never one to shy away from her diagnosis, redmond has been a tireless advocate for the type 1 diabetes community. “i always hoped to use my diagnosis as a platform for advocacy and education,” she says.
she even applies her artistic talents to promoting the cause in several ways. when she created a “dead pancreas club” cake for her fellow campers, it was so well received, they asked her to recreate the logo for t-shirts.
as for her newest piece, “i kept every single one of my omnipod pods since november and numbered them. the unveiling will be perfect timing since november is diabetes awareness month.”
her advocacy goes well beyond artwork and logos however. redmond is particularly passionate about eliminating the stigma surrounding mental illness for people with type 1 diabetes. “studies show that suicide rates and mental illness diagnoses are much higher for people dealing with type 1 diabetes.”
to that end she started a blog called dead pancreas anxiety, where she openly shares her own struggles with depression and anxiety in the hopes that others in the same situation will feel less alone.
while the banting connection may be distant, it serves as a personal reminder of how far type 1 diabetes treatment has come, she says. it’s neat to go to camp realizing that without him and charles best, none of us in the group would be here.”
*the pod has an
ip28
rating for up to 7.5 meters (25 feet) for 60 minutes. the personal diabetes manager is not waterproof.