Built to Endure
an interview with the creator of Diabetic Armour
It wasn’t an ad, or even the algorithm that introduced me to Nadia’s work. A friend DMed me a viral reel of a type 1 diabetic artist who was creating her own “diabetic armour.” I knew I had to order one and eagerly awaited its arrival in the mail.
I had the pleasure of interviewing Nadia about her process. I told her I had to wait to switch my Omnipod from my stomach to my arm before I wore the armour (you change your insulin pump’s position every three days) and she told me she’s working on waistband armour next. I told Nadia that waistband armour would be a perfect look for the Renaissance Faire (because I’m really cool).
Note the Canadian spelling of Armour, which I think is better, along with their superior healthcare. “If I was diabetic without coverage, I’d be on the street,” Nadia tells me. Her healthcare costs per year are what mine are monthly. God Bless America!
SB: How do you feel the reception has been?
NJ: It’s been overwhelmingly positive. I had this idea a few years ago and I was just too busy to go through with it, and one day I just sat down and decided that today was the day I’m going to experiment with some wire. I posted a silly little video about it and immediately got responses from people about how much they loved it and how much they would appreciate having something of their own to boost their confidence. The idea came from my own insecurities about wearing a medical device that makes my medical condition visible.
SB: I think visibility is such a double-edged sword because having my medical devices visible has sparked a lot of really cool conversations and had me connect with other diabetics in public. But then at the same time, like yesterday at work, one of the guys saw my device and he goes, “oh, is that for diabetes?” And I go, “yeah,” and he goes, “oh, well, actually my dog has diabetes and the diabetes made him go blind. Isn’t that so funny?” And I go, “Oh, cool.” Like, what am I supposed to say to that?
NJ: I think the same thing. I love being able to connect with other diabetics, but I definitely feel a different type of way when it’s other people. I’m okay educating people, but in becoming diabetic, I didn’t sign up to be a teacher. I’m fine with people being curious about things and I’m not going to respond negatively if people approach me out of curiosity. But I think people don’t realize that you don’t get to choose whether you’re diabetic.
SB: If you don’t mind sharing, what is your journey with type one diabetes? I was only diagnosed a little over two years ago. It was life changing, a real shock well into adulthood.
NJ: I kind of got a bit lucky in terms of finding out because my mom had just been diagnosed with type one a few years earlier, and she was diagnosed at 45, I think. I started showing the same symptoms she did where I was always really thirsty and had to pee all the time and was always exhausted, and so on a whim, I asked her if I could use her blood testing, little finger prick, and it was at like 30 mmol/L [540 mg/dL in American units], so then we’re like, oh, great. I guess we’re spending tomorrow in the ER. I’m lucky I didn’t, like many people, get really sick… I still have moments where I forget I’m diabetic, and it’s been six years.
At 19 I was surrounded by people that were always making jokes like “Oh, if you eat this, you’re gonna get diabetes” or whatever. At the time I didn’t think anything of those jokes because I wasn’t diabetic before. I knew they were insensitive, but I didn’t fully know. I regret not not thinking further into it but now I can really relate to how harmful those comments can be.
SB: I love to fall asleep to old sitcom episodes, and there’s so many jokes about diabetes. It’s so crazy, how much of it is truly just rooted in fatphobia. Like “I can make this joke because I associate this body type with type two diabetes. I associate this with certain body types so I can be mean about it.” And it’s just like, hang on, hang on. Can we not do this about a disease?
NJ: Yeah, and I think it also, it really dilutes the complexity of it and how dangerous it can be. Most people I talk to really don’t realize that every day I’m fighting for my life and every day I have to physically put in effort to be alive. There’s a real lack of education, I think, because of how desensitized people have gotten to these type of jokes.
“I’m not fragile because I’m diabetic, I’m stronger because of it. I think armour is a symbol of strength,” Nadia tells me.
From Pixel Bunni Studio’s Instagram (@pixelbunnistudio):
“[The above] diabetic armour was a custom [piece] made specifically to match a prom dress. She sent me photos of the dress so I was able to colour match the particular tone of purple and asked for stars to be included in the design.
When I received these photos from @dorieextraandordinary I was quite literally in tears. Not only were the photos and outfit absolutely gorgeous but the omnipod was highlighted in all of them. It made me think of all the times I’ve turned my body to the side in photos to keep it hidden and it makes me so happy to see that this narrative can be changed.”
I LOVE this!!!!