Thriveabetes Conference & Community

30/08/2026

Diabetes Stories: Meet Mike
From Limerick, Ireland
Diagnosed age 24
Year of Diagnosis: 2012
Head chef of Michelin starred Restaurant

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Mike’s Story:

Diagnosed at 24 and told it was just "bad luck," I spent years ignoring my diabetes to focus on my culinary career, living with dangerous blood sugars between 15 and 25 mmol/L.

Switching to the Omnipod pump changed everything, finally bringing me back into a healthy target range.

Today, running a high-stress, Michelin-star kitchen means balancing intense leadership demands with constant food tasting.

While the daily tastings cause frequent blood sugar spikes, my pump allows me to make quick, precise insulin corrections on the line.

Diabetes comes with invisible bad days and hidden struggles, but as a leader, you put your best foot forward and keep driving.

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Thank you so much for sharing, Mike!

You can find Mike on Instagram as

29/08/2026

Diabetes Documentary Screening: Imperfect Days – 3 WEEKS 😁

🎬 Imperfect Days documentary screening
💬 Panel discussion about Diabetes, Lived Experience, Research, Clinical trials, and what comes next.
📱 Diabetes technology exhibition (with Abbott, Air Liquide/Tandem, Dexcom, MyLife Diabetes Care, Roche Accu-Chek & others)

📍Treacy’s West County Hotel, Ennis
📅 Saturday, 19 September 2026
🕥 10:30 am – 2:00 pm
🎟 Admission: €20 per person. Under 16s are free.

Places are limited, so please book your ticket in advance.

Book your place 🔗 http://thriveabetes.ie/diabetes-documentary-screening
Or via the link in our bio

26/08/2026

Anyone try this out yet?

Can you save Beta Town from king carb and the Carbanites, try out our new mobile game and win yourself a copy of Captain Lantus 4

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/captain-lantus/id6791206380

Children’s superhero books and resources helping families explain Type 1 Diabetes, insulin pumps and blood sugar confidence to young children. Type one awareness for children,

25/08/2026

I love diabetes tech but sometimes, sigh, just sometimes, it takes my sleep away.

First 24 hours with a new sensor… and apparently neither of us was ready for bed 😴
I had repeated low alerts during the night, which kept waking me up.

Very tired today after such a broken night.
But it helps knowing you know!

23/08/2026

Diabetes Stories: Meet Paul
From Antrim
Child Diagnosed age 3
Year of Child’s Diagnosis: 2019
CEO

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Paul’s Story:

"Your son needs to get to the Children's Hospital....RIGHT NOW!" That was the sentence from the on-call Doctor that changed my life forever. He had been drinking a lot of water...a LOT! This was why we called the Doctor.

7 days later and we were back home with needles, insulin, PDMs, test strips and our heads spinning! My wife and I were used to counting calories, carbs, protein etc due to weightlifting and gym use, I never thought for a moment we'd need to use those to keep our son safe and alive.

If we can take any positive thing from our son becoming Type 1 diabetic, it's that he was diagnosed very young. It's all he really knows and he doesn't remember life before his diagnosis. I've seen and heard stories of older children and young adults getting diagnosed and just refusing to accept their new life. It makes it easier when it's all Lewis has ever known and for that, I'm thankful in some small way.

Due to my sons Type 1 diagnosis, I also started up a diabetes tech business called Lewcose. If it wasn't for our son’s Type 1, I'd never have been able to help other parents manage their child's diabetes through our CGM light product.

For anyone reading this and needing some positivity just remember this...Diabetes doesn't control us, WE control diabetes!

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Thank you so much for sharing, Paul!

You can find Paul on
- Instagram as
- & Facebook as Lewcose

22/08/2026

THE FILM IS JUST THE START OF THE CONVERSATION.
After Imperfect Days, we’ll keep the conversation going.
Diabetes. Lived experience. Research. Clinical trials. And what comes next.

Join us in Ennis IN JUST 4 WEEKS!
Saturday, 19 September 2026

Imperfect Days 🎬
A Diabetes Documentary Screening & Community Conversation

Book your place → 🔗 http://thriveabetes.ie/diabetes-documentary-screening
Or via the link in our Instagram bio

19/08/2026

THRIVEABETES READS: A really thoughtful article from Renza Diabetogenic /

"STOP... IN THE NAME OF DIABETES"
Why do we sometimes overplay the positivity and downplay the negatives?

“Diabetes does stop us. And when we suggest that diabetes shouldn’t be a barrier and shouldn’t stop us, it erases the reality of day-to-day diabetes. And it can make us feel as though we are failing if we do need to stop and take time out.”

Read 🔗 👇
https://diabetogenic.blog/2026/07/17/stopin-the-name-of-diabetes/

18/08/2026

Do you ever pick up your phone to give yourself insulin…
…and get distracted by your WhatsApp messages? 😩📱

Then later you remember…
🤔 oh wait, I actually give myself the insulin?

Yep, that me 🙋 🙈

Gráinne 💙
DiabetesLife

17/08/2026

We’re huge fans of the show Hacks and so thrilled for this on both counts (fan of the show & fan of people with diabetes).

16/08/2026

Diabetes Stories: Meet Karen
From Galway, Ireland
Child Diagnosed age: 8
Year of Child's Diagnosis: 2022
Special Needs Assistant

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Karen’s Story:

Before Faye was diagnosed, she was drinking excessively, constantly in the toilet and was way quieter than usual.

When we arrived at the hospital, I had no idea how much our lives were about to change.

The early days were hard;
I was afraid to sleep or go anywhere without her in case she’d have a bad low.

Her hospital team were amazing for medical needs, but it wasn’t until a few months after diagnosis that I found online support for the practical things.

I vowed then I would always try to support other parents who found themselves in the same position. Both through my job and personally I have been able to do so.

Diabetes is like a gr***de into your family,
but we were lucky Faye understood everything from the beginning. She never complained about waiting for food until insulin kicked in or all of the needles.

While I do the majority of her care, she has two older brothers who help keep her safe and my husband is great too.

My logic is I will carry the burden of ordering supplies, changing sets/sensors, number crunching for her pump, deal with night-time alarms etc so she doesn’t have to, until she is ready to take over. I will only have to do this for years, but she will have to do it for the rest of her life.

While diabetes has taken away the carefree life our family had, it has taught us not to sweat the small stuff, has made Faye so resilient and has brought lovely people into our lives that we may never have met otherwise.

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Thank you so much for sharing, Karen!
You can find Karen on Instagram as insulin.girl