hanadr
Expert
- Messages
- 8,157
- Dislikes
- soaps on telly and people talking about the characters as if they were real.
At Dillinger's request, I'm writing my own point of view. DUK will publish the results of the discussions.
Had fun getting there. I love train rides and it was only half a mile or so from the New Street Station, so a few minutes walk.
The venue was purpose built and well set out. Signed in and had a coffee and met a nice lady in the lift. Jackie Dent. A nurse from Swansea, who trains diabetes Healthcare Professionals. Herself a T1 from way back. I forget her official title, but she was lovely.
We were given pens and paper and introduced to Dr. Angus Forbes from Kings College, where they are working on giving control of diabetes back to the patients. He spoke for a bit about delivery of diabetes care. I didn't take notes and can't remember the details, but he did emphasise hthat good control nas to come from the patient. Our table also had a chap from Cambridge, a T2, just transferred on to insulin after 20 years.
We had several discussion sessions, during which I found out the experiences of a number of other people. Mostly far from ideal. People didn't know the difference between HbA1c and Blood glucose. Nor the targets. BEst informed were the older T1s who were taught carb counting in an earlier epoch. There was one lady who has been on insulin for 55 years and had a DUK medal round her neck. She looked pretty fit, but said her sight was bothersome. There was a delighttful young girl who said she'd been diagnosed several years. I did what we tell doctors not to and assumed her to be T1, but she was T2 on diet and exercise only. She said her best experience was the dietician who came to her home every now and then and checked the fridge.The worst was the transfer from paediatric care to the adult clinic. A number of people were complimentary about their dieticians. Not many about their doctors. Most of the T2s hadn't the remotest idea of what their numbers are. I of course did my reduced carb bit. I ate tuna steak and vegetables for lunch and passed on dessert. One chap came and asked me how I kept the carbs down.
The strong impression Ihave is of people who feel they are not given enough information about what to do and what blood test results are and what they mean. also people who want easier access to help. I did give out the website address. I also gave a Poster.
Several of the delegates had poor vision and one informed me that he is partially sighted. I didn't ask if it was diabetes related.
There was one lovely bubbly little lady, probably under 5 feet tall and newly diagnosed, who was busy asking everyone about how they cope. I told her that Iavoid carbs on of course, someone jumped in and said they are essential. I did chat to Dr. Forbes about diet. He's all for reducing carbs and medication. He told me about the ACCORD study and said it just proves that tight control pharmacoloically isnt a good idea. I let him tell me all about it.
I looked him up after I got home and he seems to be a nurse. Maybe with a PhD or who retrained.
Anyway I tried to keep fairly quiet and listen an behave myself.
Had fun getting there. I love train rides and it was only half a mile or so from the New Street Station, so a few minutes walk.
The venue was purpose built and well set out. Signed in and had a coffee and met a nice lady in the lift. Jackie Dent. A nurse from Swansea, who trains diabetes Healthcare Professionals. Herself a T1 from way back. I forget her official title, but she was lovely.
We were given pens and paper and introduced to Dr. Angus Forbes from Kings College, where they are working on giving control of diabetes back to the patients. He spoke for a bit about delivery of diabetes care. I didn't take notes and can't remember the details, but he did emphasise hthat good control nas to come from the patient. Our table also had a chap from Cambridge, a T2, just transferred on to insulin after 20 years.
We had several discussion sessions, during which I found out the experiences of a number of other people. Mostly far from ideal. People didn't know the difference between HbA1c and Blood glucose. Nor the targets. BEst informed were the older T1s who were taught carb counting in an earlier epoch. There was one lady who has been on insulin for 55 years and had a DUK medal round her neck. She looked pretty fit, but said her sight was bothersome. There was a delighttful young girl who said she'd been diagnosed several years. I did what we tell doctors not to and assumed her to be T1, but she was T2 on diet and exercise only. She said her best experience was the dietician who came to her home every now and then and checked the fridge.The worst was the transfer from paediatric care to the adult clinic. A number of people were complimentary about their dieticians. Not many about their doctors. Most of the T2s hadn't the remotest idea of what their numbers are. I of course did my reduced carb bit. I ate tuna steak and vegetables for lunch and passed on dessert. One chap came and asked me how I kept the carbs down.
The strong impression Ihave is of people who feel they are not given enough information about what to do and what blood test results are and what they mean. also people who want easier access to help. I did give out the website address. I also gave a Poster.
Several of the delegates had poor vision and one informed me that he is partially sighted. I didn't ask if it was diabetes related.
There was one lovely bubbly little lady, probably under 5 feet tall and newly diagnosed, who was busy asking everyone about how they cope. I told her that Iavoid carbs on of course, someone jumped in and said they are essential. I did chat to Dr. Forbes about diet. He's all for reducing carbs and medication. He told me about the ACCORD study and said it just proves that tight control pharmacoloically isnt a good idea. I let him tell me all about it.
I looked him up after I got home and he seems to be a nurse. Maybe with a PhD or who retrained.
Anyway I tried to keep fairly quiet and listen an behave myself.
