Category Archive

I’m in the middle of a lovely four day long weekend. Because of a horse race. Thanks, Melbourne!

See you on Wednesday!

Over the last couple of days, this meme has found its way across my social media feeds several times:
  
Each time I’ve scrolled past it, I have felt uncomfortable. For a number of reasons. 

Firstly, I wouldn’t wish diabetes on anyone – even for a day. 

But mostly, because for this to be true and fair, then surely it could be said of each and every health condition. Surely if people with diabetes expect others to walk a day in our shoes pumps (see what I did there?), then those with every other condition would expect the same. 

Living with a chronic health condition frequently means lots of health checks. This could mean regular blood tests, X-rays, scans or other things performed by HCPs. Or, as in the case with diabetes, it means ongoing, regular, daily (and several times daily) BGL checks.

Hopefully health checks are all meaningful. By that, I mean they are done for a specific reason and with particular action taken depending on the result. 

I thought about this the other day. I was speaking with someone who had argued with her GP after she had made an appointment for a routine check – a Pap smear. Now, this woman (who is happy for me to share this story) is very connected with her healthcare. She sees her diabetes team regularly and is always up to date with her complications screening. She gets pats on the back from the compliance police.

Her GP knows this because she makes sure that her diabetes team update her GP. 

The GP’s role in diabetes is different for everyone. I have a great GP, but he knowns that when it comes to diabetes, his role begins and ends with ‘You still have diabetes, right?’ And then we laugh and tick ‘diabetes’ off the list. Others have their GP as their primary care physician. 

My friend has the same sort of relationship with her GP as do I. She is also as vocal as I am when it comes to being very clear about the direction of medical appointments. So when she walked into her appointment, she made it very clear that she was there for a Pap test and that was it. 

After she had her Pap test, her GP asked her to step on the scales. ‘Oh,’ said my friend. ‘Why?’ 

It’s exactly the question I would ask. ‘Why?’ And it is the most useful question when it comes to healthcare. I ask it all the time which is really important when your healthcare professional is more from the school of ‘you will do this‘ rather than ‘this is an idea for us to discuss.’

I am more than happy to be thought of as a petulant toddler in the eyes of my healthcare professionals. I expect things to be explained to me – how else am I meant to make an informed decision about my healthcare?

Too frequently, we are asked to submit to tests (as basic as weight, or something far more complicated) or change our medication or treatment without an explanation as to why this is a good thing.

And frequently we do it without thinking. 

Part of being in control of my healthcare is to have full understanding about why we are doing what we do. I check my BGL to give me information to use when it comes to deciding what I will eat or how much insulin I need; I have my blood pressure checked to see if it has changed from the last time I had it checked and if so, if anything needs to be done. I also know it can be a predictor of other things related to diabetes, so it’s something that needs to be checked regularly.

But I refuse to have a check done unless there is a good reason and ‘Oh, just because’ is not a good reason. And that is the reason that my friend’s GP gave her. ‘Do you have some concerns about my weight?’ asked my friend. ‘Do I look different to last time I saw you? I don’t have any concerns, so I’m confused as to why you would suggest  it?’

Now, you can absolutely say that my friend was making a big deal over nothing, I disagree. If there is no reason, why have it done? I could go into something about weight being a fraught issue for a lot of people ( I won’t step onto the scales unless I absolutely have to), but actually that doesn’t matter.

There needs to be a reason. If there is no satisfactory and satisfying response to ‘why?’ it doesn’t happen. Simple as that!

I like a themed biscuit! How cute are these cookies‽

The real reason I wanted to post today was to (one last time, I promise) urge you to make a little donation to Spare a Rose, Save a Child.

We don’t really celebrate Valentine’s Day; we’ve always scoffed that it’s a Hallmark occasion. However this year, we have marked the day by making a donation. No roses, because flowers die but children really, really shouldn’t.

Enjoy your weekend. We’re enjoying the cookies! For breakfast.

The New Year is but a week old, yet Twitter outrage is already in full force.

Jamie Oliver released a photo the other day. There was the cheeky lad standing in front of a giant Coke can, holding up sixteen sachets of sugar. It took me a moment to see why this photo was flooding my social media streams.

But there it was: in the familiar Coca Cola font, across the giant can, the word ‘diabetes’.

And my heart sank.

There it was: unsophisticated messaging at its worse, that we’ve all seen it before. It’s unimaginative and, quite frankly, boring.

No. The reason was because I could taste the stigma, and I could taste the outrage. I could see what was happening and I could see that the outcome would be. Without reading them, I knew the words. I could feel the anger.

I’d seen it all before. Countless, countless times.

Jamie’s response was swift. He apologised on Twitter and removed the photo. That was the right thing to do after doing something thoughtless.

I love Jamie Oliver – I always have. I think the work he does supporting better nutritional choices for kids at school and people everywhere is really important. His profile allows for great reach and he usually is spot on with what he says.

His messaging is generic – it needs to be to reach the masses – but one of the things that I admire is that he doesn’t overstep the mark like some other celebrities. I can’t recall him ever making health claims, other than urging people to eat as much fresh food as they can and encouraging people to cook at home. ‘Teach your kids to cook,’ he says. That’s good advice!

But here he missed the mark here – drinking too much Coke doesn’t cause diabetes. But comments like his do cause stigma to those living with diabetes. How many times have we seen that happen?

I wasn’t all that angry about it this time.

Maybe my response is clouded by the fact that I am currently in the middle of an enormously enjoyable holiday where the most stressful thing I’ve encountered each day is deciding which hat to wear to face the cold. Perhaps I am too relaxed and chilled out and basking in the glow of doing nothing but spending time with my husband, daughter and some wonderful friends. Perhaps it was his swift apology.

In my incredibly fortunate position of enjoying said holiday, maybe it’s easy for me to just dismiss this. It’s easy to not let it add to stresses and pressures of work and life. It’s actually quite liberating! Perhaps something to try more of when reality returns at the end of the month and I go back to work and back to ‘real life.’ Life can be stressful enough without adding social media outrage to the list!

Wishing you all the happiest of holidays, merriest of Christmases and most joyful of times – however you choose to celebrate.

We’re celebrating with dear friends in New York. Missing our extended clan back home in Melbourne, but so lucky and pleased to be sharing the season with a great family, and enjoying a northern hemisphere Christmas. (Message to Santa – could you please make it snow? Please? Pretty please?)

Thank you for dropping by this year; for the support; for the laughs and for the love. It’s been a tough year, but 2015 is looming bright. Bring it on!

Much love from my gorgeous family to yours.

Renza

Take it away, Bruce!

On Wednesday, I discovered that I had been alive for 14,979 days. Not satisfied with having ticked off another year and just celebrated another birthday, I got a glimpse of how many days I’ve seen.

Today, I have lived with diabetes for 6,078 days.

Often, when people have had diabetes for a number of years, they start to measure the practical things – xxx number of injections; xxx drops of blood; xxx visits to hospital; xxx hours sitting in doctors’ offices; xxx kilos of jelly beans consumed.

Often these numbers can provide context which can be particularly useful to illustrate the impact of diabetes on people’s every day lives. It helps those without diabetes understand the day-to-day tasks, especially their frequency and consistency.

As a person who has lived with diabetes for sixteen and a half years, what these types of little exercises show is just how consuming diabetes is. I start to think of the minutes, the hours and the days diabetes has taken. It’s a toll that, when measured – especially when measured long term – is so significant. And I never forget that have had diabetes in the time of 5 second BGL checks, disposable everything and minimal preparation required. Those diagnosed years before me have tales to tell of 2 minutes countdowns to get a BGL reading, or the need to boil and sharpen needles.

I don’t really like to measure the minutiae of diabetes – it depresses me and has the power to overwhelm me. What I do like to measure is the time passed and the way I am going despite that time. Because as crap as individual situations can be, as much as it sometimes hurts to jab my finger and draw blood, as much as the thought of having to eat another jelly bean can make me weep, I have 6,078 days under my belt of it all. That doesn’t make me feel upset. Instead, it makes me feel elated.

It’s Friday. Sixteen years ago, I was listening (and walking) to this.

Have a great day everyone!

Yesterday, a very smart woman announced to me that she believes the greatest advancement in diabetes EVER is the hair straightener. (Yes. I had that look on my face too.)

She went on to explain that the hair straightener meant that the aftermath of night-time hypos was easier to deal with because her hair could be tamed much more easily, making getting to work simpler.

She is totally right.

When I’ve had one of those overnight hypos where I’ve sweated litres, I wake up with hair that looks like one of those troll dolls from the 1980s (perhaps not fluro green, but you get the idea).

Having a hair straightener at the ready means that it’s far easier to pull myself together in my post-hypo stupor. Not needing to wash my hair means one fewer thing to navigate when I am undoubtedly running late and having trouble buttoning up a shirt.

We decided that there should be a national subsidy program to provide straighteners to all people with diabetes experiencing this (yet to be named) complication of overnight hypos.

Clearly, I have been thinking about diabetes advancements in the wrong way. Getting excited about pumps and CGM and the bionic pancreas is directing my energy and attention the wrong way. Sure, they are all lovely and make the diabetes stuff easier to manage.

But my hair straightener makes my life easier to manage. Thank you Messrs Sassoon and GHD.

There is little that frustrates me more than wasting time. I’m not going to claim to be the busiest person in the world – everyone is busy these days and has much on their plates. But I am the scheduling Queen – it’s the only way I manage to hold down a job and a life. Most other people I know are in the same boat; I claim no superpowers here.

But when I have a day that is scheduled to fit in as much as possible, I am beyond frustrated to have walked into a medical appointment to be told nonchalantly that my doctor is running an hour behind. One hour. Sixty minutes. At my scheduled time, he is three patients behind.

So, personal responsibility – I should have called to see if there was a delay. But where is the responsibility of the doctor/admin team at the surgery? If a doctor is running three patients behind schedule, surely a text message or phone call to let me know wouldn’t be too difficult.

This is part of the attitude of medical professionals that I don’t understand. I get that I will need to wait – I factor that into the scheduling – but an hour is not okay. There is an arrogance that suggests their time is far more valuable than mine.

If I was running late to this appointment – even just a couple of minutes – I would have called the doctor’s rooms to let them know.

I don’t know of any other situation where there is an assumption that it will be okay for a person using a service of any kind to just have to wait.

I will let the doctor know that I think their system needs to be considered, and that whilst I understand that waiting in a waiting room (yep – they got the naming if this one right!) is to be expected, an hour long (actually, now looking to be an hour and fifteen minutes) showing some courtesy for the paying customer (yep – that’s what I am here) would be greatly appreciated.

I have now rejigged the rest of my day’s appointments so I don’t keep anyone waiting for me. Because that would be rude.

Okay – am I just being grumpy or do I had a valid point here? Has anyone found a solution to this? Others’ experiences greatly appreciated!