LIVINGLIVING
continued over
then called me back on Wednesday with
the diagnosis.
What is a typical day like?
Every day is different. I run two businesses.
The first is AlpBase in the southern French
Alps which I run with my wife, renting
chalets and apartments and I also run an
another company, the AlpBase Academy,
which offers climbing courses for young
people with top instructors. The aim is to
be able to offer courses to all schools in
order to help get young people outdoors
more and beat the digital age. By doing
so we can help prevent Type 2 diabetes,
which is on the rise at least to some
extent due to people not doing enough
exercise. I'm also Blue Circle champion
for the International Diabetes Federation
and I do motivational talks at schools
when I always say, 'Move. Move away
from the screen!'. I travel a lot and all I see
is screen use. There's also far too much
sugar available and being consumed
everywhere. It is amazing how available
it is. Sometimes I'm out being an elite
expedition leader too. So no two days are
the same.
How does he manage his diabetes?
I'm on a pen and not a pump. I tried a
pump for a couple of years but kept having
problems. My HbA1c is at 6.8mmol. It is
not the best, but is pretty damn good
bearing in mind what I do and the fact that
I manage it with insulin pens and blood
testing. I blood test 5-6 times a day. I get
some sponsorship from a company called
LifeSystems for my climbing and they
designed a special bag for me. It means
I can test wherever I am, even hanging
in a harness from the side of a mountain.
I keep it around my neck with my blood
testing kit in it. My insulin pens are kept
separately in insulated pouches, which
I carry inside my jacket so the insulin
doesn't freeze as I am often in very cold
places. Whoever I'm climbing with -- and
I always climb with someone -- they have
backup kit in case I drop anything.
What specific kit does he use?
I use a fairly old Bayer Contour XT blood
test machine. It's robust, the battery lasts
forever, and it does not go wrong -- it even
works in the cold. However, I use AccuChek Softclix lancing device. It's
simple,
strong, small. It's also a bit old but it works
for me. Diabetes is complex, you can't get
away from that, but I keep my approach
to it simple -- I learned KISS (keep it
simple stupid) in the marines. I also use
two insulins, a fast-acting Humalog from
Lilly for which I use their Humapen and a
prefilled Novo Nordisk Levemir pen. I've
also used the Libre sensors and find them
very helpful as additional backup. I took
one up to 6400m but if you check the
small print it says it's only been tested up
to 3000m.
What about hypos?
I have a Diabeteze carrycase that I use
every day. It not only contains my meter
but my money, passport and I carry a
French brand of energy gel in case of
hypos. I also carry basic supermarket