Diabetes and the F word

party dog

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The “F” word is common when you live with diabetes – Food, Fear, Frustration, Friendships, Fitness, Forever, Fingers, Feelings, Foresight (is always a good thing), Forgetting (to take your medication,or if you have taken it!) not Forgetting (ever, that you have diabetes), Family (you need them on your team), Forgiving yourself (never blame yourself – for anything), For goodness sake and yes, the big four letter F bomb and yes I am dropping it so apologies if you have a no swear policy – Fuck it all – that is definitely an often used word when it comes to diabetes in my house!

Do you have any to add?

Yesterday, as I was waiting out an hour or so to eat, after making my very healthy weight watchers fruit and natural yoghurt dessert and finding my levels still sitting at 14 mmol after 2 hours and a bolus, I watched my family getting on with their lives. Grabbing some food without thought. Not needing to prick their finger every 30 minutes to see if they were coming down enough to eat yet. Not deciding that maybe a pump site change was needed, again. Not worrying about whether they would now crash, or feeling totally pissed off that they couldn’t eat yet and could just look longingly at their bowl of yoghurt and kick the cat who also was looking longingly at it….The busyness of life just goes on while those of us with diabetes face our silent struggles or sometimes not so silent.

And in that moment I felt so alone.

Do you have those moments?

That is the main reason I started Diabetes Counselling Online all those years ago – to stop people like me, like you, like us – from feeling alone. It has been a long journey with ups and downs and we are still here. Diabetes Counselling Online will change again in a few months when our funding ends. But you can guarantee that we will still be here in some form with that same goal – telling stories, sharing support and hoping that we can all feel a little less alone.

If you have ever had any connection with us over the last 15 years we would love it if you can fill out our short survey below. It will help us tell our funding body what we have been doing well and not so well. Oh another F word- Funding- and Thank you (well not an F but we are so grateful to have had this funding support).

thank you sweet friends and here’s to the best F word of all – Friendship – oh and that Featured image of man’s best Friend? That’s because life should so much be a party, diabetes or not- go forward and live it lovelies

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/XWF355B

xx

Helen

 

 

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Guest Blog: There’s never enough hours in a day, days in a week.

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Guest post from Georgia

flower frame 7 (1 of 1).jpg smallWorking full time and running a Partnered Small Business, things get a bit hectic – trying to squeeze life in in between

I’ve been trying to do the early morning thing – getting to work earlier & leaving a little earlier, and so far it has done wonders, that extra hour gives me so much time to smash out all what I need to do. However I want to try and wake up earlier so I have morning time too, which leaves my weekends free for fun!

What I have noticed is with working and being so tired by the end of the week, I rarely get any time to just chill – by myself. I think it’s important to have some time to think and for me I love being creative, so what I have done is put some time in my diary every now and then to do what I want, whether it’s shopping, writing, exploring and taking photos- just a little time every now and then to re-centre myself.

Life can be so rushed, I am at fault of this too – I always rush through things so I can see results, but recently I’ve learnt to live in the moment (which has caught my attention a lot lately). I recently went to Melbourne to see one of my favourite bands, ‘The 1975’, who were flawless and exceeded all my expectations. Not only was their music and stage presence captivating – the lead singer told the audience (which consisted of mostly under 18s) to put their phones away and live in the moment, instead of longing for the time when they can post their photos and videos and hashtag until their hearts’ content.

Unfortunately, some people disrespected his request and kept snapping away – to which he had to address the audience again and told them to ‘please’ put their phones away.

This made me think of how much we depend on broadcasting our moments rather than enjoying them. To convince people we’re having fun instead of actually letting go and having fun. Don’t get me wrong I am all for social media, it’s one of the fundamentals in my business, but when it comes to my personal life, although I love sharing great moments, the share can wait but the moment can’t so enjoy it and post about it later.

Life goes too fast as it is, but I believe if we walk slower and look up from our phones to take in what is around us, you’ll get to experience the real quality of life.

Adjö,

Georgia

 

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Case Study 1: George Mellows (1)

Some things you can Control. Diabetes you can manage.
"Enjoying a good quality of life is my goal" George
“Enjoying a good quality of life is my goal”

George Mellows is aged 55. He lives with his wife and his two teenage children, aged 15 and 19.

George works Monday to Friday 8.30 am until 4.30 pm . He works at a desk in a sedentary role, getting minimal activity in his working day. George has not played any sport for some time, but he does enjoy playing lawn bowls.

4 weeks ago George was:

  • feeling excessively thirsty
  • was peeing more than normal
  • was feeling tired and lethargic
  • and was always feeling hungry

So, George went to visit his doctor. He described the symptoms, and his doctor sent him for a glucose tolerance test to test for diabetes. The results of this test confirmed a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes .

George was a little shocked as he has nobody in the family with diabetes, only a history of heart disease.

Until this diagnosis of type 2 diabetes George had no identified health problems.

Since his doctor discovered diabetes George has had some further blood work and had been found to have high cholesterol.

Measuring the Blood Glucose Level

George decided to start measuring his blood glucose levels as he was still feeling some symptoms, despite the doctor commencing George on Metformin 500mg in the evening with dinner. Table 1 below shows George’s blood glucose level test results.

Click on table to enlarge
Table 1: Click on table to enlarge

George has yet to see a diabetes educator, dietitian, exercise physiologist or podiatrist.

Since starting the blood glucose level measurement George identifies, that despite commencing on Metformin, his blood glucose levels are above target.

Below is a table from the RACGP (Royal Australian College of General Practitioners) identifying the target blood glucose levels in type 2 diabetes. *Note: target blood glucose levels need to be individualised.

Targets for self-monitored glycaemic control in type 2 diabetes *

FBG (mmol/L) Pre-prandial blood glucose (mmol/L) Postprandial blood glucose (mmol/L) Comment
6.0–8.0 6.0–8.0 6.0–10.0 NHMRC values

Based on his blood glucose levels after meal, George is concerned. He thought that taking his Metformin would be all that he needed to do. Now, he feels like he has failed.

George joined several groups of people living with diabetes on Facebook ( https://www.facebook.com/diabetes.counselling ) to see if he could glean some further understanding of diabetes self management.

Self-management means having a daily management plan, setting goals, solving problems and taking responsibility. But it certainly does not mean you are on your own. Mutual trust and respect between yourself and your doctor and other members of the health care team, as well as regular communication with them, are vital to effective self-management.

Previously, traditional care was based on doctors and health professionals being seen as the experts responsible for the diagnosis and management of care. It was accepted that people’s lives should be fitted around their diabetes with goals set by the health professionals.

But this approach is not effective. Diabetes requires daily management. Doctors are not available every day, leaving responsibility for day-to-day care on the patient and the family.

In addition, good results are difficult to achieve if the person involved is not an active participant or does not understand the reasons behind management decisions.

Patient Empowerment takes a new approach. It moves the focus from the doctor to the patient. It involves fitting diabetes into your lifestyle with you making the choices and taking charge of your management and the consequences.” Diabetes Australia

Georges Plan:

  1. Research diabetes and prepare questions for doctor, diabetes educator, dietitian.
  2. Meet with diabetes educator:

    “Diabetes educators are healthcare professionals who focus on helping people with and at risk for diabetes and related conditions achieve behavior change goals which, in turn, lead to better clinical outcomes and improved health status. Diabetes educators apply in-depth knowledge and skills in the biological and social sciences, communication, counseling, and education to provide self-management education/self- management training.” American Diabetes Association

    “Diabetes educators specialise in the provision of diabetes self-management education for people with diabetes.

    They provide support for people with diabetes, including gestational diabetes, integrating clinical care, self-management education, skills training and disease specific information to motivate patients to:

    • Understand diabetes and make informed lifestyle and treatment choices
    • Incorporate physical activity into daily life
    • Use their medicines effectively and safely
    • Monitor and interpret their blood glucose patterns” Allied Health Professions Australia
  3. Meet with dietitian: appointment booked
  4. Meet with doctor: appointment booked

George plans to ask about different treatment options.

Here are some questions George has prepared for his team:

Is this the best medication for me?

If I get any side effects what do I do? If this medication does not work, what’s next?

Do you mean ….. ? Is there anything I should not be doing?

How soon should treatment start ?

Can the treatment start next month when I am back from holidays?

Can I stop the treatment when I can’t afford it?

How much will the treatment cost?

What can I do to prevent further problems?

What can I do to keep my condition from getting worse?

How will making a change to my habits help me?

Are there support groups or community services that might help me?

Which other HCP’s will be able to help me manage this health issue?

Hand in hand with your health care professionals you van achieve a good quality of life with diabetes
Hand in hand with your health care professionals you can achieve a good quality of life when living with diabetes

Over to You

What advice would you give to George?

What was your experiences of being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes ?

How did you access your diabetes educator, dietitian, counsellor etc?

**** Added January 26: Part 2 HERE *****

Next time we visit George, we shall see how he is progressing with his diabetes self care plan http://www.diabetescounselling.com.au/choices-in-diabetes-management/

In the meantime, healthy days to you.

Kind Regards,

David, Diabetes Educator @ Diabetes Counselling Online

 

 

 

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Guest post from Georgia: Fresh as a daisy!

flowers on country fence

Sharing a guest blog from Georgia today

xx

Helen

I have got motivated this week, it is 2015 – a fresh start, my fresh start. After a long (needed) break it was go time, 2015 hit me with full force of determination; I was going to make this year mine.
I started with the compulsory booking of appointments, at first hair & nails, then the medical side of things: Endocrinologist (a new one, for a new start); Podiatrist (my annual care plan appointment); Eye test (my biannually care plan appointment); blood test for my 3 monthly Hba1c and an appointment with my GP to get my referral for my new Endo.

I have a feeling, after a messy 2014 this year is going to deliver the goods, a year to achieve and work towards my goals and get my Fashion Blog well and truly off the ground and get everything (diabetes wise) in the best shape possible.

Not that it is in a bad place at the moment, I feel great but there’s always room for improvement, like my quote of the week “Always be a work in progress”, you can never stop bettering yourself.

A new Endo means a chance to have someone understand me more and to hear my side of things before looking at levels, a new set of eyes to provide me with help and support. It took a while for me to agree to find a new Endo, I was adamant that I could handle everything myself (I’m still confident I could), but it doesn’t hurt and who knows my stubborn self may learn a thing or two. I am going in to this with no qualms what so ever. After my last experience I hold no expectations to my new doctor, but hope that this time round it doesn’t end in guilty tears.

On another note, I am all about challenges – I get stressed when I have so much to do, but I never feel satisfied until my diary is full of commitments. I like being busy and I love challenging myself and investing myself in new tasks.

This year I am focusing on:
1. Getting fitter than ever
2. Having more adventures
3. Possibly undertaking an external course
4. Doing a first Aid Course
5. Expanding my/our Fashion Blog.

I advise you all to make this year your year! I turn 22 this year and I read this great article saying how your 20’s are your selfish years and your 30’s are your years to plan for the rest of your life, me being me I want to make my 20’s both of those things.

But most importantly, I am focusing on me, investing my time on those who I truly care about and who truly care about me. High school was years ago and I am feeling myself grow up and change from the person I was 3 years ago – I am still the same child who dances to One Direction around my room, and my values haven’t changed, but I have and so has my attitude – all for the better of course.

2015 baby!

Au Revoir
Georgia.
georgia new year

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