And we fight to be included in the conversations that affect us
Pumptastic Scot
The reason I originally created this blog was because I saw a lot of misconception about Type 1 Diabetes and wanted to help break the stigma I saw, and I did this by sharing my own story through the blog. Since the blog’s conception, I have changed the focus of the blog from only discussing my personal story to making it more about the wider diabetes context; new technologies and research, different charities, and events, and raising the voices of others in the diabetes community.
Who is this blog for? It is for people living with type 1 diabetes who want to learn more about their community. It is for health care professionals wanting to gain wider insight into their sector. It is for friends and family of people living with diabetes, wanting to gain more knowledge into what their loved one’s experience. It is for whoever wants to learn. I am passionate ensuring that every individual living with type 1 diabetes has the knowledge and confidence they need to self-manage their own condition, and that is what the aim of this blog is. So, enjoy, learn, digest. Subscribe below!
