To Desmond or not to Desmond, that is the question...

[deadwood2]

I've been offered a place on a Desmond course (drinks and snacks may be available to purchase, but it would be better to ring your own packed lunch)...

In some ways I'm loathed to pass up any offer of education, but to be honest, I can't see what they're going to teach me.. The syllabus doesn't seem to be published, although scary testimonials from from the delivery side are, such as “It definitely increased my confidence in lots of aspects of my role at work.” and that's enough to fill me with dread.

So, of those who have, who would say it was worth a day of your life?

 

[tubolard]

Patient.co.uk has this information about DESMOND.

Graham64 (or is it 65 now?) has attended and doesn't rate the dietary information but in this post he is on record as saying the remainder of the course was useful.

Regards, Tubs.

 

[jopar]

I've been on the DAFNE course which is the T1 version of DESMOND, I found the DAFNE course really good and informative, the dietary information you will need to decide for yourself, but they do teach you other worth while aspects of the diabetic condition...

At the end of the day if you don't like the dietary advice then you can quietly ignore it after you've finished the course...

 

[deadwood2]

Cheers, chaps,

But if we throw away the dietary advice, what's left? And is it worth a day of yer life?

 

[sugar2]

Well, I did a "CHOICE" course, for T1's. It was 4 days, a day a week for a month. Some of it wasn't up to much, but some was excellent. To be honest, the most usefull bit was being a in a room with other T1s, and sapping stories, tips and experiences. It may be that you actually are the most informed person there, so you might not learn that much, but you might help the others.

To answer your question then...it depends what else you might be doing, but on the whole I would guess "Yes".

 

[hanadr]

Not an option if dependent on Berkshire PCTs

 

[Grumpy]

I started a Desmond recently (although I don't think they called it that).
Name tags, lemon squash, balloons as visual aid ('How did you feel when you learned you had diabetes?' accompanied by deflation of balloon. Sigh.) and flipcharts. I'm self-employed...the afternoon cost me a hundred quid in lost work. And I've got three more to go.
Personally, I think they should just give everyone this website and a copy of 'Blood Sugar 101'!

 

[deadwood2]

I'm self-employed...the afternoon cost me a hundred quid in lost work. And I've got three more to go. Personally, I think they should just give everyone this website and a copy of 'Blood Sugar 101'!

I'm in the same boat and it's colouring my judgement; times are hard enough without having days wasted listening to worthless twaddle! Read BS101 (excellent, except that having admitted that it was written in the good ol' US of A, who use a different measure to everyone else in the world, they couldn't be bothered to put the "real" numbers in brackets). 'Merkins, you gotta love 'em

H: When you say you don't get the choice do you mean it's mandatory or not available? If anyone wants top dress up as a 21st bloke with halitosis and big feet, they can have my place :lol:

And as for 4 days, S2, I really don't think so, grandma! (As the saying goes).

Still, on a brighter note, they gave me a meter today. And 10 strips. Not the wizzy upmarket meter, you understand ("It's got more functions and memory than this one, probably more than you need as you'll only be testing once or twice a month."), just the basic ("even this one does more than you need") one. Come back in a couple of months.

What really p*sses me off is that while the government is laying down all sorts of standards, and buying more second homes than you can buy a stick at out of the public purse, this poor deluded person, lovely as she is, thinks she's achieving the recommendation on encouraging self monitoring by giving me a £12.99 meter and a supply of 10 strips to be used over a 5-10 month period :evil:

Anyway, it's a funny shape and difficult to get hold of, so by the time I see her next, I may have dropped it inadvertantly down a loo somewhere and felt so guilty I've bought a proper one

 

[wobbles]

I attended a DESMOND course about a month after diagnosis.
If I had not found this site and subsequently Bernstein, it would have been extreme useful. However, because of the timing, I already knew 90% of the content. However, the <10% I didn't know was useful.

It was also useful to share experiences with fellow diabetics face to face. It was amazing to see how ignorant some people were of their condition. Some had been dx'd earlier than me by a few months, yet they didn't really know much about their condition and were living in denial. I managed to discuss my reduced carbs routine with the presenters and patients and testify to my positive results. Someone even asked for the details of the book so he could order it.

Even though I did not learn a great deal from the experience, I was POSITIVE about being there and consequently had my eyes and ears open when one of the patients mentioned something that I didn't know.

You can also look at it from the perspective not of "what am I going to get out of it?" but "what experiences can I share with others." The course I did was conducted in such a way that the class were asked what they knew about something BEFORE the "teachers" lectured you on the subject.

However, I would understand that this "touchy-feely" approach is not really going to work if it is costing you hard cash to be there (self-employed) and / or you would rather be somewhere else.

Wobbles

 

[Grumpy]

Wobbles - everyone else on the course had been there seen it done it and got the t-shirt so long ago they're now using it for dusters.
However, quite startling - and a little amusing - to see how wrong some of 'em were!
I do appreciate the chance to go, honest I do, and I realise I'm bl**dy lucky compared to a lot of people here. It's just that if you've taken the trouble to do background research and reading, and to join informative forums (forae?) such as this, it's a bit galling to HAVE to sit watching a grown woman waving a plastic apple at you ('Diabetics are mostly this shape...') followed by a plastic pear ('...and not this shape!') when you could be earning money and be being treated like a grown-up. :?

 

[deadwood2]

Plastic fruit? Now you're talking my language!

I'll take along my own banana!