Every day ups and downs, a diabetes blog

Playing golf on a blustery day

2012-01-23T13:42:00.001Z

I was reminded this morning of something which struck me during a conversation with my parents last year. Some time ago they took up golf, and as with many sporting endeavours they have embarked on before they plunged into it headlong, devoting a huge amount of time and effort into improving their game. Taking lessons, trying new kit and clubs in the hope of finding some new 'magic ingredient'.

Rediscovering porridge

2012-01-17T10:47:00.003Z

Someone I 'met' on a forum who started on an insulin pump a year or so before me said that in some ways she had to relearn much of what she thought she knew about her diabetes. Many tried and tested observations, and theories as to what was happening seemed no longer to apply. Switching to a pump so fundamentally 'changed the rules' that almost everything had to be evaluated from scratch. I've

Guest post: BG monitors for blind/visually impaired people

2012-01-07T15:59:00.001Z

A few days ago we had a comment on our D-Tracker review from someone called 'Faulty Headlights' who was wrestling not only with diabetes but also with blindness. I can't imagine how hard that would be. As the conversation continued I became increasingly interested in the challenges faced by blind and partially-sighted people, especially in relation to available blood glucose monitors and their

Pumping for two months - A little bit of everything

2012-01-01T21:14:00.001Z

Artoo and I have been pottering along for almost two months now, and what with the New Year and everything it feels like about time for a bit of a catch-up. Anyone reading who has watched my transition from pump-averse to pumper might be interested in how I have found it in practice. If you have wondered whether pumping might be right for you, but don't really like the idea, I suspect this

Unexpected consequences of pumping

2011-11-18T10:23:00.001Z

Thanks to everyone who has been tweeting to ask how my first few weeks of pumping have been going. Very much appreciated. Sadly I've not really got time to write a post in any kind of detail today (inevitably work has gone crazy because I've got some time off booked before Christmas). I always knew that the first few weeks would be a bit of a rollercoaster, and so they are proving. I've had a

Going blue for WDD and some pumping firsts

2011-11-02T11:44:00.002Z

As many of you will know, November has been claimed by many Diabetes organisations as a month to raise awareness of the condition. We are marking World Diabetes Day, November 14th 2011 in our own small way by turning our pages blue for the month. All over the internet there are little blue circles appearing - the international symbol for diabetes. Yesterday I caught wind of a brilliant project

Look sir, droids!

2011-11-01T09:01:00.002Z

Not very long ago (yesterday in fact) in a clinic not very far away... the adventure began. Perhaps it is because I was eight years old in 1977? Perhaps it's because Dave and I have both been wrestling with the idea of turning to the 'dark side' for quite a while now? For twenty odd years I have been using daily injections as a replacement to my pancreas. As recently as a year ago I was

The holy grail? HG1-c a CGM without consumables

2011-10-24T10:45:00.001+01:00

I had a comment posted over the weekend that drew my attention to a new CGM (continuous glucose monitor) technology. It's so new that it's not even available yet, anywhere in the world, and while I suspect that the commenter ('Bob Slack') may possibly be part of the 'marketing machine' it is, nevertheless, interesting enough for me to want to post about it. I've been banging on about CGMs for

Beating Diabetes... anyone fancy a cure?

2011-10-19T14:22:00.002+01:00

I'm just coming to the point in my life where I've lived longer with diabetes than I lived without it. Ever since diagnosis I have read about, or been told about exciting research which could have profound effects on those living with diabetes. I have witnessed the release and gradual acceptance of amazing new technologies and treatment options which make diabetes more controllable than ever

The shape of things to come?

2011-09-23T09:40:00.001+01:00

Before I got all hot under the collar yesterday about that news item on the BBC website, I had meant to write a quick post following my meeting with the lovely LJ, one of the DSNs at the hospital. I gave her a potted history of the last two years (I've not really been in contact with the DSNs much for a very long time), the improvements I been able to make and the challenges and issues I still

BBC: Designer diabetes drugs 'cost NHS millions'

2011-09-22T13:25:00.001+01:00

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-14999853 There are many hopelessly inaccurate news stories published about diabetes, too many to count, but this is the first one whose tone was so indefensibly vile that I have been moved to immediately write a letter of complaint. Accurate and impartial this wasn’t. Not even close. If I try really hard, and because I know a good deal about the subject I can

Timesulin - a pretty smart idea

2011-09-15T14:09:00.000+01:00

Just came across 'Timesulin', which is a replacement cap for insulin pens which records the amount of time that has passed since the last injection. As a person who actually changed insulins to get a 'Memoir' pen with a dose memory this simple solution to part of the problem ("Hang on... have I injected or not...") appeals to me. Since having the Memoir I know I often check to confirm the exact

Reviewing my review

2011-09-06T20:12:00.001+01:00

So today was the day. My long awaited (and only slightly delayed) annual review. As far as I can tell most, possibly all of the old clinicians have left the hospital I attend, so there were new faces to meet. It was great. My appointment started promptly and my discussions with Dr S were unhurried and thorough. A little too thorough, perhaps. Apologies if you were after me, I think I stayed and

D-Tracker Review - Diabetes UK iPhone App

2011-09-05T00:17:00.000+01:00

I was asked a few weeks back if I would take a sneaky-peek preview of the new Diabetes UK iPhone App by Public Zone and write a review of it. In a proper bloggy 'disclosure' type way I should point out at this point that I have not been paid to write this review and although approached to be part of a focus group earlier in the project (I was not able to take part) I have had no part in the

D Art Day 2011 : The path of least resistance

2011-09-01T13:11:00.006+01:00

Click to view larger September the 1st is Diabetes Art Day, the brainchild of blogger, art therapist and all round good egg Lee Ann Thill. It's an chance for the DOC to get creative and try to say something about living with diabetes in a slightly different way. I really wasn't expecting to be able to take part, but while watching telly a couple of nights ago I began scribbling something that

My last week of FREEDOM!

2011-08-29T12:10:00.001+01:00

Yup, its me again! And this time you might actually want to read what I am saying because it is quite interesting. Then again, maybe its not. The summer holidays have been brilliant this year, and I am making the most of my last week of freedom before I'm back to a new term of homework and hassles. Great. Year seven was an interesting year but not one I would want to do again, and I expect that's

Changes, uncertainty and what to do next

2011-08-24T15:39:00.006+01:00

I had my appointment through for my Annual Review a few days ago (due early April). A change of staff at the clinic has meant that they have got rather behind. A week or so ago I called to see how things were going and I was offered an appointment in a cancellation slot. As a result I guess I'm feeling that this appointment represents my 'chance' to make some changes that I've been mulling over

Neither one thing nor the other

2011-08-17T12:44:00.005+01:00

Well... a few weeks into the holiday period and things haven't completely fallen apart control-wise. Yet. We had some time away in Cornwall and perhaps because I feared the worst I've returned feeling that it worked out pretty well. Oddly I seemed to fall exactly between two possible Lantus doses. A unit down and sugars stayed grump-inducingly high, a unit up and I had to fire-fight hypos with

Waiting for the storm

2011-07-25T09:25:00.006+01:00

Things have been going quite well for me control-wise recently. Monthly averages not too shabby, and particularly over the last few weeks where my meter shows an average of around 6.4mmol/L (115 for US types) with hardly any hypos by my standards, and an SD between 2.0 and 2.7. The Accu-Chek Expert is the first meter I've had that shows 'Standard Deviation'. A mathematical concept slightly beyond

What if?

2011-07-13T10:32:00.002+01:00

I still haven't heard about my 'annual review' (due last April) and the post I have been musing on full of questions about potential treatment changes is still rattling around in my head. In the meantime, and partly because no one has posted anything new here in a good long while, here's a quickie about a conversation we had at the breakfast table yesterday. Beth asked me what I thought it

New big meal strategy: thirds

2011-06-12T14:12:00.005+01:00

Following on from my recent moan about errant BG levels during holidays I posted on a forum that sometimes it seems to come down to a choice between food variety and good levels. If I stick to basically the same meals week after week and use tried and tested doses I tend to have far more consistent results. This is, of course, blindingly obvious. But it's not really an ideal long-term solution

DBlog Week Day 7 : Looking back

2011-05-15T22:56:00.007+01:00

Topic: What have we learned this week? I guess most of the posts today will share a common theme - a celebration of the online community of diabetics, or to give it it's full title the Awesome DOC. I've discovered a lots of new blogs this week that I will enjoy revisiting. I've been very encouraged by the lovely comments and kind words that people have added to our posts. What will stick in

DBlog Week Day 6 : Saturday Snapshot

2011-05-14T14:56:00.010+01:00

Topic: Inspired by the Diabetes 365 project, let’s snap a few d-related pictures and share them Not long before Diabetes Blog Week started I had emptied out my pencil case of the constantly growing piles of diabetes junk. By my reckoning that makes this just over the 6 day's worth of used strips, used and spare needles and other bits and bobs that get carted about everywhere until I empty them

DBlog Week Day 4 : Ten things

2011-05-14T14:44:00.000+01:00

Topic: Ten things I hate about you, diabetes [Places carefully nurtured positive attitude to one side, rolls up sleeves...] For all the people who will leave their doctor's surgery today having heard those hateful words For all the kids (and adults) who have been bullied for "bein' fat and lazy, and havin' eaten too many sweets, ha! ha!" and all the other lies, prejudices and misconceptions you

DBlog Week Day 5 : Ordinary Awesomeness

2011-05-13T21:56:00.005+01:00

Topic: What awesome things have you done because of your diabetes? Since I signed up to take part in DBlog week I've struggled to think of anything I could post today. And I'm not just talking about struggling to post because of Blogger's technical meltdown yesterday... For starters, can a person at my age and living the UK ever really get away with using the word 'awesome'? Unfortunately I