Thanks Kerri! Six Until Me has been online since May 2005 and, since then, has been a point of reference for all of us in the diabetes community 💪 Kerri Sparling's blog was one of the most influential diabetes blogs ever written, so being interviewed here early on meant a lot.
Originally published on May 3, 2018.
I love when diabetes goes visible. Artistic interpretations of life with diabetes are my favorite, because they have this way of distilling diabetes down to a single image that says so much. I felt that way when I stumbled upon thediabeticsurvivor's Instagram account, where simple drawings spoke volumes about the emotional baggage of diabetes. I love how his work peels back a few of the basic top layers of diabetes and exposes the intimacy of life with chronic illness.
Today, TDS (thediabeticsurvivor) is visiting SixUntilMe to share a bit about his life with diabetes, his efforts to raise awareness for T1D, and his art.
Kerri: Who are you and could you share a little bit about your diagnosis story?
TDS: Hi there! I'm “thediabeticsurvivor” and I was diagnosed 18 years ago with T1D. I'm the only person with diabetes in my family, which always has been a surprise — everything was a novelty and I always had (and still have) a lot of support from my family. During the last few years I have been through big improvements in terms of my diabetes management: the pump and the Libre sensors. I'm a full-time Cyborg. Outside the diabetes world: I work as a Graphic Designer. Many years ago, I did my BA in Graphic Design and later an MFA in Fine Arts. I've always been drawn to the visual.
Kerri: What brought you to Instagram in efforts to share your work?
TDS: Thanks, that means a lot! To be honest, everything started as a kind of “game.” I'd been doodling for a while (always related to diabetes) and one day my girlfriend thought it would be a great idea to raise diabetes awareness by sharing them online. Instagram seemed the most natural way to do it. I also realized I could not find designs or illustrations that I really liked. Some were just too cheesy, or you could tell they were made by people who weren't living with diabetes — just repeating or reacting to things they'd read somewhere else.
Kerri: What's your favorite drawing so far?
TDS: Might be the “Everything is O.K.” displayed on a glucose monitor. I think it brings humour and also some release of the utopian idea of perfect blood sugar levels 24hrs a day.
Kerri: How do you want people to feel after seeing your illustrations?
TDS: Empathy 100%.
Kerri: What's next for you and your artwork?
TDS: I'd like to hold on to an idea that's always present in my work: that we — as people with diabetes — are human, and that we should be not so hard on ourselves.
This is an abridged version. Kerri Sparling's Six Until Me is no longer regularly updated, but her archive remains one of the most valued in the diabetes online community.