Tired, toilet, thirsty, thinner - the four T's are embedded in the brains of those living with, or know someone living with Type 1 diabetes. For those who aren't aware however, there's a chance they might soon learn thanks to a musical theatre graduate from Newport.
Molly Bryant, aka cutenchronic on TikTok and Instagram, began documenting her life as a Type 1 diabetic over lockdown. The 23-year-old said she used to feel embarrassed about her disability due to the lack of public knowledge about it.
Type 1 diabetes is an auto-immune disease where the pancreas stops producing insulin, which is essential to live. There is no cure and, unlike Type 2 diabetes, it is a lifelong condition. While an estimated 4.9 million people have diabetes in the UK, those with Type 1 make up just 8% of that number.
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When Molly was first diagnosed aged 12, she recalled being scared of the life-long condition. She explained: "I lost a lot of weight, I went really skinny and was always thirsty and constantly tired and lethargic. Then I started going dizzy and started fainting quite a lot."
Molly's Mum began googling her symptoms and was quickly signposted to Type 1 diabetes, however her doctor believed the symptoms were just Molly going through puberty. "My mum had to insist to the doctor to test me for diabetes," Molly recalled.
Thankfully, after a urine test, the doctor confirmed her mother's suspicions and Molly was sent straight to the hospital. "I just remember lying in the bed in A&E and being told, 'You've got type one diabetes. I had to ask, 'What's that?' and they just told me it's a life-changing condition."
"I was quite scared, I was only 12," Molly explained. From the first insulin injection, however, Molly said she felt better "straight away" and quickly adjusted to her new way of life.
As Molly grew up she realised there was a gap in knowledge about the condition in society, leading to some uncomfortable encounters in public. When she first began drinking with diabetes, Molly explained how she struggled to manage her sugar levels and struggled with hypos on nights out.
Hypoglycaemia (commonly referred to as hypos) is when the level of sugar in someone's blood drops too low. It can be very dangerous and can cause a person to enter a diabetic coma. In some cases, it can be fatal.
Common symptoms of a hypo include becoming disorientated, blurred vision, feeling shaky and sometimes, appearing drunk through slurring of words or not making sense.
Remembering one of her first nights out in Cardiff, Molly explained: "I was still in the early days of me going out and I was just struggling to balance my insulin to alcohol ratio. I remember having a bad hypo and I was sat on the floor outside a club, and I couldn't get my words out, I was just slurring."
Unfortunately, bouncers confused Molly's hypo for her being drunk, and told her to move on from the area. Thankfully Molly's friends were on hand to help bring her sugars back up, however bouncers still refused to allow her into the club once her glucose levels had returned to a normal range.
It was situations like this which inspired Molly to begin documenting her disability. She said: "I just start posting a bit on Instagram during lockdown, I thought it was the best way to raise awareness because I was just sick of people saying silly things like 'Oh you can't eat that because you've got Type 1 diabetes', or 'You ate too much sugar as a kid.'
"These questions just kept reoccurring and it just made me realise that not many people know about Type 1 diabetes at all and I wanted to make a difference with that."
The 23-year-old scared realised she was in a position to tackle such assumptions.
"I started posting literally anything I could about Type 1 diabetes, whether it was answering people's questions, or showing how to put on a sensor, show what a sensor is, and the response was just amazing."
The 23-year-old manages her diabetes through finger prick blood tests, a Dexcom (a continuous glucose monitoring device), and insulin injections. Other methods of management include Libre sensors (a different type of glucose monitor) and insulin pumps). These sensors can send warnings to smartphones if Molly's glucose levels go too low or high.
"I'm so grateful for all this amazing technology," Molly explained, "My family are all so supportive, even my sister who is needle-phobic, and my grandpa he's been amazing as well, he paid to get me an Apple watch to see my blood sugar on my watch, rather than my phone to make life a little bit easier for me."
Molly explained how her content received comments from lots of people, both diabetic and non-diabetic. She explained: "I've had nurses commenting on my videos saying I've taught them so much. I've had people message saying they've got Type 1 diabetes as well and I've literally saved their life because they were so embarrassed."
Having just graduated in musical theatre in Essex, Molly hopes to pursue her career on stage and on screen and be the person she never saw in the media growing up.
"I think social media these days is horrible because all you see is photoshopped models, and everyone has that perfect body and they've got nothing wrong with them. You don't see everything on social media, so to see people, actual normal people who have medical conditions is important.
"I think it's why a lot of people my age with diabetes get a bit embarrassed because we look different from everybody else. And yeah, it's a hidden disability, but it's not really when you have sensors and pumps on and wires coming out of you. People don't understand and they think it looks strange.
Molly has noticed a change in perception in recent years, noting casting calls specifically asking for people with visible disabilities, and she hopes she can continue to be part of that change. "My aim is to get on Love Island," Molly added, believing it would be positive for her to continue normalising diabetes on screen.
More information about Type 1 diabetes can be found here.
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