Katie Bartel, Registered Dietitian

04/29/2026

Needless to say, I’ve had a real “bent out of shape” kind of week with my T1D, and it’s really starting to peeve me off!

Not one. Not two. But three – THREE – freaking kinked insulin pump cannulas in a bloody week!

The first two, no clue why it happened. They just decided to get all twisted up inside me. The third one, located on my belly, was likely caused by the core work I did yesterday evening.

For those of you who don’t know, when a cannula kinks in the body and gets kind of a hook nose, it means I get no insulin or a very small trickle of insulin.

If I’m home, it sucks, but it’s manageable.

If I’m not at home, like today, it really bloody well sucks. Especially, when I don’t have backup supplies on hand 🤦‍♀️

No word of a lie, in the 17 years I’ve been on a pump, I’ve had maybe a handful of issues with my infusions… I more than doubled my previous history in less than a week! What is going on??

And then, add to that a wonky Dexcom that has been giving me numbers significantly different at times also. For example, that 3.6 was actually 7.7.

What the holy hell?????

Anyone else having these issues?

04/26/2026

First outdoor bike ride of the season.

First outdoor bike ride with a tubed automated insulin pump.

Still a few kinks with the pump to work out. I’m happy there were no lows, but if this were a stop and eat midway ride, I would not be happy.

I like my mid-ride stop and snacks after all 😆

Huzzah for the sunny warm weather – finally!

😉

04/09/2026

Exhaustion.

Last night I was scheduled to change my insulin pump infusion, but I was exhausted, so exhausted that I opted to push the needle (or canula) another night.

I had enough insulin to get me to the morning, but not enough to get me through the entire day.

That’s ok, I thought. I’m working from home. I can skip the hair washing and limit the makeup application, allowing enough time to change the infusion in the morning and still manage a cup of tea before the workday.

I was not expecting or planning to go outside today. But, watching and feeling that beautiful sun shining through my windows all day, I couldn’t not go outside.

Dirty hair (day 4) and prominent wrinkles be damned 😆

This is T1D.

Some days we sacrifice. Some days we prioritize. All days we manage.

04/06/2026

Me walking the streets of Abbotsford, after Easter dinner last night, just so I could have dessert with my family.

This is T1D.

Also, despite partially growing up in this part of the city, and despite living at this house for more than a year, and running the streets of this house regularly, I still managed to get lost on my walk.

That’s a me thing!

Needless to say, my blood sugars were primed for dessert by the time I got back 😆

04/03/2026

I interviewed this chickie long before she was doing Wild S*x 😂

The TV show, that is 😉

your one-woman show last night, about your journey through science, as a woman, was phenomenal!

When I decided to leave the news business (11 years ago!!!), and go back to school, to pursue a career in the sciences, this woman was my inspiration.

She made science fun! And still, she’s making science fun! (Elephants and hyenas — w’oh!!!)

As a registered dietitian, I will ALWAYS stand on the side of science.

03/04/2026

Today was a BG beast that only a cup of tea and good book could appease.

Blood sugars were optimal when I first woke up, but within 30 minutes of waking they were surging up fast.

I checked the pump delivery, no links, no occlusions that I could immediately see. The site appeared ok, keeping in mind I can’t see under the skin, but overall, no obvious concerns identified.

The only culprit I could guess upon was the absolute crud sleep I had the night before – up every hour for long durations and when I was actively sleeping it was extremely light and easily disrupted. I felt utterly exhausted this morning.

Yep. Poor sleep does affect blood sugar levels, and unfortunately the automated insulin delivery algorithms aren’t yet smart enough to navigate that factor.

Finally got them down 5-6 hours later, but the annoyance held for much longer – thus requiring the need for reading and tea therapy.

Have you read this book yet? I’m about a quarter of the way through – so heartbreaking and disturbing, but so well written!

02/09/2026

Today I did something so completely out of my comfort zone – and I am so happy I did!

Improv at with a group of other T1Ds 🤩

It was incredibly fun and silly and was a great reminder that life doesn’t have to be so serious all the time.

Thanks Allie!! I will for sure be back again 😊

02/06/2026

Katie’s got a new T1D toy to play with – and already it’s changing my style.

I am so fortunate that has allowed me a trial of their 780G with SmartGuard AID pump.

It’s only been a few days, and I’m not yet sure how I feel about it overall.

Definitely larger (and heavier) than others, forcing me to switch out of my lightweight shorts in favour of tights for my workouts – just to keep my shorts from falling down!! 🙊

That said, it is easier to sleep with than other tubed pumps I’ve had – being able to store it under my hugging pillow and not having to worry about loss of sensor signal. Bonus!

More details to come once I’ve got more days under my belt. Stay tuned 🤩

01/30/2026

Did you know that Connect in Motion has a "platinum club" for us - ahem - grey haired folk. I think it's fantastic!! Our T1D population is aging, and we all need supports from childhood, straight up into seniorhood.

And guess what – I'm doing a virtual talk for the April Platinum Club!!! All about "Eating Well Through the Ages". If you want to come hang out, you totally should 🙂

Full details can be found here. Keep in mind times are in EST. So if you're in BC, like me, the start time is actually 4:30 PST

TITLE: Eating Well Through the Ages: Nutrition Strategies for Changing Bodies DESCRIPTION: As we age, our metabolism, hormones, and activity levels shift — and so do our nutritional needs. This session will explore practical ways to enjoy food while maintaining a healthy relationship with food and...

01/30/2026

Who wants to come and see me – in person!!! – chat all about managing sport with T1D? Plus, have a super wicked weekend with other T1Ds in BC 🤩

Check out this year's Connected in Motion Western Slipstream event!!!

Connect with the Type 1 Community at Western Slipstream in BC!Welcome fall with Western Slipstream, hosted at the stunning Camp Summit in Squamish, British Columbia—in the heart of the Coast Mountains! Camp Summit is known for its warm, rustic atmosphere and incredible outdoor experiences, making ...

01/28/2026

Having a baby is, no word of a lie, like running a marathon.

You work up a sweat, with your heart beat raging, you pant most of the time, completely out of breath, and all you want to do is stop for just a moment.

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐓𝟏𝐃, 𝐈 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐫, 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐫𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐧!

The day I delivered my son was a day that I had prepped and studied for over the course of 37 weeks. I had plans. I had intentions. I had directives.

My labour wasn’t long – just 3.5 hours, which is actually less time than it took me to run any of my marathons.

It felt like 10 hours.

My blood sugars crashed almost from the get-go. I was sipping juice every 20-30 minutes just to stay afloat. Going in, I didn’t want anything to do with an IV full of glucose – I’d heard negative things about the drip, and I wanted to avoid it. But after three hours, I was exhausted.

Exhausted from the exercise and exhausted from the lows.

With just 30 minutes left to go (I had no idea we were that close), I said: “Give me the drip!”

𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐓𝟏𝐃, 𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐓𝟏𝐃, 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐓𝟏𝐃 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫. The more prepared we can be the better. I do recommend having a plan going into all these stages, but I also heavily recommend being the flexible.

The goal is keeping both mom and baby healthy and safe throughout 😊

My live-only virtual 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐓𝟏𝐃 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩 𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐅𝐞𝐛. 𝟐 (that’s just six days away!!) will cover all of this. We will strategize how to manage blood sugars during the more insulin resistant stages (hello 2nd and 3rd trimester) as well as strategies for managing the more insulin sensitive times, including labour and delivery, immediately postpartum and weeks to months after, and breastfeeding too.

Attendees will leave with a wealth of resources and ample confidence moving into this next stage of their T1D lives.

𝐂𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐬 $𝟔𝟎 – 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐬, 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝, 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫.

The workshop is on Feb. 2 with two time options available – 4 pm or 7 pm PST. Duration is 90 minutes.

For more information: 𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨@𝐤𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐥.𝐜𝐚 𝐨𝐫 𝐃𝐌 𝐦𝐞.

* 𝘗𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘦𝘥, 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘐 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘳

01/26/2026

Pregnancy with T1D workshop – just one week before it goes live!

In this workshop, we will explore the changes of type-1 diabetes during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy, as well as labour and delivery, postpartum and breastfeeding.

For anyone who’s pregnant this time can be a whirlwind of emotions. Add T1D into the mix, and it is even more so.

Whether you are already pregnant with T1D, or are thinking about getting pregnant and have T1D – this workshop is for you!

There is no judgement and no fear mongering. This is a safe space to share knowledge and grow confidence.

DM me or email info@katiebartel.ca to sign up or get more information.

Workshop Details:
Date: Monday, Feb. 2
Time: 4 pm or 7 pm PST
Location: Virtual, live only
Cost: $60 – many extended health plans will cover the expense