In the past week, my diabetes has gone all Jekyl and Hyde on me. Ideally a diabetic should keep their blood glucose as close to 4mmol-7mmol as possible. This will mean less risk of complications such as eye damage, kidney and heart disease and nerve damage. High sugars destroy the blood vessels, which unfortunately we are covered in! Inside and out. For me, I know that 4mmol is a little low. It's so close to a low, that I can begin to get low symptoms and don't feel at my best. So I like to aim for between 5mmol and 8mmol, although anything up to 10mmol is 'ok'. 7mmol seemed to the magic number in the three days leading up to Mr Hyde's appearance. 7mmol when I woke, 7 mid morning, 7 before lunch and again the afternoon. So what happened Saturday? I went to the gym. I tested my sugars before going to the gym and the result showed I was, what else, 7! So I grabbed a cereal bar and hit the cross trainer. By the end of my workout my knees were already beginning to give way. I was pretty sure it was because the last time I hit the gym it was still 2009 (Anna hangs her head in shame). However, on getting home, I whipped out my OneTouch Ultrasmart and tested my blood again. 2.7!
Any diabetic who has had the disease for a while and is being given the proper information, will know that a low sugar will always result in a high one. This is because when you go low, your liver kicks out a substance called Glucogen. Glucogen is basically just a sugary substance, designed to raise your sugars and stop you from going into a coma. In diabetics however, it seems to kick in a little late. So by the time you stabilise your sugars and treat your low, your body will have had just enough time to release enough Glucogen put your body into what is known as a rebound. You can't stop it, you can't do anything once the wheels are in motion and injecting won't make a difference. Your body will develop insulin resistance when you rebound , another defence mechanism, so you can't continue to go low, so all you can do is ride it out. That's when Mr Hyde appeared. My Hyde this time appeared under the guise of yoyoing. My sugar went low, so I got the rebound. Fair enough. I know it, I expect it, I can almost set my watch by it and I accept it. The trick is to catch it on the way back down again to avoid the next hypo. That's where it gets a bit more difficult. When you're on the way down, if you don't manage to test, identify the problem and eat something, the same thing happens again.
So the aim of the game in the next couple of days is for Doctor Jekyl to try his hardest to gain control and try to calculate when Mr Hyde might have an opportunity to worm his way back in. At the gym, before a meal, if I'm a little stressed. He has many opportunities. I know that Dr Jekyl likes to be well behaved. He is the logical one. The one likes the number 7 (mmol)and knows he works best when he achieves it. But Mr Hyde is never far away. Sometimes he's predictable, sometimes he's not. He loves those 20s (mmol) and those 3s (mmol), but I'm giving him less and less opportunity these days. I test more often, I don't freak out when I see those highs and lows (making it easier to keep my eyes fixed on the bigger picture) and I'm thinking long term. Dr Jekyl can move in here anytime he likes. For Mr Hyde, it's the beginning of the slippery slope out of here.
Thanks for reading.
Anna (and Dr Jekyl)
Friday, 9 April 2010
50, 370
In my lifetime I have gone to sleep 9,855 times, give or take. I was an undergraduate student for 912 days. I have eaten 29,565 meals, with a few extra snacks here and there. I have also done 50,370 blood tests and rising.
Technological advances in the last twenty years in the area of glucose testing have been somewhat astounding to say the least. Only twenty years ago, glucose testing was all about peeing on a stick. Much like a pregnancy test is today. But the result would be varied ands out of date, in that it would provide you with a result of what was happening in your body hours after it actually happened. Pretty useless seeing as in order to keep yourself in a stable condition, adjustments need to be made based on the information of the here and now! Next, we moved to glucose testing. Taken from the limited memory of a four year old girl, I remember piercing my finger with a lancet and placing a drop of my blood on a strip, which had two pads at the end. Here, the drop would sit for a minute while the glucose in your blood changed the colour of those two tabs. Then, we would wipe the strip and compare it to colouring on the bottle, which would tell us the rough (and rough is a kind description) estimate of the region your sugars were now in. Eventually a machine would be invented which would read the result, giving you a slightly more precise reading, as the colouring of the strip would be analysed by the device, making the result more consistent if nothing else now that human estimation was out of the equation. Nowadays, blood tests take 5 seconds at most, are far more precise than ever before, and require far less blood, meaning we no longer squeeze the crap out of our fingers. Excuse the crass description, but there isn't another way to describe it that would convey the way it really feels!
With my discovery of diabetes blogging there came a wealth of new information brought to me by the typing of a phrase or series of words. Not just in the diverse and ingenious ways people deal with the everyday demands of diabetes, such as where is less painful to inject, which companies people prefer to and the way people take control of a sometimes seemingly unmanageable disease. There also came a global online library of information about new products, developments in treatments and dare I say it, a cure. This library is open all hours, you don't need to be a member, there is no charge for late returns, and the literature is provided by people from all four corners of the world. This library led me to CGM.
CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitoring) may well shatter my 'ambitions' of becoming the Olympic Gold Medalist for having stuck my finger with a needle more than I do anything else in my life. More than I sleep, eat, laugh or cry. While blood testing is now extremely 'convenient', compared to those good old days, it still involves forcing yourself to bleed 5 or 6 (minimum) times a day. if you don't bleed enough, squeeze harder. Blood testing leaves no room for being kind to your fingers. Losing the feeling in your fingers in pretty common for diabetics. Imagine pricking yourself with a needle six or more times a day, your nerves would give up too, eventually. CGM is the latest and perhaps most exciting development in diabetes self-care. Much like the insulin pump, a small device is attached to the skin using the adhesive plasters. Attached to these plasters is a sensor with a needle attached, which is inserted just below the skin. This sensor will then feed real-time information to a receiver device, and will give you 24 hour glucose trend information, letting you know when you are going up, going down or remaining steady (yes, apparently this is possible!).
The best part about this is that the sensor has FDA approval to be inserted into the skin for seven days. SEVEN! This would mean rather than 5 injections and blood tests a day, I would be doing one jab for the pump every 3 days, and one for the blood glucose every seven. Seven - I can't stop saying it!
I am still looking into this new idea, and although it sounds wonderful, it doesn't come cheap. Not for those on the NHS anyway. But the idea that this could mean 24 hour blood test results, with only a minute percentage of that damned needle sticking, is enough to get any diabetic excited.
I'll write again soon when I know more about it.
Over and out.
Technological advances in the last twenty years in the area of glucose testing have been somewhat astounding to say the least. Only twenty years ago, glucose testing was all about peeing on a stick. Much like a pregnancy test is today. But the result would be varied ands out of date, in that it would provide you with a result of what was happening in your body hours after it actually happened. Pretty useless seeing as in order to keep yourself in a stable condition, adjustments need to be made based on the information of the here and now! Next, we moved to glucose testing. Taken from the limited memory of a four year old girl, I remember piercing my finger with a lancet and placing a drop of my blood on a strip, which had two pads at the end. Here, the drop would sit for a minute while the glucose in your blood changed the colour of those two tabs. Then, we would wipe the strip and compare it to colouring on the bottle, which would tell us the rough (and rough is a kind description) estimate of the region your sugars were now in. Eventually a machine would be invented which would read the result, giving you a slightly more precise reading, as the colouring of the strip would be analysed by the device, making the result more consistent if nothing else now that human estimation was out of the equation. Nowadays, blood tests take 5 seconds at most, are far more precise than ever before, and require far less blood, meaning we no longer squeeze the crap out of our fingers. Excuse the crass description, but there isn't another way to describe it that would convey the way it really feels!
With my discovery of diabetes blogging there came a wealth of new information brought to me by the typing of a phrase or series of words. Not just in the diverse and ingenious ways people deal with the everyday demands of diabetes, such as where is less painful to inject, which companies people prefer to and the way people take control of a sometimes seemingly unmanageable disease. There also came a global online library of information about new products, developments in treatments and dare I say it, a cure. This library is open all hours, you don't need to be a member, there is no charge for late returns, and the literature is provided by people from all four corners of the world. This library led me to CGM.
CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitoring) may well shatter my 'ambitions' of becoming the Olympic Gold Medalist for having stuck my finger with a needle more than I do anything else in my life. More than I sleep, eat, laugh or cry. While blood testing is now extremely 'convenient', compared to those good old days, it still involves forcing yourself to bleed 5 or 6 (minimum) times a day. if you don't bleed enough, squeeze harder. Blood testing leaves no room for being kind to your fingers. Losing the feeling in your fingers in pretty common for diabetics. Imagine pricking yourself with a needle six or more times a day, your nerves would give up too, eventually. CGM is the latest and perhaps most exciting development in diabetes self-care. Much like the insulin pump, a small device is attached to the skin using the adhesive plasters. Attached to these plasters is a sensor with a needle attached, which is inserted just below the skin. This sensor will then feed real-time information to a receiver device, and will give you 24 hour glucose trend information, letting you know when you are going up, going down or remaining steady (yes, apparently this is possible!).
The best part about this is that the sensor has FDA approval to be inserted into the skin for seven days. SEVEN! This would mean rather than 5 injections and blood tests a day, I would be doing one jab for the pump every 3 days, and one for the blood glucose every seven. Seven - I can't stop saying it!
I am still looking into this new idea, and although it sounds wonderful, it doesn't come cheap. Not for those on the NHS anyway. But the idea that this could mean 24 hour blood test results, with only a minute percentage of that damned needle sticking, is enough to get any diabetic excited.
I'll write again soon when I know more about it.
Over and out.
Invisible Ally
You know that feeling where you have a computer stuck to your hip which is feeding you insulin and reminding you each and every second that you are diabetic? Nah, me neither.
A year ago, the pump was still my worst nightmare and in my [ignorant] mind, a sign of failing at controlling this disease which took me prisoner at 4. The idea of going on a pump was about as tempting as a bout of e coli - and I would have chosen the latter. But when I started to come out of my cave and open my mind, I found that all the reasons other people professed as their reasons for going on the pump, could have been written by my own hand! In fact, I couldn't find one negative thing about it. Well, perhaps one. The fact that it was always there. At least with injections, I thought, you can forget about it in between jabs and no one will know.
I'm not quite sure what I envisaged with the pump. The way I used to react when someone mentioned it, you would think I had to rent a trailer to carry it about with me. Really, it's a very small device. Smaller than most mobile phones, smaller than a purse or make up bag, all of which I carry without a second thought. But when people used to say "I just don't notice it", or "You forget it's there", the sceptic in me would surface. Who's paying you? Which company is it? Animas? Medtronic? Of course you notice it, we weren't born with a plastic wire connecting us to a box with built in computer!
Here's the shocker, I found myself saying it this week. Really. The first night I had a bit of trouble getting to sleep. But not because I could feel it, more because I was thinking about it. Taunting myself about what happens if it stops working. I don't know why I do it, but give me a topic and I could manage. So the second night, when I fell asleep as soon as my face hit the horizontal, I was surprised. "Perhaps it's because I was so tired from last night" I told myself. Not so, in fact, every night this week I have fallen asleep without a second thought. I've never rolled on it, never gave myself an accidental dose (yes I know, but I have a skill for worrying remember), never tugged on the tubing or pulled it out. Nada! Not just that, but now that I have learnt that a bra is a girl's best friend in more ways that one, I don't have to pin it to any part of my clothing which could be seen. I can't feel it when I sit, or walk, sleep or run. It doesn't hurt to inject, because on Tuesday, for the first time in 23 years, I didn't do an injection.
I have yet to see the actual benefit of being on the pump, as it can take months to fine tune the settings to the needs of your body. The way you would organise your files on your pc to suit your needs or what routine you do at the gym to make it work for you. But that was never a doubt in my mind. The reason injections don't work for me is clear, my body needs different levels of insulin at different times of day. The pump can fix that. What I thought the pump couldn't do, was be invisible. Turns out, I was wrong. it doesn't happen often, but I'm glad it happened now.
I guess the moral of this story, is that when people with experience tell you how something is, stop being so cynical and give it a go.
A year ago, the pump was still my worst nightmare and in my [ignorant] mind, a sign of failing at controlling this disease which took me prisoner at 4. The idea of going on a pump was about as tempting as a bout of e coli - and I would have chosen the latter. But when I started to come out of my cave and open my mind, I found that all the reasons other people professed as their reasons for going on the pump, could have been written by my own hand! In fact, I couldn't find one negative thing about it. Well, perhaps one. The fact that it was always there. At least with injections, I thought, you can forget about it in between jabs and no one will know.
I'm not quite sure what I envisaged with the pump. The way I used to react when someone mentioned it, you would think I had to rent a trailer to carry it about with me. Really, it's a very small device. Smaller than most mobile phones, smaller than a purse or make up bag, all of which I carry without a second thought. But when people used to say "I just don't notice it", or "You forget it's there", the sceptic in me would surface. Who's paying you? Which company is it? Animas? Medtronic? Of course you notice it, we weren't born with a plastic wire connecting us to a box with built in computer!
Here's the shocker, I found myself saying it this week. Really. The first night I had a bit of trouble getting to sleep. But not because I could feel it, more because I was thinking about it. Taunting myself about what happens if it stops working. I don't know why I do it, but give me a topic and I could manage. So the second night, when I fell asleep as soon as my face hit the horizontal, I was surprised. "Perhaps it's because I was so tired from last night" I told myself. Not so, in fact, every night this week I have fallen asleep without a second thought. I've never rolled on it, never gave myself an accidental dose (yes I know, but I have a skill for worrying remember), never tugged on the tubing or pulled it out. Nada! Not just that, but now that I have learnt that a bra is a girl's best friend in more ways that one, I don't have to pin it to any part of my clothing which could be seen. I can't feel it when I sit, or walk, sleep or run. It doesn't hurt to inject, because on Tuesday, for the first time in 23 years, I didn't do an injection.
I have yet to see the actual benefit of being on the pump, as it can take months to fine tune the settings to the needs of your body. The way you would organise your files on your pc to suit your needs or what routine you do at the gym to make it work for you. But that was never a doubt in my mind. The reason injections don't work for me is clear, my body needs different levels of insulin at different times of day. The pump can fix that. What I thought the pump couldn't do, was be invisible. Turns out, I was wrong. it doesn't happen often, but I'm glad it happened now.
I guess the moral of this story, is that when people with experience tell you how something is, stop being so cynical and give it a go.
The Paradigm VEO
So I woke up this morning full of excitement and a touch of nerves. Even though I have bought into the insulin pump whole heartedly, the idea of being 'plugged into a machine' is a daunting prospect.
For months I have been researching the pump that I was told I would be on. The Accu Chek Spirit (http://www.accu-chek.co.uk/gb/products/insulinpumps/index.html). While it is a smart looking device with many settings, my research had led me to the Minimed Paradigm VEO (http://www.medtronic-diabetes.co.uk/product-information/paradigm-veo/index.html). Minimed have the option of having a CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitoring), which is a sensor placed on the skin a short distance from the pump which takes blood sugar readings at regular intervals, meaning extremely comprehensive readings throughout a 24 hour period, rather than the snapshots which fingerstick tests give you. To get readings during the night, on my current system of blood testing, it would require waking myself up throughout the night (i hear what you're saying, hence I don't). Although this function is not yet available on the NHS, it is available if you are prepared to pay. I haven't reached that decision yet, but it's good to know it is available.
So imagine my surprise (and pleasure) when I walked in to see the Minimed Paradigm VEO on the table! It turns out that Minimed have donated the pumps for this trial, so we will be using brand new Paradigms on our trial. Result!
The first things to happen is the experts will give you a complete run down of the pump, it's basic functions (there are too many to learn in just three hours) and how to set it up/insert it. The functions themselves on the paradigm VEO are (so far) simple and easy to understand. With just a few clicks of a button you can programme your personalised background insulin dose according to times and doses you require. Although I have only learnt the basics, within an hour I already had the feeling that this would give me so much more flexibility than the 'old' system.
As for inserting it, I don't think I can remember seeing a needle that size for a while! It looked as though it would be fiddly as there seems like there is a lot of plastic to remove, a needle to insert at a 45% angle, sticking and positioning to do, and needles to remove. As it turns out, the fiddle is minimal. Granted, it is not as easy as a straightforward injection, but it was far less painful than the needlesticks. Perhaps it was luck, perhaps because I decided just before I inserted it, that I would have to damn well get used to it if this was the way forward. Whatever the reason, I was pleasantly surprised by the relative ease. I was even more surprised to realise that you cannot feel it at all. Not even when you're moving or lying on it (that was the first thing I tried, seeing as my precious sleep does not take well to being disturbed!). I have to admit, the wire is my least favourite thing at the moment, mainly as I don't know what to do with it. But that should come with time and experience. It certainly seems that those who have been on it for years have found so many weird and wonderful ways to disguise their pump, it will only be a matter of time before I am able to do the same.
So, my first day as a 'pumper' (not sure about the name yet!) went well. I have another day of learning about settings and safety tomorrow, but for something I have at times been very apprehensive about, I think it's been a success.
Catch you soon!
For months I have been researching the pump that I was told I would be on. The Accu Chek Spirit (http://www.accu-chek.co.uk/gb/products/insulinpumps/index.html). While it is a smart looking device with many settings, my research had led me to the Minimed Paradigm VEO (http://www.medtronic-diabetes.co.uk/product-information/paradigm-veo/index.html). Minimed have the option of having a CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitoring), which is a sensor placed on the skin a short distance from the pump which takes blood sugar readings at regular intervals, meaning extremely comprehensive readings throughout a 24 hour period, rather than the snapshots which fingerstick tests give you. To get readings during the night, on my current system of blood testing, it would require waking myself up throughout the night (i hear what you're saying, hence I don't). Although this function is not yet available on the NHS, it is available if you are prepared to pay. I haven't reached that decision yet, but it's good to know it is available.
So imagine my surprise (and pleasure) when I walked in to see the Minimed Paradigm VEO on the table! It turns out that Minimed have donated the pumps for this trial, so we will be using brand new Paradigms on our trial. Result!
The first things to happen is the experts will give you a complete run down of the pump, it's basic functions (there are too many to learn in just three hours) and how to set it up/insert it. The functions themselves on the paradigm VEO are (so far) simple and easy to understand. With just a few clicks of a button you can programme your personalised background insulin dose according to times and doses you require. Although I have only learnt the basics, within an hour I already had the feeling that this would give me so much more flexibility than the 'old' system.
As for inserting it, I don't think I can remember seeing a needle that size for a while! It looked as though it would be fiddly as there seems like there is a lot of plastic to remove, a needle to insert at a 45% angle, sticking and positioning to do, and needles to remove. As it turns out, the fiddle is minimal. Granted, it is not as easy as a straightforward injection, but it was far less painful than the needlesticks. Perhaps it was luck, perhaps because I decided just before I inserted it, that I would have to damn well get used to it if this was the way forward. Whatever the reason, I was pleasantly surprised by the relative ease. I was even more surprised to realise that you cannot feel it at all. Not even when you're moving or lying on it (that was the first thing I tried, seeing as my precious sleep does not take well to being disturbed!). I have to admit, the wire is my least favourite thing at the moment, mainly as I don't know what to do with it. But that should come with time and experience. It certainly seems that those who have been on it for years have found so many weird and wonderful ways to disguise their pump, it will only be a matter of time before I am able to do the same.
So, my first day as a 'pumper' (not sure about the name yet!) went well. I have another day of learning about settings and safety tomorrow, but for something I have at times been very apprehensive about, I think it's been a success.
Catch you soon!
Why the insulin pump?
Well, I officially now a 'pumper', or so I am told. After 8 months of planning, pondering, setting goals and countless hours of Internet research, the day arrived when I would officially become an insulin pump user.
For those who don't know this, type 1 diabetes is a chronic condition in which the human body can no longer produce insulin. It is usually diagnosed in childhood or early adulthood (although recently, many more people are being diagnosed later in life) and is not related to weight or unhealthy lifestyle. The body requires a certain amount of glucose in order to function properly (as a rule, between 4 and 7 mmol). For type 1 diabetics, in order to maintain these sorts of levels, multiple daily blood tests must be done, insulin must be injected using either an insulin pump or multiple daily injections (MDI). Type 1 and 2 diabetes are often confused, but as I am a type 1, I choose not to comment on type 2, as I don't have the right or experience. But as a type 1 after 23 years, I am an expert. Or as much of an expert as anyone can be with a condition which regularly throws in surprises and confusing results.
I started out on 2 injections per day, which meant weighing food and tiresome calculations as to how much I could eat and when. At the age of about 14, the specialists as the hospital gave me the option of going on 4 injections a day, which soon became 5. This gave me a lot more flexibility (you can eat bigger meals and take larger doses, or eat less and only inject according to your needs). However, after years of trying to gain better control, it was clear that something still wasn't quite right. So, after much thought and consideration, we (yes, because to choose to go onto a pump will involve those around you) decided to go on the insulin pump.
The insulin pump is a mobile phone sized device which is attached to someone for around 23-24 hours per day. Rather than having to do MDI, the pump stays connected to you via a flexible needle, cannula and tubing. It remains at the same site using a strong plaster like material which sticks to the skin and keeps the needle in place, usually for 2-3 days at a time before the site needs to be changed to avoid infections and soreness. After all, your body is never going to like having a piece of plastic inserted into the skin, even if it is keeping you alive! Throughout the day, the pump will deliver minute doses on insulin, which can be adjusted to release different amounts at different times of day, according to the needs of the person using it. For example, my sugars often run higher in the afternoon, so my dose will be higher during the afternoon hours. Then, if you want to eat, you calculate how much your intended meal will require and you give yourself an extra dose (using the pump again - still no more needlesticks!).
Although it may seem strange to want to be connected to a machine for you whole day, the constant reminders of what poor control and erratic sugars can do to a person is pretty powerful (kidney failure, blindness, heart disease and gangrene to name a few). In the US, from what I hear, you can only get a pump if you are adequately insured and are prepared to put your case forward that you should be allowed to have access to new medications. If you do not have insurance, you pay. A lot! In the UK, although the pump only became more recognised in recent years, the pump is free. As long as you complete a successful trial and can prove that it is in the interest of the primary care trust to fund your treatment, you should't pay for a single thing. One heartbreaking moment that woke me up a bit was when I was reading extracts from an insulin pump chatroom. A mother was on there asking if she could buy someones old pump, with the limited resources she had. How could I turn around and say I didn't want to try the pump in case it affected my sleep, while there were people out there asking for second hand pumps (a no-o) in a desperate attempt to better their children's lives.
I have reached the age where having children and good health are important to me and having tried for many years to gain control, this seems like the only (and by far the best) option for me.
So for me this was an exciting year, learning all about the benefits and pitfalls of life on a pump. My next post will be about the pump I am on, my experience of putting it in for the first time and the bag fulls of freebies I came home from the hospital with (an no one can deny, freebies always make you smile)!
See you soon!
For those who don't know this, type 1 diabetes is a chronic condition in which the human body can no longer produce insulin. It is usually diagnosed in childhood or early adulthood (although recently, many more people are being diagnosed later in life) and is not related to weight or unhealthy lifestyle. The body requires a certain amount of glucose in order to function properly (as a rule, between 4 and 7 mmol). For type 1 diabetics, in order to maintain these sorts of levels, multiple daily blood tests must be done, insulin must be injected using either an insulin pump or multiple daily injections (MDI). Type 1 and 2 diabetes are often confused, but as I am a type 1, I choose not to comment on type 2, as I don't have the right or experience. But as a type 1 after 23 years, I am an expert. Or as much of an expert as anyone can be with a condition which regularly throws in surprises and confusing results.
I started out on 2 injections per day, which meant weighing food and tiresome calculations as to how much I could eat and when. At the age of about 14, the specialists as the hospital gave me the option of going on 4 injections a day, which soon became 5. This gave me a lot more flexibility (you can eat bigger meals and take larger doses, or eat less and only inject according to your needs). However, after years of trying to gain better control, it was clear that something still wasn't quite right. So, after much thought and consideration, we (yes, because to choose to go onto a pump will involve those around you) decided to go on the insulin pump.
The insulin pump is a mobile phone sized device which is attached to someone for around 23-24 hours per day. Rather than having to do MDI, the pump stays connected to you via a flexible needle, cannula and tubing. It remains at the same site using a strong plaster like material which sticks to the skin and keeps the needle in place, usually for 2-3 days at a time before the site needs to be changed to avoid infections and soreness. After all, your body is never going to like having a piece of plastic inserted into the skin, even if it is keeping you alive! Throughout the day, the pump will deliver minute doses on insulin, which can be adjusted to release different amounts at different times of day, according to the needs of the person using it. For example, my sugars often run higher in the afternoon, so my dose will be higher during the afternoon hours. Then, if you want to eat, you calculate how much your intended meal will require and you give yourself an extra dose (using the pump again - still no more needlesticks!).
Although it may seem strange to want to be connected to a machine for you whole day, the constant reminders of what poor control and erratic sugars can do to a person is pretty powerful (kidney failure, blindness, heart disease and gangrene to name a few). In the US, from what I hear, you can only get a pump if you are adequately insured and are prepared to put your case forward that you should be allowed to have access to new medications. If you do not have insurance, you pay. A lot! In the UK, although the pump only became more recognised in recent years, the pump is free. As long as you complete a successful trial and can prove that it is in the interest of the primary care trust to fund your treatment, you should't pay for a single thing. One heartbreaking moment that woke me up a bit was when I was reading extracts from an insulin pump chatroom. A mother was on there asking if she could buy someones old pump, with the limited resources she had. How could I turn around and say I didn't want to try the pump in case it affected my sleep, while there were people out there asking for second hand pumps (a no-o) in a desperate attempt to better their children's lives.
I have reached the age where having children and good health are important to me and having tried for many years to gain control, this seems like the only (and by far the best) option for me.
So for me this was an exciting year, learning all about the benefits and pitfalls of life on a pump. My next post will be about the pump I am on, my experience of putting it in for the first time and the bag fulls of freebies I came home from the hospital with (an no one can deny, freebies always make you smile)!
See you soon!
Introducing myself...
Hey guys!
My name is Anna and I am many things. I am a daughter, a sister, a friend, a fiance, a full time worker, a wannabe surfer, an animal lover and a girl. I am also a Type 1 diabetic (insulin dependant, juvenile onset, the beast has many names). I have been a diabetic since I was 4 years old, diagnosed back in 1986 while I was living in Germany where I was born and lived for 7 years. I am too young to remember my life before diabetes, but I imagine it was a damn site different back then. I have been through every stage of adjustment with the condition. I was the child who didn't quite understand it, the teenager who resented and fought it, the adult who started taking it seriously and now I am the girl determined to make it my own, rather than letting it own me. I have learned to accept the condition (mainly because no matter how hard I tried, it never went away, to my deluded dismay), and I am now on a mission to find the way to manage it which suits me. I have been on daily injections ever since that number 4. Don't think I'm complaining, in fact, I have been diabetic for so many years, I can't imagine how it feels to just 'grab a bite' and chow down without first checking my sugars, anticipating the effect that 'bite' will have, calculating my dose and injecting, but that doesn't change the fact that for me, and many millions of others like me, it is a daily - no, hourly- challenge. When I met my fiance, he had to earn his degree at the University of Diabetes (there's one near you, if you choose to enroll). He had to learn what the warning signs of low and high blood sugar were. He had to learn how to carbohydrate count so that when he cooks dinner, he can advise me what to inject. He had to learn that when my sugars were high, I wasn't the greatest person to be around, and that when I was low, even if I said I didn't, I would need his help.
I have started this blog as there are so many millions of people out there who are like myself. They have a lot of questions, a lot of confusion, are mystified by the logicless condition and who have found the internet an ideal way of searching for answers. I am about to go on the insulin pump (next post) after many years of MDI (multiple daily injections) just not working out quite right for me. It's not for the want of trying, it seems to be in spite of it. Or so it feels on many occasions. The decision was not reached lightly, and has dominated many of my thoughts for months. But the decision has been made, and tomorrow is the day.
I am starting this blog as I want people to be able to read this and know that there are other people out there who are at times freaked out by the condition and who up until now, have never found the right combination. I hope that with the pump, will come better control, freedom and some of the answers I've asked for 23 years.
So join me on this journey if you like. I hope you enjoy and gain something from my ramblings.
Hope to catch you soon
My name is Anna and I am many things. I am a daughter, a sister, a friend, a fiance, a full time worker, a wannabe surfer, an animal lover and a girl. I am also a Type 1 diabetic (insulin dependant, juvenile onset, the beast has many names). I have been a diabetic since I was 4 years old, diagnosed back in 1986 while I was living in Germany where I was born and lived for 7 years. I am too young to remember my life before diabetes, but I imagine it was a damn site different back then. I have been through every stage of adjustment with the condition. I was the child who didn't quite understand it, the teenager who resented and fought it, the adult who started taking it seriously and now I am the girl determined to make it my own, rather than letting it own me. I have learned to accept the condition (mainly because no matter how hard I tried, it never went away, to my deluded dismay), and I am now on a mission to find the way to manage it which suits me. I have been on daily injections ever since that number 4. Don't think I'm complaining, in fact, I have been diabetic for so many years, I can't imagine how it feels to just 'grab a bite' and chow down without first checking my sugars, anticipating the effect that 'bite' will have, calculating my dose and injecting, but that doesn't change the fact that for me, and many millions of others like me, it is a daily - no, hourly- challenge. When I met my fiance, he had to earn his degree at the University of Diabetes (there's one near you, if you choose to enroll). He had to learn what the warning signs of low and high blood sugar were. He had to learn how to carbohydrate count so that when he cooks dinner, he can advise me what to inject. He had to learn that when my sugars were high, I wasn't the greatest person to be around, and that when I was low, even if I said I didn't, I would need his help.
I have started this blog as there are so many millions of people out there who are like myself. They have a lot of questions, a lot of confusion, are mystified by the logicless condition and who have found the internet an ideal way of searching for answers. I am about to go on the insulin pump (next post) after many years of MDI (multiple daily injections) just not working out quite right for me. It's not for the want of trying, it seems to be in spite of it. Or so it feels on many occasions. The decision was not reached lightly, and has dominated many of my thoughts for months. But the decision has been made, and tomorrow is the day.
I am starting this blog as I want people to be able to read this and know that there are other people out there who are at times freaked out by the condition and who up until now, have never found the right combination. I hope that with the pump, will come better control, freedom and some of the answers I've asked for 23 years.
So join me on this journey if you like. I hope you enjoy and gain something from my ramblings.
Hope to catch you soon
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