Health Archives - Diabetes Counselling Online

Guest Blog: Foot care, diabetic #neuropathy

March 11, 2015 by helwild 6 Comments

One of our Closed groups on the Social Media platform of Facebook is called ‘Diabetes Education and Management’. This group is supported by Diabetes Educators and a Midwife, a Dietitian, and a Pharmacist, as well as Mental Health Counsellors.

Recently one of our Diabetes Educators posted a link to a blog about complications and Foot Care in diabetes management, a fairly regular topic of discussion. Footcare form edited July 09

A very heartfelt and powerful response came from a member of the group, Zac. Zac has very strong views on the importance of seeking truth, accurate information, and developing informed knowledge about foot care and diabetic neuropathy in particular. He warns about the high risks associated with poor diabetic control, and not being proactive in our own health care, risks that he believes were not made clear to him before it was too late. Here are Zac’s powerful words:

This topic is very interesting to me, being a Diabetic T2 for a few years now. I visit my Clinic only once a year. They make my appointments, not me. BUT I just wish I had’ve been told about the seriousness of COMPLICATIONS of Diabetes as so far as Peripheral Neuropathy is concerned, as I now have it.

Not once was I referred to a Podiatrist, so I asked to make an appointment, only to be told they are not taking any more patients as they are over loaded. Well, I didn’t bother too much about it at the time, as I didn’t have Peripheral Neuropathy, and thought nothing of it. Until, that is, for another 2 yrs. By then, my feet felt like they were in a bucket of bull ants.

Not realising this was nerve damage, I put up with it, until, on one of my visits to my Clinic the nurse did a small test on my feet. She looked at them and said, “Oh, your feet are fine.” So I asked, “What would be making my feet feel like they are being bitten by bull ants?” She looked at them again, said she didn’t know, and again, said she thought my feet were fine, so home I went, feeling disappointed.

On the next visit, I demanded. I said, “Something is SERIOUSLY WRONG with my feet, please help me.” So the nurse called in some guy, whom I wasn’t introduced to, and he put a name to it, called it ‘Peripheral Neuropathy’. Well, I was just over the moon that someone had finally worked out what was wrong with them!

But then he said, “Go to your chemist buy some Phanalgon Cream. This helps some people.” my reply was, “But I want something that will definitely help my feet!”

He said, “There is no cure for Peripheral Neuropathy.”

So I said, “You’re kidding me, in this day and age there is no cure for it?”

He said, “Yes, no cure.”

So home I went, with Phanalgon Cream in hand, only to have a bad reaction to it. My skin started to peel off from my feet, as it has chilli in it. So I tried again when my feet healed, but used less of the cream. Still I had a reaction to it, so I gave that the flick…..

I’m ANGRY at myself. First of all, for being so flippant about Diabetes; and not educating myself about complications which I never knew existed. And I’m ANGRY at my Clinic for not pointing these matters out to me in the first place. After all, isn’t this why we attend clinics? When the nurse used to test my feet, I was never given an explanation as to why. It’s the same with my eye tests. I was never told that Diabetes can affect your eyes. I just thought it was a normal eye test…Sorry this is long winded but if I can help just ONE person to realise the seriousness of Diabetes Complications then it will have been worth while typing all of this.

I just wish I had been warned. Peripheral Neuropathy is the pits, and I don’t have a normal life now. I am practically house bound because of it…..If you have read this far I Thank You and I Thank you David Mapletoft and Sally Marchini and for everything I have learned through your expertise and knowledge, even though it’s too late. Well, not too late as far as Diet is concerned, but it’s too late for my suffering feet. Thank you Zac

Zac has kindly shared his experience here. Do you have a similar experience? Can you give Zac any suggestions on how to manage his foot discomfort and pain?

Helen Wilde

Senior Counsellor

Helen has been a Counsellor with the service since 2003. She has been the parent of someone living with Type 1 diabetes since 1979, and has lived with type 2 diabetes herself since 2001.

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Making Rice Nice for Diabetes

January 12, 2015 by Sally Leave a Comment

Rice is one of those grains that can be problematic for people with diabetes, so I thought it might help if we explain a little of why that is, why different rices have varying effects on our BGLs and ways to make rice more diabetes friendly.

You may know that, generally speaking, a quarter of a cup of cooked rice is one carb serve. You can see that in this snip from CalorieKing showing that half a cup of boiled rice = 28.8g carb (or 2 carb serves).

And this photo shows you what half a cup of cooked rice (2 carb serves) looks like on a plate.

You may also know that, particularly for us with diabetes, we’re better having rice that breaks down more slowly to glucose in our bloodstream, or low-GI rice. The main types in Australia of low GI rices are long grain rices including Basmati and Doongara. Even when choosing brown rice for the extra fibre, we’re best to choose brown Basmati or Doongara.

This mini-table gives you a feel for the glycemic indexes of various rice products.

Source: Low GI Diet Shoppers Guide 2014

Rice type	Glycemic Index	Glycemic Index rating
Aborio/risotto rice, boiled, SunRice	69	Medium
Basmati white rice, boiled, SunRice	59	Medium
Basmati white rice, SunRice, microwave pouch	52	Low
Calrose rice, brown, medium-grain, boiled	76	High
Calrose rice, white, medium-grain, boiled	87	High
Japanese style sushi rice, SunRice	89	High
Jasmine fragrant rice, SunRice	73	High
Long-grain rice, white, boiled 15 mins, Mahatma	50	Low
Low-GI Long-Grain rice, Brown, SunRice	54	Low

This is only a snapshot, but it indicates that there’s quite a difference in how quickly the different rice types break down to glucose in our bloodstream. It’s also worth bearing in mind that the longer you cook any rice the higher it’s GI rating will become, so try to keep it tender, not mushy.

What makes these rices different in GI is the type of starches they contain combined with the shape of the grains. The two main starches found in rice varieties are amylose and amylopectin. Wikipedia explains that high-amylose varieties of rice, the less sticky long-grain rice, have a much lower glycemic load. It’s to do with the chemical structure of the starches.

Nutritionally rice is mostly starch (80-90%). This snip from Wikipedia shows the nutritional content of Rice, white, long-grain, raw, and demonstrates that it doesn’t add a whole lot of nutrients to our meals other than carbohydrate.

By keeping your portion sizes reasonable, consuming protein foods and vegetables with your rice meal will add nutrients and lower the overall GI of the meal.

And dishes that you’ve previously always used rice in can be nutritionally enhanced by swapping in other forms of more nutritious grains such as barley, quinoa and cracked wheat. Why not do an experiment and try some swaps out for yourself? One of my dietitian colleagues makes her sushi with quinoa, and barley risotto is amazing! Here’s a recipe from Taste.com.au for it.

One trick with rice is to combine it with other grains for added fibre and nutrients and to further lower the glycemic index and improve that nutritional profile.

Fortunately more and more options are available to us.

The Australian company, SunRice, has a great range of ‘Health & Wellbeing’ rices and rice blends that you may like to consider trying.

And Coles also has recently launched some similar products that are all high in fibre and have a low glycemic index too. The varieties available are:

Brown Rice and Quinoa
Brown Rice and Chia seeds
7 Ancient Grains – a combination of brown rice, green lentils, millet, quinoa, sorghum, amaranth and chia seeds (the highest fibre variety).

These microwaveable packs usually contain 2 serves per pack. You should check the Total Carb per Serve column to check how many carb serves a ‘serve’ contains. It’s usually about two. They’re very convenient quality carb options to keep in your pantry.

Resistant starch

Just a reminder while we’re on the subject of starches, that cooked and cooled starches develop a crystalline structure which makes them resistant to digestion (hence their name) which lowers their glycemic index. So adding cooked and cooled rice to your salads is a great way of adding a serve or two of low-GI carbs to your meal to help manage your blood glucose levels and provide the many benefits associated with including low-GI carbs in each meal. The theory of resistant starch goes that if the starch resists digestion it will end up in the large bowel to feed the good bacteria which in turn improve our immunity and overall wellbeing. You can read more in the blog on fibre if you’re interested.

So I hope you learned how to make rice work better for you. Please let us know if you have any questions. Sally

Sally is the Social Media Dietitian with Diabetes Counselling Online, owner of her private practice (Marchini Nutrition), and has had type 1 diabetes for close to 40 years and coeliac disease for many years too. You can access a linked list of all Sally’s Diabetes Counselling Online blogs here.

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Making 2&5 easy

November 3, 2014 by Sally Leave a Comment

We’re all so busy these days. How on Earth are we meant to able to consider our health and getting enough fruit and vegetables (our 2&5) into the meals we eat?

Often I see clients who, when I take their diet histories, they don’t even start to consider foods like fruit and vegetables until so late in the day that it’s actually too late to get enough of those important plant nutrients. Or when they’re doing it they find them so unappealing that there’s no incentive to make them want to eat more.

In this blog I hope to help you find it easier to get them all in and enjoy them, which in turn will help you to improve your own wellbeing, diabetes health, mental health, heart health and so much more!

The Australian Dietary Guidelines tells us:

“There are many nutritional, societal, culinary and environmental reasons to ensure that vegetables, including legumes/beans, and fruit are a major component of Australian dietary patterns. These foods are nutrient dense, relatively low in energy (kilojoules) and are good sources of minerals and vitamins (such as magnesium, vitamin C and folate), dietary fibre and a range of phytochemicals including carotenoids. Many of the sub-components of foods and their relationships have not been studied in detail, and it is expected that other sub-components – and their biological effects – are still to be discovered.”

From a diabetes point of view, they’ll help improve our immune system, mental health, good cholesterol, bowel health and help with weight management (just to name a few benefits!).

Perhaps a good start would be to look at ideas to include them in your meals across the day, and then provide you with some easy recipes – some of my personal favourites, and I encourage you to share your personal favourites below too in case they inspire someone else to enjoy more of these wonderful foods.

A good starting point is to know what the guideline is and how much a serve is. This snip from the Australian Dietary Guidelines for Adults brochure provides a pretty clear picture.

One of my best tips is to break up the intake of these foods across the day so that you’re not left with large amounts required at the end. Personally I aim to get 2-3 serves of vegetables at lunchtime and another 2-3 for dinner, and I one of my fruit serves at breakfast and one as a snack later in the day. But there are no rules about this. Here are some ideas that might help you.

Breakfast

Weekday breakfasts usually need to be fast to prepare and eat. So a bowl of high fibre cereal with a serve of fruit is one easy way to get you off to a good start. Think bananas, strawberries, blueberries. A milk based smoothie also works well here, as does multigrain toast with peanut butter and a squashed banana.

On weekends with a little more time, why not wilt some baby spinach leaves and panfry mushrooms and tomato, served on toast with an egg. Remembering that one medium sized tomato equals a serve, and half a cup of cooked veg (the mushrooms and wilted spinach) is another serve, you’re off to a great start with two vegetable serves already under your belt.

Lunch

I love lunchtimes in my office. I take the various ingredients to build my favourite salad and set aside an hour to build and eat it while I check my email and Facebook. My salads include mixed leaves, baby tomatoes (various colours if they’re available), Lebanese cucumber, onion, half a cup of 4 bean mix and a quarter of an avocado. That gives me around 3 vegetable serves and I salivate over every mouthful.

Of course leftover are also a top idea for lunch, especially ones high in vegetable ingredient, and can be served with baby spinach leaves to lift them.

And if you’re in a massive hurry and can only have time to make a sandwich, pile on the salad and take some extra veg in a box to nibble on with your sandwich. I just adore the flavour in the grape or Perino tomatoes, and cooked and cooled asparagus (in season at the moment) are such a treat flavourwise – I even enjoy it raw!

Dinner

A good place to start here is to remember the plate model, in that half your plate should be non-starchy veg or salad.

I’ll provide ideas below on some yummy ways you can make this happen. It is definitely the easiest meal to get those extra serves in, so 2-3 shouldn’t be a challenge at all.

Snacks

Of course a piece of fruit is an excellent snack, remembering you’re aiming for 2 per day, so if you’ve had one with your breakfast you only need one later in the day too. For us with diabetes they’re better off eaten at separate times to keep our BGLs more stable.

Five easy ideas to enjoy your vegetables

Simply steamed or microwaved to an ‘al-dente’ texture (ie not overcooked) mixed vegetables of your choice such as broccoli, zucchini, green beans and peas. Dress with the juice of a lemon, a finely chopped clove of garlic, extra virgin olive oil (equal amount to the lemon juice) and salt and pepper to taste. Delicious!
Start with a tin of tomatoes and add flavours such as garlic, anchovies and chilli. Then just add your choice of veggies and simmer in the sauce for 5 minutes or until they’re an al-dente texture (not overcooked). Tasty!
Take a bowl and add a huge variety of vegetables such as mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, capsicum, zucchini, pumpkin, beans, whole garlic cloves, onion and toss them in some extra virgin olive oil with fresh or dried oregano and salt and pepper to taste. Tip them into a baking tray lined with baking paper (for easy washing up) and roast at 180 degrees Celsius for about 30 mins. Also wonderful with crumbled feta cheese tossed through at the end, and delicious cold the next day for leftover lunches!
Soups and stews are such an obvious choice for those who find it hard to enjoy their veggies as all you need to do is add a whole load of mixed veggies into a large pot, cover with stock, simmer for 20-30 minutes and blend with your desired flavourings. How easy is that?!
Last but not least, if you have left over steamed vegetables it’s so easy to reinvigorate them by adding them into a mix of a few beaten eggs and some cheese and a few extra fresh herbs, baked for 30 mins at 180 degrees to make a frittata that will ‘Wow’ your guests. Also fabulous for next day lunches to help get your vegetable serves in. Yummo!

That’s probably enough to cover in this blog. I’ve give you quite a lot to consider. As mentioned, we’d love you to share your favourite ways of enjoying vegetables, and let’s talk about them more in our Diabetes Counselling Online groups such as Diabetes and Food – let’s celebrate it!, Diabetes Weight Matters and Men Living with Diabetes among others.

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A fat introduction – blog 1 of a series on fats and diabetes

July 14, 2014 by Sally 2 Comments

I thought it was about time for another blog mini-series and fat is a topic that we see written about a lot so it’s easy to be misled when you’re provided with information that may be influenced by sales and marketing, and ‘fat’ is a huge topic to cover. The benefit of having such topics explained by an Accredited Practising Dietitian is that we’re not trying to sell you anything – just wanting to help you to make the best decisions for your d-health and we base our advice on the best available evidence through scientific research which is constantly being reviewed and updated where appropriate.

As an introduction I’ll remind you that fats are an important part of our diets, as are carbohydrates and proteins (these 3 being the major macronutrients that produce energy) and every cell in our body needs quality fats to protect it, help it communicate with other cells and to allow important biological processes to occur in our bodies. It’s important for us, especially as people with or at risk of diabetes, to understand about the different types of fats, or fatty acids, and choosing the right fats in the right amounts can benefit our wellbeing in many ways. In this blog I’ll explain what the different types of fats are and where they’re found, as well as how much the Australian Dietary Guidelines recommends for people with diabetes.

From a healthy weight perspective, the Australian Dietary Guidelines reminds us that, “When eaten in large amounts, all fats, including healthy fats, can contribute to weight gain. Fat is higher in energy (kilojoules) than any other nutrient and so eating less fat overall is likely to help with weight loss.” So again, it’s all about balance!

Something I found enlightening when learning about foods applies particularly with fats, in that they’re not black and white in the varying types, but more like differing shades of grey. To demonstrate my point, nuts are a perfect example. If you refer to page 2 of this tree nut ready reckoner you can see that every nut has a different amount of all the different types of fat within it. I make this point to reinforce that, as with most things in diabetes, it’s about making healthy choices whenever you can but not worrying too much about small amounts of things that we know we’re better without (such as saturated and trans fats).

Which is a perfect segway to talk about Types of Fats

I think the most straightforward explanation of the different types of fats is found on the Dietitian’s Association of Australia website where they explain:

“There are two main types of fats: saturated fats and unsaturated fats.

Saturated fats

Saturated fats are ‘unhealthy’ fats, and eating greater amounts of saturated fat is linked with an increased risk of heart disease and high blood cholesterol levels. These fats are solid at room temperature and are found in:

Animal-based products:

Dairy foods – such as butter, cream, full fat milk and cheese
Meat – such as fatty cuts of beef, pork and lamb, processed meats like salami, and chicken (especially chicken skin)

Some plant-derived products:

Palm oil
Coconut
Coconut milk and cream
Cooking margarine

Saturated fats are also commonly found in many manufactured and packaged foods such as:

Fatty snack foods
Deep fried take away foods
Cakes
Pastries and pies
Biscuits

Unsaturated fats

Unsaturated fats are ‘healthy’ fats and are an important part of a healthy diet. These fats help reduce the risk of heart disease and lower cholesterol levels (among other health benefits) when they replace saturated fats in the diet.

There are two main types of unsaturated fats: polyunsaturated fats and monounsaturated fats.

Polyunsaturated fats:

omega-3 fats which are found in fish
omega-6 fats which are found in some oils such as safflower and soybean oil, along with some nuts, including brazil nuts.

Monounsaturated fats:

found in olive and canola oil, avocados and some nuts, such as cashews and almonds.

Trans fats

Trans fats are unsaturated fats that have been processed and as a result, behave like saturated fats. Consumption of trans fats increase the levels of ‘bad’ cholesterol and decrease the levels of ‘good’ cholesterol in the body which is a major risk factor for heart disease. It is important to lower the amounts of trans fats you eat to help improve your health.

Trans fats are found in many processed foods, also in butter and some margarines. When buying these products check the labels and choose the varieties that are lower in saturated and trans fats and higher in poly and monounsaturated fats.”

In summary, we should aim to have most of our fat intake from mono- and poly-unsaturated fats.

How much should we have?

You may remember from my blog on label reading that on nutrition information panels we should aim for less than 10g/100g total fat, and less than 2g/100g saturated fats. This is because people with diabetes tend to have higher rates of bad cholesterol, and reducing amounts of saturated fats (and poor quality carbohydrates) is one of the most effective ways of reducing that bad cholesterol.

The Australian Dietary Guidelines advises that in addition to the serves outlined for the five food groups, “an allowance for unsaturated spreads and oils for cooking, or nuts and seeds can be included in the following quantities: 28-40g per day for men less than 70 years of age, and 14-20g per day for women and older men.”

That’s probably enough info for this first blog. If you have specific fat-related questions that you’d like answered in the rest of the fat-series, just comment below and I’ll do my best to answer them for you.

Also remember to see your Accredited Practising Dietitian if you think some personalised advice could be useful, or arrange for an e-consultation with our e-dietitian at Diabetes Counselling Online.

Wishing you a great week! Sally

Sally is the Social Media Dietitian with Diabetes Counselling Online, owner of her private practice (Marchini Nutrition), and has had type 1 diabetes for close to 40 years and coeliac disease for many years too.

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My d-holiday in Thailand

July 7, 2014 by Sally 2 Comments

Wow! I really needed that break! I had concerns about my diabetes and coeliac disease before I left, but other than a few minor hiccups, they were fine. I prepared well, and was mindful of my activities (as much as possible) so thought I’d share some of the highlights with you.

You probably all know how I feel about routine being so important for diabetes control. I really didn’t know how I’d go with a complete break from my usual routine. I was also concerned about the impact of the high-GI foods in Thailand, and from a coeliac perspective, the availability of low-GI gluten free foods. So, I decided to be organised and ensure I took with me what I needed:

10 measured packets of my low-GI GF cereal
2 loaves of my low-GI GF bread
A few juice poppers in case of night-time hypos
Mixed unsalted nuts for snacks

And I was glad I did that as it did make a big difference! Of course I also took a spare BGL meter and loads of extra fast acting and Lantus insulin and Glucagen but fortunately didn’t need them.

The Flights

I also had to think about the plane flights, as we flew with Jetstar and they don’t provide gluten free meals. For the way over I made a frittata with lots of veggies, sweet potato and cannellini beans (for low-GI carb) which was very tasty, and my Mum (who I was travelling with) was envious as her in-flight meal was not nearly as appealing. I also took a couple of pieces of my low-GI GF bread and a jar of peanut butter, an apple, a box of nuts and a juice popper for the flight. Worked out perfectly, but I didn’t need the popper (no hypos).

On the way back we slept most of the way, but I took a baby banana (provided every day in our room as part of a fruit platter) and boiled egg from the resort and had those with bread and peanut butter for my on-board breakfast. Very satisfying – a peanut butter and banana sandwich with an egg on the side!

The Resort Food

We had breakfast included in our package which was an enormous buffet of cereals, breads, pastries, European food and Thai food as well as the usual cooked breakfast options. I missed my coffee as, although they offered coffee, it was different to the coffee we have here. Of course, I had brought my own cereal, and I indulged in a freshly made omelette most days – most delicious. I also tried some Thai breakfast options including a clear broth with pork and cabbage with a fish sauce-based chilli seasoning. Very zingy and tasty!

I found that being coeliac wasn’t much of an issue there, but was glad to have my own cereal and bread. For lunch we took a selection from the European breakfast option of cold meats/cheeses and salad to make our own sandwiches in our room.

The night time meals were pretty easy to manage other than having a higher glycemic index/load than I’m used to. Most of the seasonings were based on fish sauce, tamarind, lime juice and coconut milk, so I really only had to watch out for soy sauce. And the noodles – some were wheat based, but they’re pretty easy to spot so I just avoided those, and of course there rice and mung bean/glass noodles always available.

When we ate at the buffets in the Resort, the staff were only too happy to have the chef prepare me special meals to my liking, so I felt very spoilt and had no accidental glutenings.

Food outside the Resort

We had only one day excursion from the hotel (other than local restaurants in the evenings) and although I checked 3 times with the hotel tour operator that there would be gluten free food available on the day, when we were on the bus on the way to lunch the guide asked if anyone had any special food requirements. When I advised I needed gluten free food, he really had no idea. There were ten Australians on our bus and everyone tried to explain on my behalf (how sweet), but when we got there they’d misunderstood ‘wheat’ as ‘sweet’ lol. Suited me too, but the 3 dishes offered, one was sweet & sour pork (too sweet for my taste), one was spring rolls (not gluten free) and the third was a chicken and eggplant green curry. The restaurant made me an extra serving of the green curry very kindly, so all was good including my BGLs as the coconut milk lowered the GI of the high-GI rice they served with it!

We also went to a market one day which was fascinating to see the various vegetables available as well as the meats and even insects. We didn’t eat anything there as it was very hot and didn’t look clean, but wished we could have tried some of the fruits and vegetables on offer. In the resort the only real green vegetable dish offered was called Morning Glory that was served stir fried. Vegetables were one of the foods I missed most on this holiday, and I normally eat about 6 serves every day of fresh veggies.

The local restaurants were fantastic and I had no issues with any of their meals, other than perhaps eating too much

My diabetes control

As mentioned at the top, I had concerns about how my diabetes would cope with a complete change of routine. With the weather being in the high 30s and very high humidity, it was really too hot to exercise. My usual exercise routine helps to keep my BGLs steady across the day, and that was reflected in higher BGLs than I would usually have. I had a few up around 16mmol/l, but these were easily corrected using my insulin pump. I used more insulin than usual, but not much more.

I spent hours relaxing in the pool, just sitting or sometimes chatting with other guests. With an insulin pump, you can take it off for up to two hours at a time, but I was often there for longer than that. The solution I found was to attach my pump to my cap, which also made for a good discussion topic I just couldn’t quite stand up straight as the tubing was slightly too short to reach from the cannula on my tummy up to my cap lol.

One day, I was zoned out after a massage and went for a swim in the pool, forgetting to take my pump off. Fortunately I remembered only about a minute into the swim and jumped out in a bit of a panic thinking I’d wrecked my pump (as I’d done to a phone before that never recovered). It was fine, but certainly shocked me out of my zoned out state of mind!

I only had one minor hypo after going for a walk on the beach one day without notice, but it was only 3.6mmol/l and the juice box was cool from the mini-bar fridge so very welcome. I carried my hypo treatments and my BGL meter everywhere with me.

I went there with the idea of running my BGLs slightly higher than usual, okay since it would only be ten days away. I didn’t actually do anything to achieve that but the lack of exercise and higher GI foods naturally did it for me, and everything’s fine.

I remember the story of 90 year old, Edna who was diagnosed aged 20, so 70 years of diabetes, who said “I don’t worry about my diabetes, I just say to myself to do my testing, to get rest every day and to enjoy life and stop wasting time worrying about my health. If you look after yourself you will have a long, happy life like I have.” Wise words methinks!

The language barrier

The Thai people are so lovely and helpful, but there were occasions when language caused confusion, such as the gluten free issue on the bus ride. Also, I had taken 2 loaves of my low-GI GF bread and when we got there I asked the kitchen to put one into the freezer for me to keep it fresh until I needed it later in the visit. Two days before the end I went to collect it and found they’d only kept it in the refrigerator, so it wasn’t as fresh as it could have been, but lasted the two days and the flight home so there was no drama.

I explained to the manager how asking for something to be kept in the freezer, meant the deep freeze where ice is made, not just the refrigerator, to ensure it is kept fresh. He seemed to understand so hopefully others won’t have this issue in future.

Happy Ending

The main goal of my holiday was to completely relax and switch off, which is exactly what I did. I didn’t even get around to reading any books. We just hung by or in the pool and the beach, had massages, ate yummy food, drank a few Mojitos (with little sugar and a big garden of fresh lime and mint in the glass) and lots of water, and chatted with other guests. I’m usually an adventure holiday type of girl, but to spend this relaxing time with my Mum was definitely what the doctor ordered.

We finished off with one day of adventure on rafting down a river on bamboo rafts, and trekking with elephants to make a perfect holiday. Wishing you all the opportunity to enjoy such a holiday yourselves one day. It was a once in a lifetime experience for me, but you never know what’s ahead!

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