Made to feel like you're over reacting to Type 2 !!

[Squire Fulwood]

One fine day they will wake up.

Oh ye of great faith.

[GraceK]

Couldn't have put it better myself GraceK, the moronic lack of understanding displayed by most GP's and so-called DN's is apalling.
My GP leaves it all up to the nurse who trots out the usual lethal NHS advice so I listen and carry on regardless.just taking the script .I've tried to educate them but a smile and we know best expression is all I get.

One fine day they will wake up.

Supertchip....

Superchip ... I was trained as a Med Sec in the early 70s, I loved my job and the NHS and have mainly worked in hospitals but over the past 20 years or so the world has changed and so has the NHS. Priorities have changed and not for the better. I don't think it's intentional, but the NHS is a machine, it runs in a certain way and despite it's 'Agenda for Change' logo, it seems to accept the change in technology but it doesn't seem prepared to accept the right kind of changes such as change of attitude towards patients.

I look at how doctors and nurses performed years ago and compare today's doctors and nurses - they rarely interact with patients, they check machines, check computers, check temperatures with machines - but they don't LOOK at the patient, never mind engage in conversation with them - they INTERACT with the computer not with the patient. In the early days I also interacted with patients as a Med Sec. We actually attended clinic with the consultant and took notes while the patient was examined behind a screen. When we typed a letter we knew WHO we were typing about. Today's nurses and doctors would have no idea about that part of a secretary's job but it made such a difference because the Med Sec also KNEW the patient and they weren't just an anonymous name on a letter they typed to a GP, which is the case today. It's so easy to become blase and careless when you don't actually ever get to meet the patient. It's easy to forget you're dealing with human beings. I get sick of hearing Med Secs complaining about patients who phone up to query something, asking for a change of appointment etc, as if they have no right to do so and are being bothersome. And for that reason I don't enjoy my job any more, I feel like a battery hen churning out letters all day long and I really miss the patient interaction.

Even if you're on the inside of the NHS it's really hard to change peoples attitudes because TIME AND MONEY are the main considerations these days. I'm not saying they aren't important, of course they are, but equally important is the PATIENT. Without patients no-one in the NHS would have a job - they should all remember that.

[hanadr]

I believe that T2 does not need to progress if you CONTROL it from the time you are diagnosed. that can't be done without testing. You are not paranoid!
I took control of my metabolic error a few years back. I buy my own strips [the supplier is much cheaper than a retail pharmacy] and check often. I also eat low carb.
If I had coeliac disease, they would tell me not to eat gluten, so why do they want me to eat carbs? Just so their prophesies are fulfilled and I progress to complications? It's ridiculous. No-one has ever shown a need for us to eat ANY carbs.
I keep getting told that a "Healthy Balanced Diett",whatever that is! is best, but who has ever tested this?
Hana

[Unbeliever]

[quote="Neicy0412"]Hi, I am T1 but I am shocked about how those with T2 are made to feel, I cannot understand why you would be discouraged from BG testing, in fact I don't understand how you would get any kind of control without testing. Surely we all have the same condition, just different variants of it and therefore should be offered the same quality of support. I really feel for you guys, diabetes is hard enough to manage without having to fight every step of the way for basic equipment and information to manage it.[/quote

Thanks Neicy, I am sure many T1s agree with you but we don't hear from them so much. Unfortunately some T1s have accepted
the "offficial line" ie that T2 is self -induced by greedy overweight people who are using up the NHS budget for diabetes care and depriving children of insulin pumps. etc.

The more that message is heard DIFFERENT VARIANTS of the same disease the better for all concerned. People should remeber "Divide and conquer" and all diabetics should show a united front. The more that is learnt about T2 the more he links with T1 become obvious. Anyhow as most of us know here are many more than two types of diabetes but as treatments for the different types have not yet been developed we only hear of two basic types.

Your post ties in very well wih catherine cherubs suggestion , on another thread for a poster with an overweight and a slim person asking which is at risk of dibetes? The answer of course , being both.

As a slim T2 I get very angry when people comment "But you're not overweight " when they learn I am diabetic. I also get angry when they ask if I am injecting insulin and when I say I am not they comment that I only have a "mild " case of diabetes!

We can't blame the general public - this is he message they have been given.

[Neicy0412]

To quote unbeliever "As a slim T2 I get very angry when people comment "But you're not overweight " when they learn I am diabetic. I also get angry when they ask if I am injecting insulin and when I say I am not they comment that I only have a "mild " case of diabetes!"
I also find it absurd when people ask if I have to inject and how many times? When I tell them I invariably get the reply "ohh, you have got it bad!!" actually, I simply "have it" it seems that the general understanding is the more injections you have, the worse it is! Which of course is ridiculous, there needs to be more information to challenge the public misconception that diabetes works on a sliding scale depending on treatment. Diabetes is diabetes, regardless of medication, diet or anything else. The simple truth is, for one reason or another our insulin production is impaired or non existent, we can all suffer from complications, diabetes, regardless of type is likely to cause more problems as people get older, but all of us rely on good information, appropriate resources, ie BG monitoring equipment, and excellent medical care to ensure our eyes, limbs and internal organs stay healthy. We need to raise awareness of our collective condition, not discriminate within our own condition.Maybe if we promote the importance of self awareness and testing to our family and friends, we, collectively, could be the most effective "weapon" in raising the "diabetic profile" after all we make it far more personal than leaflets and ad campaigns, although these too, have their place.

[Superchip]

Thanks for response GraceK, I totally understand what you are saying, It has become a digital world, not a proper caring analogue one , if you catch my drift.

Look, I've had a few vino's so I'll catch up later ....

TTFN Superchip

[chris lowe]

Since I was diagnosed at type 2 and had to stop drinking (well, almost, I only drink at home about once a week or so then if I feel sick it's not affecting anyone but me) I find that some friends assume I can't be having fun. They also complain if I go for a meal with them and don't want a pudding. I've lost almost 2 stone and am told that I now look a bit haggard as the fat has gone from my face, I just put it down to envy that I am now a real silver fox (oh yes, I'm letting myself go a bit 'cos I don't dye my hair any more but to be honest I just can't be a***d to sit in the hairdressers for hours at a time every couple of months). As far as I'm concerned they just have to accept me as I am.

[Superchip]

GraceK, it's now later per my last post to you.
That was a very meaningful post from you regarding your experiences.
It is a true testimony to what is happening in our once respected NHS, don't get me wrong, I also attend Papworth Hospital for checkups every 6 months following my heart transplant and I can only say that all the staff their are exemplary in their totally professional and knowledgable , caring attitude. Yes, they are specialists, but I so wish we could send our overworked GP's etc to watch how Papworth does it. It is always a pleasure to go there, they even understand about our views on low carbs and testing regime !

Any way, just wanted to thank you properly for a heart felt post.

Now, back to the bottle !

Superchip

[Nikkig]

Spookily I have just read this thread after finishing a telephone call with a friend wo said "we are all very worried about you, we know other diabetics and they don't cut out most of their carbohydrates, it can't be good for you." I love my friends dearly but I could have screamed!
I have been given the chance to take control and I'm going to continue doing my damnest to achieve it. Why is it that some people dismiss what we are doing as over reacting. My GP is happy, I'm happy (husbands wallet is not due to new clothes needed) why do people make comments about things they don't understand?
Diabetes, if not controlled, can be debilatating, even fatal - if people with other diseases were able to help control and turn it round through diet and exercise, continually pricking their fingers and sometimes drugs where needed, wouldn't they do the same?
So we will just carry on quietly and they will just have to get used to our refusal of cake and biscuits!

Rant over