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Episode 26: From Diagnosis to Determination: Olly Green’s Type 1 Journey and 220km Challenge
78 Plays13 days ago
In this inspiring episode of the Type 1 Club Podcast, host Jacqui Kidman sits down with Olly Green, an 18-year-old from Melbourne who was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes during lockdown in 2020. Olly shares his powerful story — from the shock of diagnosis at age 14, navigating stigma and confidence, to finding his rhythm as an athlete and now setting an incredible goal: running 220km from Point Lonsdale to Portsea to raise awareness and funds for Type 1 Diabetes research.
This is a conversation about resilience, growth, and turning challenge into motivation. Ollie’s story is a must-listen for teens, parents, and anyone navigating Type 1.
💡 In This Episode You’ll Hear:
- Ollie’s diagnosis story during lockdown — and the sudden onset of symptoms
- The emotional and social challenges of being diagnosed as a teenager
- How stigma and confidence played into his journey of telling others
- His memorable supermarket hypo story (yes, involving an unpaid chocolate milk!)
- Lessons learned managing Type 1 while playing elite-level football
- The importance of routine, trial and error, and learning from mistakes
- Transitioning to the Omnipod pump and how it changed his management
- Preparing for a 220km run to raise $10,000 for Type 1 Diabetes research
- Advice he’d give to his younger self — and to other teens with Type 1
- His go-to hypo treatment (and a very strong opinion about red snakes 🐍😄)
🏃♂️ Support Ollie’s Run:
Ollie will be running from Point Lonsdale to Portsea (220km over 6 days, Nov 9–14) to raise funds for Breakthrough and Type 1 research.
🎯 Goal: $10,000
📲 Donate or follow his journey via Instagram: @OllyGreennn
(Link in bio for donations)
Further Resources:
Type 1 Foundation Website
Follow us on Instagram
Join the Facebook Group
If you'd like to share your story with our podcast listeners, please email: podcast@type1foundation.com.au
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction & Purpose of the Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
The content provided in this podcast is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
00:00:14
Speaker
Reliance on any information provided by this podcast is solely at your own risk.
00:00:23
Speaker
Welcome to the Type 1 Club. Whether you're a parent grappling with a new diagnosis, a caregiver seeking guidance, or simply someone wanting to learn more about type 1 diabetes, this podcast is for you.
00:00:36
Speaker
Together, let's dispel myths, break down barriers and build a community of understanding and resilience. Join us as we embark on this journey together, because with knowledge, compassion and support, no one should ever feel alone in managing type 1 diabetes.
Meet the Hosts: Jacqui and Ollie
00:00:54
Speaker
Welcome to the Type 1 Club.
00:00:59
Speaker
Hey everybody and welcome back to the Type 1 Club podcast. I am your host, Jacqui Kidman. I am a type 1 mum. I have a boy named Harvey who was diagnosed in June 2022 at the age of 7.
00:01:13
Speaker
seven I have today with me a guest who is based in Melbourne and his name is Ollie Green. I met Ollie at the Omnipod All for One conference that we attended in oh August.
00:01:28
Speaker
Trying to work out what the months were. So... Ollie, I'm really excited to have you on the podcast. Thank you so much for your time. Thanks, Jackie. Good to be here.
Ollie's Diagnosis Story
00:01:37
Speaker
Ollie, can I get you to obviously introduce yourself, but introduce yourself by sharing when you were diagnosed with type 1 and what you remember and just include some of those details around symptoms and age and stuff like that.
00:01:52
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, obviously my name's Ollie. I was, I'm 18 years old now. ah was diagnosed in 2020 October, like late October. I think the day that we got into hospital was the 26th of October. The only reason mum remembers that was because of my cousin's birthday as well. So yeah and so she always, she always mentions that. um But yeah, this I guess the symptoms were just, they were pretty sudden.
00:02:19
Speaker
Like for like a whole week, I was just going to the toilet and just having to drink heaps of water, you know, the classic kind of symptoms. And i think I've heard some other people say that they had symptoms going on for like a few months and um a few more weeks. But yeah, my symptoms were pretty full on straight away, straight just for a whole week. So um yeah, went to hospital went to a jp local jpe and he i think he gave us a urine test and then ah looked at that and think I think with a urine test they see a lot of sugar in the urine. so
00:02:53
Speaker
Yeah, that's the same thing that happened with Harvey. They were like, no bacteria, but there's high sugars. Yes. So, yeah, then GP said, um yeah, get him to the hospital. And the it was a bit shocking because I was sitting in, think i was sitting in the waiting room for a good two hours or maybe three hours because also it was it was um obviously lockdown. So they were all, hospitals were pretty ah jam-packed with everyone else with COVID and probably other people scared of other diseases that they might have but yeah I think my blood glucose was 33 when I had a finger prick in there so the funny thing is i was sitting in there for probably maybe an hour and a half then someone comes over to me and says uh we might give you a finger prick and then they see the finger prick and they're like oh we might have to get you in the uh actually get you in the hospital now so I'm like yeah thanks
00:03:46
Speaker
Okay, so they did they didn't do that as you came in? from what From what I remember, I'm pretty sure i was sitting in the in the waiting room for, yeah, about about an hour or maybe two hours, yeah.
Initial Reactions and Challenges
00:03:57
Speaker
Did the GP sort of say, look, I think it's like type 1 or like did you know what you were going like to the hospital for or?
00:04:06
Speaker
Yeah, that was definitely a bit of, it was definitely on our mind of being type 1 diabetes. I remember, I remember telling mum my symptoms and like telling her like that my bladder's shrunk and then she called because she called the GP because you couldn't really get into the GPs that quick that day, those days. So she called him and just told him my symptoms and then the um lady on the phone's like, oh, that's a symptom of um diabetes. And then my mum comes into in the lounge room and she's like, oh, it says it might be diabetes. And I remember looking at her and like kind of laughing because I was like, oh,
00:04:42
Speaker
comedy can't be diabetes. Like I'm going to the toilet and drinking a lot. what's that's How bad is that? So I remember just literally, I'm pretty sure I just brushed it off and said, no, it's not diabetes. But then, yeah, few days later, I think it diagnos so what was So what was your knowledge though of what type 1 diabetes was before that?
00:05:02
Speaker
Absolutely nothing. Absolutely nothing. i I remember the doctor coming into the little booth that we were in in the hospital and not even a room, it was like a booth. And he um he's like, yeah, we're pretty confident that you have um type 1 diabetes.
00:05:19
Speaker
And to be honest, i was pretty naive at the time and didn't really have too many worries going on. So like if you had to ask me what I was exactly thinking, i can't actually remember. So I remember searching up on my phone, like what's type one diabetes and like what's diabetes. And I think I remember reading so many like just side effects and,
00:05:43
Speaker
I don't know if this is a true fact still, but I remember reading it and saying you have your life expectancy reduced by 20 years. remember reading that and um that was a little bit shocking.
00:05:56
Speaker
But still at the same time, I think I just thought, yeah, this will pass and I'll overcome it. But yeah, this it's still around. So yeah, so it's interesting, isn't it? Because I remember Harvey, him...
00:06:08
Speaker
you know, like when we were doing the injections we were in a hospital and him kind of just thinking that was just once we go home, it's... Yeah, it's done. yeah It's done. And him kind of like us having to have that conversation with him by saying, you know, this is, we have to do this for the rest of your life. Like this is continuous.
00:06:23
Speaker
Pretty tough for a 14-year-old to like, A, like be diagnosed, B, through COVID where you're already kind of your social sort of circle is already being restricted and sort of limited.
00:06:39
Speaker
And then also then you do a little bit of your own research too and kind of see, oh, yeah, okay, well, your life expectancy is meant to be sort of reduced too. I wonder what those stats would be now given that, um you know, with the tech that we've got now. ah yeah. It would be interesting to see what those stats are.
Managing Diabetes and Social Impacts
00:07:01
Speaker
Because I would think that they would be um they wouldn't be as dramatic as what they were previously because you talk to anybody that was diagnosed, say, 30 years ago, yeah and they're talking about the fact that they used to just do two injections a day, they used to, you know, never have CGMs, you know, like a whole range of stuff that we way now do.
00:07:20
Speaker
have access to. So it's... To be honest, I don't even know if I searched up type 1 diabetes or just diabetes in general, because like that's completely different. So... Yes. And I think it's like, it it also just depends on how well you manage it.
00:07:34
Speaker
So how did you, how did you manage it, Ollie? 14. can, I've got a 13 year old. ah can't imagine how we always laugh in our family saying like, he'd be hopeless.
00:07:45
Speaker
Yeah. how How was that adjustment of leaving the hospital, telling your friends? I think um probably telling my friends and telling people was probably definitely the hardest, been the hardest thing for me.
00:07:58
Speaker
And that stems from like a lot of other things. So like I remember being in the hospital and ah probably at the time was probably one of my my better mates because, you know, in lockdown you're only just playing PlayStation. That's the only thing you'd do.
00:08:12
Speaker
in lockdown. So I'd be always on PlayStation with one of my mates and i remember texting him. i don't know if they were back at school at this point because we might've had a bloody, what, one week back at school and then. Yeah. Ollie's based in Melbourne for the, for the listeners. So we had the toughest lockdown. So we, you know, we would literally come out for two weeks and be back in again for four months. Wouldn't we? We'd be like, yay. No. Yeah. But then I remember telling my mate and being like really like secretive about it like I was like like I was I think I was being really there kind of was being a bit weird about as well because I was at the time I was very um unsure what my mates would think of me if I had told him I had that so I remember telling him a like you've got to guess like I was playing like a little joke with him I was like you got to guess what I have and he's like bro I've got I've no idea what you have you've been in hospital for three days what's wrong with you and then I'm like ah I've got
00:09:11
Speaker
diabetes and then saying that to him it was a little bit like weird and I didn't really know what he was going to think about it but I'm pretty sure he was fine with it at the time but yeah and then the funny thing is I then have the next day one of my other mates text me and he's like hey bro are you doing alright and like yeah i'm I'm fine why and he's because and then he texts me he's like I heard what happened i'm like how do you hear what happened So my mate has gone and told someone else when I told him not to tell anyone.
00:09:47
Speaker
ah He kind of dogged me in that, but that's right. he only he told two people. So yeah, but lucky he was one of my mates reached out and asked how I was, which was good. That's nice.
00:09:57
Speaker
Yeah. And it's also, ah they probably like your friends, are like like you didn't know anything about it beforehand. They're probably like, oh yeah, Ollie's got like, he's just been diagnosed with type one diabetes. What is that?
00:10:09
Speaker
Like, them trying to understand what that what that actually means. Yeah. It was pretty difficult. Like I'll say it now, like I don't, i say it now as in, it didn't seem that difficult. But at the time it was um pretty, pretty, pretty difficult for me.
00:10:24
Speaker
Cause yeah, I was my, um what stemmed from that was heaps of um confidence issues with myself. Like with um like telling other people, thinking that people would talk behind my back and say like, Oh, he's got diabetes. Like it's like a stupid thing.
00:10:42
Speaker
disease like saying like you're fat or something like that like the whole that all stigmas around what diabetes is um and I was quite obviously not fat at the time like I've I've never really had a time where I've been overweight so I don't really know why I thought people would say that or just in terms of like unhealthy like thinking it's linked to you know you've had a poor diet like you might be you know, you might not be overweight, but you might, yeah, be unhealthy.
00:11:13
Speaker
Is that what you kind of had that sort of you thought people would judge you in that ah aspect? And, yeah, and also just kind of I thought people wouldn't really want to like be like i was I was thinking about people wouldn't even want to be around me just because I had that and thinking it was like a burden on them for me having diabetes, even though it's just a burden on myself.
00:11:35
Speaker
Well, I don't let it have a burden on myself, but that's how i was thinking at the time. So yeah, i remember um remember probably still maybe even a year into my diagnosis, I think I had known the exact amount of people who knew about my diabetes.
00:11:51
Speaker
So that was... uh like I knew probably like it was like my close mates and then maybe a few other people from like footy and stuff like that and then kind of something happened where I realized where I had to probably tell a lot more people about it and this is before the beach incident but if I'm if I might go into the beach incident later but um Because one of my one of my friends, she she saw, because I would wear the Dexcom on my arm and because we do i do, I went to a sports school, so we would always do footy training at school and we'd always be wearing singlet tops and I'd have this on my arm.
00:12:32
Speaker
And because I didn't think it'd go anywhere else, I just kind of just sucked it up and just chucked it there and just hoped that no one would ask about it. But obviously everyone was seeing it and like if someone asked, I'd just like brush it off and say, oh, it's just a band-aid or something like that. So, and then one of my friends, she comes up to me, she's like, oh, do you have um have diabetes? I'm like, yeah.
00:12:53
Speaker
Because she had her, i think, grandma, ah diagnosed with diabetes, I think it would have been type 2 at the time. But she had the same thing. I think it was the Dexcom on her arm. So a few people who actually have knowledge in that space have, like, realised it is diabetes. So if they ask me if it's diabetes, I do generally just say yes. But if people ask me and say that's like a what's that little thing on your arm, I just say, oh, it's nothing at the time.
00:13:24
Speaker
But now I'll actually explain what it is. Right. Okay. It's interesting, isn't it? Because ah because i always wonder that with um the like yeah the visual. I think once you know what you're looking for, then you're like, oh, you know, it's kind of like, oh, there's another sort of diabetic or you know, like I'm always pointing out other kids. there's not I've only ever seen one other kid at basketball with Harvey and he's done a lot of sport, like he does a lot of basketball and I've only ever seen one other kid and that was just recently.
00:13:56
Speaker
wearing it wearing it like a CGM and um which was, yeah, and I obviously pointed out and Harvey's always like, yeah, whatever, Mum, like not a big deal. But like I just think it's that, you know, I kind of talk about it because I think like, oh, there's another kid and, you know, let's normalise this. That's how I'm kind of doing it.
00:14:17
Speaker
And then I guess you were probably the only one, you well, you don't even know if there was any other kids at your school that had type 1. I'm pretty sure I was the only one, yeah, at the time. I think I used to talk to um the nurse.
00:14:32
Speaker
I got pretty close with the nurse because I would always go in there to um jab myself.
Real-life Experiences and Lessons Learned
00:14:36
Speaker
um as I said jab myself, but like injecting to him. So she told me like the different types of diabetics that have come through and stuff like like maybe three or four in the last few years um there.
00:14:52
Speaker
ah think she maybe said there was one other, but that one might have been at a different campus with her diabetes at the time. Yeah. yeah But if if you wanted to go into the supermarket story, if I wanted to touch on that real quick, i had usually me and my mate on every Monday, we'd have what this thing, I don't think it's a thing anymore. It's called a mega chocolate latte.
00:15:16
Speaker
And it's like just a big dare ice coffee kind of thing. And probably not good for my diabetes, but I bolus correctly when I did, but not today, not that day I did.
00:15:28
Speaker
i um For some reason, I injected insulin into myself a lot earlier than what I usually do. So it was probably about good 30 minutes before I bowl this.
00:15:40
Speaker
And then I'm on the bus. I did it at home. I got on the bus, get to the place, like the Stud Park shopping center in the morning. And then i'm like, hey, mate, let's go get our...
00:15:52
Speaker
mega chocolate thing and I'm walking into Coles. As i open the fridge to grab the mega chocolate, I ah don't know what happens next. Like I genuinely open it.
00:16:05
Speaker
Everything starts like kind of flicker in my eyes. Like it's like I'm about to faint or like have a seizure type thing. And then apparently I just open the mega chocolate thing and just start sculling it in the coals. I haven't paid for it as well.
00:16:21
Speaker
I start sculling it and then I start to just walk away from my mate down these down this aisle and I start to apparently rip stuff out of my bag and like just start trying, subconsciously I'm trying to grab lollies from my bag because I knew they're in my bag.
00:16:43
Speaker
um But I start just because I'm like mindlessly just doing whatever I want. I'm just like taking stuff out of my bag and just trying to find these lollies. But I just am like so out of it.
00:16:55
Speaker
I then end up losing my AirPods, going to the self-serve checkout and just walking out while drinking the latte thing and just leave the coals while like basically falling over myself and no one like blinked an eye.
00:17:12
Speaker
And my mate didn't actually know that I had diabetes at the time. So he then is like, what is this guy doing? Is he just like being an idiot on purpose? Like, is he just playing an act?
00:17:25
Speaker
And then i don't know. I don't know how I saved myself. It it was probably the the drink that I had. It probably kicked in pretty quick, but I, um, I then I'm leaving the coals and like, everything starts to like kind of come back to me. I'm like, what just happened?
00:17:39
Speaker
Wow. And then. I don't know how I didn't fall over, how I didn't go into like, like I didn't pass out or anything. I just kind of went back to standing normally. I was like, I was a little bit shaky. I think I was shaking a fair bit. Like my hands are trembling.
00:17:55
Speaker
And then my mates looking at me, he' like, what were you doing? ma What, what happened? He's like, mate, you were so out of it. And then I'm like, I got this drink in my hand. like, how did I get this?
00:18:07
Speaker
And wow I was, I was completely out of it. And then I go and find my AirPods in the Coles. I don't think I even ended up paying for it. So that's the first thing I've ever stolen from Coles.
00:18:17
Speaker
So, um, yeah, that was, that was weird. And then ah then talked to my mate. I'm like, because then I eventually realized I looked at my phone and was like low, just like low. Oh, just low. So below two something.
00:18:35
Speaker
yeah um And I'm like, yeah, mate, I've got type 1 diabetes. And then I think his reaction was generally like, oh, nice.
00:18:47
Speaker
Isn't that interesting that you've, so you've obviously, to me, like you've obviously injected earlier because you're like, oh, I don't want to have to inject like on the bus or, and in front of like, I don't want to have to sort of subconsciously or not, i don't want have to tell this mate, but you've done it and it's hit.
00:19:02
Speaker
I can imagine that would be a lot of insulin you would need just to inject for that drink. um So you're like, you know, the earlier the better, plus I can, you know, like you can just go straight away into it and not have to discuss or stop.
00:19:14
Speaker
Which I thought was pretty smart, but no, it was not. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So a few lessons there, I guess. um But it's around, yeah, like you're having those, i mean, it sounds like you've told your mates and they just are like, oh, yeah, you know, like, so we I think we build up this, this with but we tell ourselves this story, build up this story in our head that, you know, people's reactions are going to be like, they're not going to accept me they're to think I'm weird. And I do know that there, as a teenager, I think you have that
00:19:47
Speaker
feeling anyway, just with anything, you know, like you're so conscious of, you know, just everything, let alone to say that you have some sort of kind of life-threatening kind of disease or this this illness that, um you know, you have to like take medication to, you know, life-saving medication every single day, you know, for several times a day, you know, that's kind of quite, I think that would be a tough thing as a teenager. Yeah.
00:20:15
Speaker
Yeah, 100%. All teenagers care about as soon as they're about 13, 14 is popularity and who who likes me and who doesn't like me. And yeah i had a few times where I was like that. I wasn't really too fixated on that, but yeah know adding in being diagnosed and what people would think about that, that was a pretty big, ah another hurdle to jump over.
00:20:37
Speaker
Don't ignore the four. The four early warning signs of type 1 diabetes. Excessive thirst, frequent urination, unexplained weight loss and extreme fatigue. If you or someone you know is experiencing these symptoms, don't wait.
00:20:52
Speaker
Get checked by a healthcare professional. Early detection and treatment are key to managing type 1 diabetes effectively. And how do you think, apart from those few scares, if you could consider kind of i know that you're still in you're you're still a teenager i guess you're 18 but if you could go back and give you know advice to 14 15 year old ollie do you think you could give yourself some advice of how you could manage that ah know what you mean but
00:21:27
Speaker
Honestly, i reckon the way I have built myself from 14, 15, I reckon I'd leave myself how I've done it. To be honest, I'd maybe change it in terms of footy because there's been a few times where I've missed – um like underperformed in in games because of my diabetes and I like didn't manage it before like pre-game.
00:21:55
Speaker
So maybe if I went back to that specific date, that footy game and say maybe bowl is the exact right thing for that, maybe, yeah, I'd say that. But I reckon I wouldn't ah wouldn't change much because the way that I've um dealt with it in the last year uh years I've definitely learned heaps and the way that I have um learned from that who I am let let's talk about that Ollie um so you're heavily into football you obviously went to a sports academy um like in high school yeah and so yeah like
00:22:32
Speaker
how How have you worked your way through to be able to, i know it obviously is trial and error again, yeah but what what have you learnt over the years we with managing sports? i think i think I think this is an important question because, well, I know myself as a parent, it has been one of the struggles of trying to help Harvey to to keep his levels a little bit better in range when he's at sports. Sometimes I get it right, sometimes I don't.
Diabetes Management in Sports
00:23:01
Speaker
I'd love to hear some advice or some of the things that have worked really well for you Well, I've, I was kind of lucky as in being at a sports school, the, um the routines were pretty consistent with a week to week basis. So,
00:23:18
Speaker
I can't remember what the exact times and everything were, but you know I i'd always say this with mum, I was pretty grateful for school with my diabetes because a routine, I believe, having a really strict and the set routine actually helps your diabetes a thousand percent more.
00:23:37
Speaker
like Every day, we'd have probably either two training sessions of sport in that day or maybe even three. And yeah, it was like they were we knew when they were every day. And I'd have the same breakfast most every like mostly every morning.
00:23:54
Speaker
But yeah, with sport, honestly, I think I just... I've been pretty... lucky in terms of not having too many highs when I come to sport and like you know my back in the day me my everyday life was pretty heavily active like I was probably doing like a lot of steps and a lot of like running and all that and you know when when you're pretty active your your levels are going to be a little bit more down than usual so
00:24:25
Speaker
Like I'd bowl this every day for the same lunch. I'd have, I literally had the same lunch for my whole schooling from year eight to year 12. I pretty much had the same lunch every single day. do you think that's because you had type one or just to make it easier? Or do you think that's just because it's easier? just Yeah. Just because it's easier. Like I'd have a, I'd have two sandwiches and And just whatever in that, it was either chicken and lettuce, ham and cheese, not all together.
00:24:52
Speaker
So just chicken and lettuce and then ham and cheese. There's two different sandwiches um or maybe just a ham sandwich or just a cheese sandwich. And then I'd have a ah either like a little tiny teddies packet or like just a chips packet.
00:25:06
Speaker
And that equaled to about every time basically 70 carbs. So 70 carbs I'd have for lunch every single school day. But yeah, to more answer your question on like sport and that, I don't i don't really know. Like I was kind of just – just like low and like I didn't really have to jab myself too many times in football sport and like to be honest at the time I probably even if I was high I wouldn't even go to the bathroom and jab myself I was too embarrassed to do that or conscious to do that so but definitely in the last two years I've had to really hone in on like game day stuff when I'm actually like playing on the weekends not not just during the week like
00:25:47
Speaker
I make sure the whole day before I'm eating the right foods and making sure that my levels are pretty consistent the whole day and, I guess the hard thing is with that, like it's also trial trial and error. So you can get a a meal right one week and then completely mess it up the next week. so And then when you're high in the morning and knowing you have a game that same day, it gets you like mentally stuffed up because you're like, don't be high for the rest of the day because then you're going be shit for the game because then you're going die. So you notice that like if you're high, you notice a difference in your kind of
00:26:26
Speaker
performance Yeah, 100%. Yeah. I think back to footy and when I was first diagnosed, my first game would have been with diabetes would have been 20, 21, 21. twenty twenty one ah very much like about March or April yeah and so that's about six months post diagnosis and I remember my first game i was probably about 21 22 entire game and I think I cramped in the second quarter when you should really only cramp in the last quarter or the well maybe the end of the third in a game like that
00:27:03
Speaker
And the only reason I was like that was because I probably didn't bowl this right before and then realised I was going high maybe an hour but and a half before the game but didn't want to bowl this because I didn't want to anyone to see it.
00:27:15
Speaker
do Do you think that like a little bit of adrenaline or anything comes into play in those levels too or not not so much for you? I reckon it does. I reckon it does. the um Like a few games last year when I had finals coming up, like I was a little bit more...
00:27:31
Speaker
higher than what I was usually. Yeah, definitely when it came to like a final. JARED BOWEN Harvey and I went and watched the last quarter of Ollie's football game on Saturday. Was that Saturday? And I know that your mum was on the sidelines having a little look at your levels.
00:27:46
Speaker
Do you even check your levels through the game? Because it's, I mean, it's like a two and a half, two and a half hour game, theoretically. Like, are you checking any of that? Or is are you relying on like your mum or someone else to do that?
00:27:59
Speaker
or are you in denial? ah No, mum's definitely great with um checking on on the sidelines. If the Dexcom actually connects, she can see it.
00:28:10
Speaker
So when I'm off on the bench, she can probably see it better because my phone's right on the bench. A player wouldn't normally have their phone on the bench? No. No? So you've got it there? Yeah, I've got it there on the bench. I've got a like a little bag that's got like a muesli bars, snakes, and then my PDM for my Omnipod and, yeah, my phone as well. Yeah. Yeah.
00:28:30
Speaker
yeah Like, to be honest, i've I think I said this to someone the other day, i think footy is the only time where I'm not thinking about my diabetes, which is a good thing and a bad thing.
00:28:41
Speaker
Yeah. Because I probably do have to check it at a half time, quarter time, and three quarter time. So I actually know if I'm going high or going low. But um sometimes I do forget.
00:28:52
Speaker
And sometimes I'm onto it. Sometimes I can tell in my own body how I'm feeling out there. If I feel like i'm a little bit more lethargic or my brain's a bit foggier, if I'm cramping a little bit easier than i am thinking, am I high or low? So I'll go off and then have some lollies and stuff.
00:29:09
Speaker
What is your sort of like sweet spot of the number that you want to go into a game sitting at? ah ah Definitely between like yeah six or seven. All right.
00:29:19
Speaker
Okay. Five to seven. I've noticed that when I come up from a low, I'm the most energetic i have i'm ever I've ever been. Like I'm literally running around like a like a little rabbit. Like it's quite insane how like much energy I have coming up from a low. I think it's also just a sugar kick as well. Yeah.
00:29:38
Speaker
yeah I drop pretty quick after about five minutes. But yeah, I try and... I try and have a few little snakes here and there to get a sugar hit and then also to save myself from going low.
00:29:51
Speaker
Yeah. Sometimes I do go low during games because you are doing, you know, physical activity and all that. so yeah Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We haven't mastered that sweet spot yet for Harvey. Like he tends to kind of jump up high. Yeah. We've had a couple of times when he's been perfectly in range, but I think, yeah, it's still, he still has to have s sips of like Gatorade or something throughout. Yeah.
00:30:13
Speaker
just to keep him up a bit. And we've definitely had the times where he's kind of done this like hand signal. he does this dizzy, like one finger up spin around tells me that he's dizzy and like he can't, you know, it's probably more through training than a game.
00:30:28
Speaker
But, yeah, we're still working on kind of that, mastering that. Much easier since being on the Omnipod 5. Much easier to manage. But definitely, yeah, we've had some, yeah.
00:30:40
Speaker
that probably is one of our challenges is the sports stuff. And he's very, yeah, he's really, really, really active, which is great. Like it's fantastic. But yeah, it is a bit sort of tricky with that.
00:30:52
Speaker
When did you move on to the pump? It was sometime last year. I think it would have been, i actually can't tell you how what month it was, but it would have been about middle of 2024. Yeah.
Technology and Humor in Diabetes Management
00:31:04
Speaker
ye Yeah. I was on the Omnipod Dash. I never was on a, on a cord pump. I never wanted to go on that because I thought playing sport it was going to be really inconvenient.
00:31:15
Speaker
And because at the time I was at a sports school, they told me that I'd have to take the pump off every time I go to footy training at school. So I would be in English class, go on a footy, take the pump off, and then I have to put the pump back on. after Then I have to go to like math.
00:31:31
Speaker
So it'd be a complete pain. So I never went on the cords, but then obviously Omnipod, came out and my diabetes educator, he said, yeah, give this give this a crack. It's pretty good. so And yeah, I think like even still, like if we're going back to like telling people about my diabetes and stuff, I was pretty ah pretty hesitant to show people the little phone that I had with the dash But like I became pretty light after it. Like I think me and my mates all would joke about it and stuff. like
00:32:04
Speaker
Some of the reactions I've gotten from the Omnipod Dash, if you remember like the small, the Omnipod 5 is, you know, it's got like the bigger phone now and then the Omnipod Dash was a lot smaller than that. And people would look at me and go, why do you have a burner phone? Why do you have a track phone? Yeah.
00:32:20
Speaker
Why do you have an iPod? Why why do you have an Android? I'm like, I just shake my head and just tell them it's just not that. so But, yeah, one of my mates said um he called it a trap phone once. So every time someone asks me what's that, I just tell them it's a trap phone and then they just laugh. So it's a little joke.
00:32:39
Speaker
What does that mean? A trap phone. Am I too old to get that? A trap phone, if anyone... would think what a trap phone is, is like your little, I probably shouldn't explain what a trap phone is, but it's, it's, it's not what, it's not what it is. Of course, it's not actually a trap phone.
00:32:58
Speaker
Yeah. I'll i just, I'll just leave it at that. thank you Okay. All right. Um, I'm sure some people will get that and I, obviously it's gone over my, my, um, my head.
00:33:11
Speaker
So, Ollie, you're doing, you're obviously very, very active, very into your sports and stuff, and then you've set yourself a little challenge for the end of this year or towards the end of this year, November.
Raising Awareness and Education
00:33:23
Speaker
you want to us about what you, because footy season are will be will be over, and so obviously you don't you don't like to sit still. so So tell us what what what are you doing in in November?
00:33:36
Speaker
So on November 9th to the 14th, I'm going to be running from Point Lonsdale to Portsea Front Beach, which is all around the bay um in me in Victoria. So I'll be, think it's 220 all up and I'll be running it over obviously six days. I think the most Ks in one day is 44 and the least is 28. yeah.
00:34:01
Speaker
so Yeah, it's ah it's going to be a big um big run. I've never actually ran more than 10K straight in my life. so Oh, wow.
00:34:13
Speaker
I'm setting a pretty big standard for myself. I've definitely ran more than that in like footy games and stuff, but I went like my literally my first 10K straight just run along the beach was – I think in May this year, and that was my longest run. So I'll definitely be ah digging deep.
00:34:34
Speaker
And why are you doing this? ah Just to raise money for type 1 diabetes with um breakthrough T1D. So yeah, we'll go all the money. We'll go to research and different tech research as well for making diabetes and type 1 diabetes lives a little bit easier.
00:34:52
Speaker
And we'll put all the details of that in the show notes as well. But um your your target to raise, is it $10,000? Yeah, hopefully raising, trying to raise $10,000. So, yeah, that's the goal and honestly hopefully you can yeah yeah we can smash that goal as well. so This will be you putting yourself out there and telling everybody that you have type one and that you're raising money. So footy clubs,
00:35:20
Speaker
yeah every yeah you know other organisations and stuff, which is so fantastic. Harvey keeps asking me when you're doing your run because um he's he's keen to come and join doing you for a stretch.
00:35:34
Speaker
he's He's very good at setting a pace, so we might have to tell him to back it off a bit. Yeah, well, if he joins me in around Parkdale, think that would be the ah the third day.
00:35:46
Speaker
So along that um Bayside area. So don't know how quick I'll be going, but um I'll try to keep up with him. Well, he's very excited about it because we're also following another type one. I don't know if you're following T-type run, if you've seen him brooding Sargent.
00:36:05
Speaker
Yes, I have. He's trying to break a world record. So every day I'm showing Harvey his achievements. And so, yeah it's very, very exciting to see what people are doing to raise not only money but also awareness on ah what it takes for not just, i't I don't think you see all the work that,
00:36:26
Speaker
Well, I know that people don't see all the work that goes in the background just in a general day of a type 1 diabetic, but let alone adding in that you're running, you know, like, you know, 20, 25 plus Ks or even playing a football game or a basketball game, all the little things that happen in that need to happen.
00:36:45
Speaker
you know, in the background or pre or post or, you know, that sort of stuff. So I think it's really great that we start to just sort of shed light on you know, that on this stuff that, yeah, how it's so possible and it's so amazing. But, um yeah, it's it's a bit of work to kind of get you yeah you're even, you know, to the to the start line.
00:37:10
Speaker
Yeah, and I think on that with just like, educating people that don't know about it like I think it's it's pretty hard because it's not a it's not in condition that can be given out us like explained in five minutes like there's so many different other factors that you have to um if you explained it vaguely they'd be like oh that's not that bad at all but yeah there's a lot of um different different uh things that have to come into play and To be honest with you, when people ask me, I try and give them a vague description, but I rarely try and give my ah all my effort into explaining it because sometimes do they they just generally just don't really
00:37:49
Speaker
listen, but you know there are people for the people out there that actually do want to hear about it and want to learn, then that's exactly who I'm going to target. So it's it's a hard to it's a hard condition to take to teach.
00:38:01
Speaker
but feel bad for the all the yeah endocrinologists and diabetes educators that have newly diagnosed patients because it's that you just have to bombard them with information. So it's interesting, but hopefully it's a little bit 1% more than what it is the next day or the previous day in knowledge. so if that made any sense what I just said, but.
00:38:23
Speaker
I think it made sense. I think it's great, Ollie. I think it's really good how you talk so openly as an 18-year-old boy, like you're, and I know that in terms of, you know, you getting to meet Harvey, you know, who's eight years younger than you, but still kind of going through the same thing and just watching you two kind of together on the weekend and how easily you just both you know, were able to, you were able to communicate with him. And i think it's important for these kids to have role models and people to look up to you. And you've already got one with Harvey, even if you wanted it or not. But that's just as a, as a parent, I think that's just all we want. We just want our kids to feel like they can, you know, that they've got allies and, and people that they can sort of reach out to if they need to.
00:39:14
Speaker
um and for us to also as parents to see that there are, you know, like that that that these kids are thriving. So I'm really grateful and um that I got to sort of meet you and and your mum at the conference in um the other weekend.
00:39:28
Speaker
And I'm really, really grateful for this conversation as well. I like to wrap up each podcast with just one last question, unless you've got anything else you want to quickly share. ah I'll just quickly touch on what you just said before with like Harvey. I think it's great.
00:39:44
Speaker
I think Harvey is a great start for me as well because I definitely want to be a kind of role model for, I guess, young young kids who are going through the diagnosis. And, you know, with me, I've learned heaps about myself and different ways that I could have managed it. But as I said before, I don't really want to change that because it's something I want to – I'm glad I went through.
00:40:07
Speaker
um And I've learned all that. So, yeah. Yeah, well done. I think it's so good, Ollie.
Conclusion and Contact Information
00:40:13
Speaker
So my last question is, what's your go-to treatment? I think it's lolly snakes. 100% it's lolly snakes. I'm a big fan of the Allens.
00:40:24
Speaker
They're very popular in the type 1. I think maybe the type 1 community is keeping Allens alive. Yeah, I think we are. And I always have arguments with my mates about snakes and that because I've said i said this to them before.
00:40:36
Speaker
Once I've, cause in, in Allen's, I'm getting technical here in Allen's snakes, the, there's always heaps of red ones. There's always heaps of red ones. And I've, you know, in the last five years, I've had about 1800,000 red snakes and I'm absolutely sick to death of red snakes. And I always tell my mates, I'm like, the top five snakes are,
00:41:00
Speaker
Yellow, green, the purpley-coloured ones, orange. Oh, yeah, orange, yep. And then red. Red's last. And my mates always disagree with me because they're like, red's just the best flavour. I'm like, nah.
00:41:14
Speaker
If you've had it that many times as I have, you'd realise that red is not the best flavour. I'm pretty confident on that. Oh, that's very funny. So it's the yellow. The yellow is your favourite? Yellow or green, yep. Okay. I love yellow or green, yep. Ollie, thank you so much for your time. worries.
00:41:30
Speaker
We hope that everybody has enjoyed this episode. I mean, we could keep talking. There's so many questions and stuff that I have, um but we will keep following along on Ollie's journey.
00:41:41
Speaker
I'll put everything about Ollie in the show notes. Ollie, do you just want to quickly share your, how people can keep in touch with you? i've got an Instagram account, which is just Ollie Green with three Ns.
00:41:53
Speaker
Thank you once again, everybody for tuning into the Type 1 Club. We hope that you have got a lot of, value out of this episode I know that I have and we look forward to bringing you another episode in two weeks time bye-bye
00:42:09
Speaker
thank you for tuning in to the type one club podcast we hope you enjoyed today's episode and gained some valuable insights if you like what you heard be sure to subscribe to our podcast on all the platforms so you never miss an episode we also appreciate it if you could leave us a rating and review it really helps us to reach more listeners just like yourselves For more updates, behind-the-scenes content and to join the conversation further, follow us on Instagram and Facebook, the Type 1 Foundation, or visit our website, type1foundation.com.au.
00:42:43
Speaker
Thanks again for listening and we will see you next time on the Type 1 Club.