I always believe that if you even get one thing out of a course then it was worth going on it so I was looking at how I could fit this in my schedule. It states that I will be provided with honest, up to date, evidence based information about the causes, effects and options for managing my diabetes. Read about the causes, know from other family experiences most of the effects but as I am not on any medications and I am sure they will talk about meds, it may be worth going for this info alone. However if they are still promoting carbs and more carbs as they did with my initial screening appointment, I am not sure that will sit well with me. I was told to eat porridge, haven't had porridge for months but as an experiment decided to try it, my bloods went up from 5.4 to 8.5, - guess I am one of those people who cannot handle it.
What is really putting me off is that it says in the leaflet
"The DESMOND programme is built around group activities, but there will be opportunities for individuals to speak to an Educator on their own if they wish."...
I have attended numerous courses over the years before I retired and above all, I hate group activities. They actually spoil the courses for me because I just get so stressed not knowing what will be asked of me. This is because whilst I am arguably, fairly intelligent, I am very slow to react to things (must be my left handed brain) so I end up playing catch up all the time. The stress is very real and evidential. To give an illustration I was once undertaking a 24 hour Blood Pressure test. Doc said "Everything is ok but whatever happened here?" I looked at the graph and at one point there was this very sharp peak to the top of the chart. It turned out it was a group meeting I attended to discuss a new project we were initiating. As I know it will happen as soon as anyone says can you divide into groups, I am not sure it is worth putting myself under so much stress and possibly negatively impacting my blood sugars particularly as I am trying hard to get them down.
It would be nice if there was a course outline available so that I could see the content beforehand and make a more informed choice.