One of the things I’ve learned through The Long View – Living with Type 1 Diabetes is that the longer you live with Type 1, the more you realise that managing Type 1 Diabetes isn’t just about insulin, blood sugars, or technology. It’s about identity, resilience and community.
In this episode, I spoke with Candyce Norris Jenkins, a life coach, advocate and mother living in the US, who has lived with Type 1 Diabetes for over 30 years. Her story is powerful, honest and deeply familiar to many people who are living with Type 1 Diabetes, especially those diagnosed young and dealing with adulthood and parenthood.
Candyce’s work today centres on supporting mothers who have Type 1, mothers of children with Type 1 and women trying to balance care for others with care for themselves. But getting there was far from straightforward.
A diagnosis that nearly came too late
Candyce was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the age of 12. Like so many stories we still hear today, her symptoms were initially dismissed as flu. Extreme thirst, weight loss, frequent urination – all the signs were there, yet it took persistence from her mum to get the right diagnosis.
By the time Candyce was admitted to hospital, her blood glucose was dangerously high. She spent a week in intensive care and was then sent home with injections, finger‑prick testing and very little emotional or practical support.
At that point in time, there were no pumps, no CGMs and very little understanding of what it meant for a child to be living with Type 1 diabetes.
Like many children with Type 1, Candyce felt isolated. She was the only one in her family with diabetes, one of the only ones in her school and often had to manage her condition in private or hidden spaces.
Teenage rebellion and the cost of denial
As Candyce entered her teenage years, diabetes became something she resisted rather than accepted. She pushed back by not checking blood sugars, skipping insulin and pretending diabetes didn’t exist.
In her mid‑twenties, Candice began to experience complications. One day, driving to work, her vision blacked out. She was diagnosed with diabetic eye disease. Kidney failure followed. Eventually, she required two transplants.
It’s a real reminder that managing Type 1 Diabetes isn’t something we can opt out of without cost – especially when we’re left unsupported, unheard, or feeling alone.
From burden to gift
Today, Candyce refers to Type 1 Diabetes as her gift. That may sound surprising, but she says diabetes became the thing that pushed her to connect, advocate and support others who felt just as lost as she once did. As a child, she longed for someone who understood what she was going through. As an adult, she realised she could become that person for others.
Through coaching, speaking and community work, Candyce now helps women who are:
- living with Type 1 Diabetes
- raising children with Type 1
- newly diagnosed as adults
- struggling with guilt, isolation, burnout or fear
Her work fills a gap that so many people don’t even realise exists until they’re searching for it and then often can’t find it.
Motherhood, diabetes and the oxygen mask theory
Candyce is a mother of two and one of the most powerful ideas Candice shared is what she calls the oxygen mask theory.
If you’ve ever been on a plane, you’ll know the instruction: put your own oxygen mask on before helping your child. The reason is simple – you can’t help anyone if you can’t breathe.
Candyce uses this to describe life with diabetes and motherhood. When women with Type 1 are running at “50% oxygen” – exhausted, burned out, under‑supported – they may survive, but they don’t thrive. Thriving happens when your needs are met so that then you have something left to give.
This is an idea that resonates deeply with so many parents living with diabetes, who often feel guilty for prioritising their own health.
Thriving: confidence, clarity and control
Candyce’s coaching model focuses on three essentials:
- Clarity – understanding where you are and what’s realistically possible
- Confidence – rebuilding trust in yourself and your body
- Control – not perfection, but ownership and self‑direction
This isn’t about rigid rules or medical advice. It’s about recognising that managing Type 1 diabetes happens alongside real life: work, children, exhaustion, stress and competing priorities.
Why community still matters
Throughout our conversation, we kept returning to the same theme: isolation.
Even though there are millions of people worldwide living with Type 1 Diabetes, it can still feel incredibly lonely – especially for parents, mothers and women balancing multiple roles. Finding people who understand your life, not just your diagnosis, can make an enormous difference.
That’s one of the reasons I started this podcast. If you’re looking for the best Type 1 Diabetes podcast, my hope is that The Long View offers something grounded, thoughtful, and real – stories that reflect life as it actually is.
A message for anyone struggling
Candyce’s advice for anyone who isn’t thriving is simple but powerful:
It’s okay to feel how you feel.
You’re not broken.
You don’t have to do this alone.
Help may come from community, coaching, shared stories, or simply hearing that someone else has walked this road before you – and survived it.
You can listen to the full episode with Candyce Norris Jenkins on The Long View – Living with Type 1 Diabetes wherever you get your podcasts.
If you have a story you’d like to share about living with Type 1 diabetes, I’d love to hear from you. You can email me on thelongviewt1@gmail.com.
You can listen to Candyce’s episode on Spotify here: Ep 8: Candyce Norris-Jenkins – Confidence, clarity, control and Type 1 – The Long View – Living with Type 1 Diabetes | Podcast on Spotify
And on Apple here: Ep 8: Candyce Norris-Jenkins -…–The Long View – Living with Type 1 Diabetes – Apple Podcasts
Or click “Podcasts” at the top of this page.