Type 1 Diabetes
Aryssah is an ambitious 21-year-old English major at Queen’s University, originally from Toronto. She has three main passions: her family, the Toronto Maple Leafs, and diabetes advocacy. Though being diagnosed with type 1 in 2009, she has stubbornly taken more onto her plate than needed; creating a busy, active lifestyle including eating healthy and participating in many sports.
While advocating for the Canadian Diabetes Association, she has completed many marathons, and most recently cycled across Canada from Vancouver to Halifax for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (in 23 days). Post Queen’s, she plans on pursuing a career in journalism broadcast, with a sports concentration. In her rare spare time, she volunteers with the Boys & Girls Club and writes for Patient Commando for you to enjoy!
Follow Aryssah on Twitter @AStankevitsch
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Team Players: Type 1 Athletes To Notice
By Aryssah Stankevitsch Being diabetic for only two years now, I’ve certainly noticed a difference in how I participate in sports. Prior to, I could be out all day playing hockey in the street, practicing my serve at my local community centre, working on soccer drills with my uncles. I was a bursting ball of energy—never ending. It was annoying to all others I’m sure, and for the most part I still am that way. However, I didn’t need to worry about what I had for breakfast, how much insulin I gave myself last night, or what my blood glucose Read More…
Tagged Under: aryssah stankevitsch, childhood, contributor, diabetes, early onset, featured writer, patient, patient story, stankevitsch, Type 1 -
Closing the Door on Cycle 4 2011
By Aryssah Stankevitsch Last time, the Cycle 4 Team and I were continuing our journey across Canada --remaining kilometers: 1500, Toronto to Digby. We had already completed roughly 5500 from British Columbia. So no sweat, right? Well, no. There was sweat. Plenty of it. Half of the reason cyclists always wear glasses is to avoid rain, bugs or dirt in their eyes. The other half is to avoid sweat splashing from the rider in front of them. No matter the amount of perspiration, the next few hundred kilometers would be extremely special for me. I was fortunate enough to bike Read More…
Tagged Under: activity, aryssah stankevitsch, cycle, diabetes, featured writer, patient, patient story, Type 1
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Health Through Movement: How Nia Changed My Life
By Jennifer Hicks After 34 years living in my body, I became an expert. That is, an expert in myself. And I discovered, after all that time, that I am not ordinary. I have Bipolar Disorder. But that’s not what makes me different. I am unique because of how I have learned to manage my Bipolar Disorder. Yes, I need medication and psychotherapy, but there’s more to my wellness plan. I use Nia – a fitness practice which not only offers me physical fitness, but also a lifestyle, and now a profession. Looking at me, you’d never know I have Read More…
Tagged Under: bipolar disorder, dance, featured writer, fitness, jenn hicks, mental illness, movement, music, nia, patient story, psychotherapy -
The Portrait: Simple Yet Complex, Obvious Yet Profound Part 1: The Eyes
By Judith Leitner Over a century and a half ago, most folks were unable to create tangible visual links to their past. Many lacked the financial means necessary for creating pictorial inventories of themselves and their ancestors through the pricey art of Portrait Painting. Then, in 1839, Charles Daguerre in France and Henry Fox Talbot in England both announced that they had devised a way to ‘fix an image’, and the art and magic of Photography was born. With its affordable price tag, this clever novelty would enable everyman to express a primal, compelling need: to record, share and Read More…
Tagged Under: Alzheimer, Alzheimer's, art, camera, creative coping, dementia, detachment, featured writer, intimacy, judith leitner, lens, metaphors for illness, photography, portrait -
How Did I Quit Smoking? I Just Stopped!
By Sean McDermott I had quit smoking so many times that I decided not to use that word ever again and now when I hear people say that they have “quit”, I take it lightly and reserve comment. Quitting is something that you fear, something that you approach slowly and have a plan in place to overcome the odds, the mood swings, the cravings. I had no such thing. Let me give you some untypical background. In July of 2007 I arrived at Toronto Western Hospital in an ambulance dying of Liver Disease from Alcoholism. I know this because they Read More…
Tagged Under: AA, addiction, alcohol, alcoholism, change, drinking, featured writer, how i quit smoking, liver disease, liver transplant, organ donor, quitting, rehbilitation, sean mcdermott, sobriety, toronto western hospital, transplant