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In Fantasy Diabetes (Is)land (you should visit – it’s awesome!), there are wonderful, wonderful things. There are cupcakes stores giving away their baked goods on every corner, little gatherings of the DOC in cafes and everyone’s BGL is 5.5mmol/l ALL THE FREAKING TIME.
OK – there’s no such place. But today, we’re talking about fantasy diabetes devices. Here’s what I want in my diabetes life: I want simplicity and I want streamlining. I want devices to communicate to each other. And above all, I want devices I can trust – accuracy is critical.
My dream device would be a fully integrated pump and CGM that automatically transmits all my data to an App on my smartphone. The CGM wouldn’t need calibrating at all (thus removing any need to jab my fingers with a blunt lancet EVER AGAIN). And at the end of each day, the data would be sent to me in an easy to interpret graph, and the clever boffins living in the App would point out patterns (using previous days’ data) and make suggestions about dose changes. And tell me what a good job I’m doing, because it knows that back patting is important!
The App would also be able to accurately tell me the carb content of any cupcake (or other food – there is other food. Apparently.) by simply pointing my phone at the plate. And then relay this information to my pump, which would then bolus accordingly.
And finally, this magic App would send me a message to remind when it was time for the weekly DSMA tweet chat. Helpful!
Of course, this would be available to all and would be free, so there wouldn’t be the inequality in health care that makes me angry and sad.
Righty-o. Who do I need to speak with about getting this produced? And now?
This is my Thursday entry into this year’s Diabetes Blog Week. For information, click here. And I really recommend you do. Over 200 diabetes bloggers from all over the world are participating and it’s a great way to see what others with diabetes are talking about. Come back tomorrow for Friday’s entry.
I’m lousy at stopping and I’m lousy at saying no. So when the world gets on top of me the first thing to go is diabetes. Well, something has to, and I certainly can’t stop looking after my beautiful little girl, can’t stop being around my husband, can’t stop coming to work, can’t stop seeing people. They would all ask questions and want to know what’s wrong. But diabetes doesn’t ask. At least, not out loud. Not in words.
So, I bury my head in the sand and pretend it’s not there and suddenly I am not checking my BGL as frequently; not making smart diabetes decisions; not thinking about diabetes.
Just not.
I’m not good at prioritising diabetes. Never have been and fear I never will be.
I need to improve at prioritising diabetes. I need to remember the fact that there is a flow-on effect when it comes to diabetes, and a missed BGL check here could mean a hypo in 30 minutes which will take time to treat. Or a skipped insulin dose after a meal will inevitably result in the brain-freeze that is high blood glucose that means a lack of concentration, general confusion and a wasted morning, or afternoon, or night’s sleep.
I need to improve at prioritising diabetes and the thing I love about the DOC is that you guys remind me to THINK about diabetes and to ‘do’ diabetes. I love being around others with diabetes because someone else checking their BGL will inevitably set off a chain reaction where others do it, too.
I need to improve at prioritising diabetes so that I will be here for a long time, to watch my daughter grow up; to grow old with my husband; to do all the things that we want to do together and that I want to achieve myself.
I need to improve at prioritising diabetes. I need to be better at it. I must improve.
This is my Wednesday entry into this year’s Diabetes Blog Week. For information, click here. And I really recommend you do. Over 200 diabetes bloggers from all over the world are participating and it’s a great way to see what others with diabetes are talking about. Come back tomorrow for Thursday’s entry
There is a hushed feel to the room. Even as people walk in to register, they whisper their names and nervously ask if they can take copies of the resources from the tables. They usually come in pairs, and together they speak softly to each other and stand close. As the doors open to the lecture room, they walk in, sit down and look ahead. This isn’t one of our usual events where there’s lots of chatter and sharing of stories. This one is more personal, more urgent. This one is about babies.
It was our diabetes and pregnancy information evening. We started running these sessions almost 10 years ago. I can still remember the first session. As we planned the event, I was terrified that no one would show up. Over 100 people attended – women with diabetes and their partners or mums or sisters or friends. I spoke to a couple of women who didn’t have diabetes, but their teenage daughters did. Although their daughters didn’t come along, these mums wanted to have all the information they could get. What wonderful mums!
Now, all these years later, we still get a good number of people attending. We had over 80 booked in for this session and most showed up, eager to find out about diabetes, healthy pregnancies and healthy babies.
There is so much hope and anticipation in the room. And you can almost feel the rollercoaster of emotions in the room as the obstetrician and endocrinologist gently, but firmly, outline how diabetes can impact on a pregnancy and how pregnancy can impact on diabetes. There’s some scary information in there, but there is also a really positive message. And when I’m emceeing the event, I make sure that message is not lost. Here it is:
Can I expect a healthy baby?
Yes. Women with diabetes have an equal chance of having a healthy baby if they become pregnant at a time when their diabetes is controlled and general health is good. It is highly recommended that women with diabetes plan their pregnancies.
From ‘Can I Have a Healthy Baby?’
It’s good news, it’s positive news and I can feel the relief in the room when we focus on this for a moment. At that point we bring it all together and ask the women in the room (and their partners) to take a deep breath. Because we bring out our ‘case study’ – the good news that ties it all together!.
This year, my dear friend and colleague, Kim, stepped up and volunteered to share her story. Kim has two beautiful children. And when I say beautiful, I’m talking put-them-on-a-box-of-nappies gorgeous! We keep using photos of them for our diabetes and pregnancy resources because we can’t get enough of them!
Kim’s story is wonderful. And her candidness and honesty about how her family came to being so perfectly complete is not all perfection. There were struggles, disappointments and the need to wait. But her children are here and they are a joy.
I’ve said before how much I love my job, and this event is one of the reasons. I love the fact that each year after we’ve run the event, I get calls from women who were there, and are now pregnant. And others who have attended send me photos of their beautiful, beautiful babies.
Pregnancy with diabetes is not easy. But it is absolutely achievable and even though whilst we’re in the middle of a pregnancy that we feel may never end, as we check our blood sugar for what seems the millionth time – just for that day!, as we sit in the waiting room of yet another doctor’s office or hospital clinic, it is all worth it. And as we hold that precious baby in our arms for the first time – and every time after that we know that it was all worth it.
My own healthy baby; a day old and so precious.
Looking for information about diabetes and pregnancy? The ‘Can I Have a Healthy Baby?’ information booklet is a great place to start and can be downloaded for free here.
And call Diabetes Australia on 1300 156 588 for a free copy of the fabulous ‘Having a Healthy Baby’ DVD.
I’m feeling a little vulnerable after a few nasty overnight lows. Three times in the last week I’ve woken around 2.30am with the tell-tale ‘I’m low’ alarms screeching in my heads. I feel heavy. I feel like this.
It goes like this. The middle of the night, and I wake, but not really. I drift between sleep and awake, and whatever dream I am in the midst of starts to become real. I sleep some more, but now, my awake becomes part of my dream and I can’t tell where I begin and where I end.
I know that something is not right and I try to force myself to stir. My eyes are forced open. Legs and arms are heavy. All of me is heavy and thick and my head is muddled. I’m low and I know it, but I can’t remember how to respond.
I drift off to sleep again.
And wake.
‘Get up. Move!’ I tell myself. I try to call to Aaron, but there’s no sound. I reach over for the jar on the bedside table and prise open the lid. And sleep again.
When I wake, there are jellybeans in my hand, but none in my mouth. (I’m lucid right now as I write this, and think about how easy it would be if the glucose could be absorbed through my skin into my bloodstream!) Hand to mouth, tell myself to chew and feel the glucose running down my throat. I force myself not to drift to sleep again, now conscious enough to know that falling asleep with a mouthful of jellybeans is probably not a good idea.
And I’m awake – wide awake, heart pounding, drenched in sweat and starting to panic. Aaron sits up – sensing my terror. He passes me my meter after putting a strip into it. Click goes the lancet and five seconds counts down. 1.2mmol/l it says to me. The numbers don’t register to me, but I can see in Aaron’s face that it’s low. He gets up and grabs me a glass of juice and coaxes it down.
We wait, silently. Bella, our dog stirs in the bathroom, hearing us, thinking it’s morning. She gently scratches at the door, but goes back to sleep when she realised that no one is coming to get her and let her out.
Another BGL check and a 2.6mmol/l. Who would have thought that a number beginning with a two would make us feel better? Safer.
Aaron starts to fall asleep, but I can’t. I am now scared as I start to wonder what this hypo has done to my body. I try to remember recent hypos and how low I was. I lie awake, too scared to sleep. And now I start to count down the hours until the alarm goes off and the day begins.
Eventually, I sleep. But I’m unsettled and force myself awake every hour or so to check my BGL. Not reassured by any number. But I’m not low, so I allow myself to doze again.
The alarm sounds. My body feels like lead. I get up, face the day. It’s another night with diabetes. It’s another day.
So, I guess it’s time for some basal testing and maybe a visit to my lovely endocrinologist. What do others do to help deal with the fallout from hypos that leave you feeling overwhelmed?
Diabetogenic 