Q&A with Dexcom Warrior
Ken Rowles
How have advancements in technology shaped your journey of living with type 1 diabetes?
Anyone being diagnosed today might find it hard to visualise or appreciate the progress that has been made to make living with diabetes a much more comfortable experience. For me personally, the most significant development has to be continuous glucose monitoring. Since 2015, I have experienced no significant hypoglycaemic events. This not only makes life more pleasant for me but also for my wife and anyone else around me. I have a custom range on my Dexcom G7 and find that I am within this range 90% of the time with an HbA1c between 5.5 and 6.3.
What’s something you do each day to manage your stress levels?
Look for the wonder in nature and the best in people: smile and say "Hi" to someone; and read a positive book.
You have some great hobbies, including golf and kung fu. What makes staying active so important to you?
My endocrinologist once asked what I did to remain consistently healthy as a person living with diabetes. I told him that it was a relatively simple 5-point plan, and within reason:
- Check blood glucose regularly.
- Take the right amount of insulin at the right time.
- Eat the right quantities of the right foods at the right time.
- Probably the most important - think right. Einstein said that the significant issues we face today cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them. If you want to change something, change your thinking.
- Exercise regularly to keep your body, mind, and emotions healthy. For me, I found Kung Fu and Golf are challenges that expanded as I grew in experience and rewarded me in similar proportions. Not only that, I join my wife for line dancing every week. You don't have to be an Olympic athlete; just do something, and within your own limits.
Congratulations on publishing a book! What inspired you to write it, and what is it about?
My wife and friends had urged me to write down the events and experiences I had while living with diabetes. They reminded me that it might be important for others to gain from what I knew. It is essentially a book about my life from pre-diagnosis to the early 2020's. It lists the tears, fears, fun and laughter found when working, learning, travelling, and spending time with family. In short, 40,000 words of encouragement. Copies have been downloaded; if there are sufficient sales at any point, it would be great to support the education of young children.
Who is your biggest inspiration, and why?
There are many people, past and present, who have inspired me in business, sport, and science, but the greatest attribute goes to my wife, Sarah. I might not be here to type these words if it were not for the way she has cared for and supported me. I have an engineering background, but Sarah introduced me to ballet and the arts. That encouraged me to look at life from a viewpoint other than lines and angles. She made me realise that, with some creative imagination, I was capable of more than I saw in front of me. Imagination is more powerful than knowledge. Albert Einstein again, definitely a close second.