Friday, January 7, 2022
Gotta Wear Shades
Thursday, September 2, 2021
The Path To Pumping - Pt.3 The First Week
The first 3 days proved to be a continuous stream of surprise and delight. Fiasp was working beautifully and is extraordinarily fast, I had begun to adjust to sleeping with a pump attached, my TIR rocketed, I wasn't overwhelmed at all, no injection fatigue, fasting BG numbers leading me to question if I'd been cured by the Cinnamon Fairy, overnight. Apart from a kinked cannula, which taught me that when no insulin is going in I will become hyper very quickly, it's all been smooth sailing.
Can I brag? Just a quick brag. Between Saturday evening and Tuesday afternoon, my TIR was 100%. What in the name of Banting's Balls! I've had two 24hr TIRs in 4 years. That's almost 3 days in a row. Yeah, it's gone well. I've since managed a full set change without supervision and I've grown confident and comfortable with the pump.
Of course, it can't end there. I'm not in this for a quickie and then back to pens. No way, Amigo. That means I'm going to need consumables and Fiasp on prescription. August, it seems, is a popular time of the year for annual leave within the NHS and I'd chosen a Bank Holiday to reach out to my HCPs. To their credit, I was replied to on the Tuesday morning by email and had a telephone call in the afternoon. Outstanding stuff. See! HCPs from UHL, I can be kind and give credit where it's due. No need for patronising DMs or to block me or unfollow me. There is nothing to fear. Meow!
I digress, what did the HCPs say about me going it alone? "We've never had this before" made me happy because who wants to go to work and deal with the same thing each day? A really good discussion with my Consultant and DSN lasted for around 30 minutes. The great news is that Fiasp is happening right away. Beyond that, I have been referred to the Pump Team and a certain Professor who some of you will know from Twitter. No, Partha relax, it's not you. At that referral, I hope to continue the good, honest, dialogue with that team and work towards full pump funding.
While I'm waiting for that referral to arrive, I'm hunting for consumables and I've opened an account with Roche and Accu-Chek. I've been given permission to buy my own consumables, lucky me. It appears that the items I need will cost around £120 per month, that is excluding VAT. If I want to use an insertion device for my cannulas then that's another £25. Yikes. Hi Americans! I can relate... a bit. Some kind folk have sent some supplies to me for which I am hugely grateful. I'm looking at you @NanaNeylin and of course the world's hardest working person @Moodwife
And that's where things stand, today. I'm delighted to be pumping, amazed by the numbers, hopeful that the pump team will agree that funding makes sense and most of all I'm determined. This will happen.
Saturday, July 10, 2021
Size Matters
It's not what you're thinking, let's get that clear right away. Although! I am referring to little things in this blog, at least in regards to Diabetes. Those little things which we might be guilty of neglecting, ignoring or putting on the back-burner for another day. I've certainly done those things for various aspects of my Type 1 Diabetes.
Recently, it occurred to me that the little things can get neglected by others. Specifically, our healthcare professionals. I'm a firm believer that the majority of HCPs go into the profession with the very best of intentions and that they carry those intentions throughout their professional lives. Perhaps, with experience, shortcuts are used and without any problems arising from doing something to save time, to allow for a break, deal with a clinic which is overflowing and full of patients, etc. An HCP might repeat the practice because it's a small thing, nothing bad happened. Those of us who have been employed may have done similar things. Perhaps the job was stressful, you needed a break or you just really hated your boss! So, you cut some corners, reduced your load.
Yesterday, I tweeted the image below:
Thank you so much for reading this blog. I do appreciate your visit and your support. As you might know, I LOVE COFFEE! So I've teamed up with a thing called Buy Me A Coffee. If you enjoy my content and appreciate the time it takes to create such things then you can buy me a coffee! If you leave your Twitter @ name when you buy me a coffee, I will personally thank you. If you'd rather be anonymous then that's totally cool. Thanks for the caffeine!