'My diabetes was a taboo subject in our house for so long' with Abi Woodliffe-Thomas

When you meet Abi Woodliffe-Thomas, you meet a thoughtful, articulate, intelligent and confident 25-year-old. But for more than a decade, Abi carried her type 1 diabetes in secret as her ‘biggest insecurity’ - hiding it from everyone in her life.

Abi went through a traumatic diagnosis at the age of just 12, and the experience immediately plunged her into intense feelings of shame around the condition. Still in the hospital bed in recovery from DKA, Abi was also told she would have to give up her beloved acrobatic gymnastics, which she was already devoting 25 hours to each week.

Determined to prove the nurses wrong, Abi returned to training the very next week, and channeled every emotion into her sport. She went onto compete at an international level, all the while keeping her condition out of sight.

Now retired from gymnastics and working as a performance nutritionist, the weight of what she’d been carrying for so long was released when Abi wrote an article about her type 1 diabetes for her friend’s website.

Since her diagnosis Abi has overcome so much, both professionally and personally, and is tentatively hopeful about walking a different, more open path towards acceptance - one conversation at a time.

‘I do still find it difficult to say the words, oh, I'm diabetic or oh, I've got diabetes. But I think it's really helped talking about it and I think life would look very different if I'd spoken about it from the beginning. But it was my way of protecting myself. I know now that anything is possible, even with a pancreas that doesn't work.'

CONNECT WITH ABI: Say hi to Abi on Instagram. Take a look at her professional profile, Happetite.

JOIN THE TYPE 1 ON 1 COMMUNITY: We’ve got an Instagram account! Come and say hi @studiotype1on1.

SPONSOR MESSAGE: Thanks to my episode sponsors Dexcom.

Pioneer and leader in Real-Time continuous glucose monitors, Dexcom's goal is to simplify and improve diabetes management for every possible person with diabetes.

They have a choice of systems, so you can find the right one for your lifestyle at https://www.dexcom.com/