Diabetes and You .. my Course

AM1874

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,383
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Not much
Received a letter today outlining the course - Diabetes and You - to which I have now been invited. I had been told that this would be happening but I wasn't really sure what to expect. Unfortunately, both the letter and the accompanying single page leaflet were pretty short on detail .. other than to let me know that the course will be run over 2 x 2 hour sessions on consecutive Fridays by the young lady that I met a couple of weeks ago at my Dietitician Appointment .. together with a Diabetic Nurse and a Podiatrist. Other than that, the course seems to cover all the basics, most of which I have already learned from the forum. So, although I am dubious about what benefit I might gain, I am "compliant" so I will be attending.

I do, however, have an issue with the opening text describing the "purposes of the course" ...

# To help you learn more about your Diabetes - (fair enough)
# To meet the members of the Community Diabetes Team - (must be useful)
# To meet other people in a similar position to yourself - (why would I want to do this)
# To give you the opportunity to share your own experiences - (I'd rather not thanks)

The 1st and 2nd of these are clearly relevant .. but why, do they think that I should (or would want to) engage in the 3rd or 4th of these purposes with a bunch of complete strangers who I will almost certainly never come into contact with again. If I'm going to do this, I would rather do it in a manner that I choose and in an environment in which I am comfortable.

I have a feeling that this may well turn out to be another case of Listen, Nod, Smile and say Thankyou, Ignore
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rosiegough_

Mbaker

Well-Known Member
Messages
4,339
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Available fast foods in Supermarkets
The last 2 points may have been use had you not found this site or similar. I suspect the course organisers are going for economies of scale.
 

AM1874

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,383
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Not much
The last 2 points may have been use had you not found this site or similar. I suspect the course organisers are going for economies of scale.
Hi @Mbaker .. you are right, of course .. and I'm sure that this "sharing" and "communicating" stuff will be right for lots of people .. but it's not for me. Economies of scale or not, this brings a horrible vision to my mind of everybody sitting round in a circle saying "my name's ****** and I'm a diabetic"
 

AM1874

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,383
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Not much
AM1874 & yet you do similar on this forum?
Do I? .. Really?
That's certainly not how I see this forum .. for me, this is an invaluable source of information engendered within a wide-ranging discussion forum where individuals choose to participate (or not). It's as anomymous as members want it to be, there is no need or expectation or pressure for anybody to take part in any particular topic or thread or to accept/follow the advice of "professionals". And, perhaps most importantly, apart from the occasional "reminder" from our Mods about forum rules and etiquette, there is no intervention, direction or judgement .. or "box-ticking" ..
 

DavidGrahamJones

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,263
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Other
Dislikes
Newspapers
"my name's ****** and I'm a diabetic"

Playing devil's advocate here but the AA does a lot of good work for people who want to cut out alcohol, whether they be deemed to be alcoholic or not.

At the end of the day if you are not comfortable with the 3rd and 4th points then that's a perfectly good reason for not going.

You have found this forum and have benefited from following other people's experiences. I expect most people will not have found this forum. Even a cousin of mine who is computer literate, always on Skype to her brother in Australia, uses google all the time, has never contemplated looking for a forum like this, never mind taking and benefiting from other people's experiences, except for mine.

Knowing other people with diabetes isn't necessary but might be comforting to some people. I had a family of fellow diabetics, type I and type II, fat and thin, old and young, I didn't feel lonely at all, some might.

As for sharing your experiences, well that's an individual thing, some might enjoy the opportunity, some might not. Personally I wanted to tell the world that I had stumbled across something that helped me throw away drugs I didn't need any more. I had dropped my carbs to lose weight, very quickly had to drop Gliclazide and Januvia because of constant low BG, got the courage to throw away statins for ever because my cholesterol was low and then I found this forum.

Personally, I'd go, I like people so meeting other diabetics isn't a big deal, I might get the opportunity to share my experience and they might benefit from perhaps gaining additional knowledge and having more confidence in controlling their condition by their own efforts and perhaps avoiding the Eatwell plate bit where their condition might get progressively worse. If you look at the number of members on this forum . . . and others . . . . we are a very small minority who are interested in our health and want to do something about it. There is a huge majority who are not. I didn't want to be a victim and I'd encourage other diabetics to take control of their condition. We always seem to be reminded that "us" diabetics cost the NHS £14 billion a years (was it 10%? £14 billion, something like that), we could change that . . . . . . EASY, let's all share our experiences when we can.

Going back to my cousin, she'd been on some diabetic related course where they had all been told to eat sensibly, she'd also been told to monitor twice a week because that's all the strips they get prescribed. She very quickly realised her condition was poorly controlled and what I told her from my soapbox was sinking in. I saw her last week and she was telling me how stupid she'd been by having pizza as part of celebrating her grandson's 13th birthday and how she was back to low carb straight away. Somebody who told me she couldn't give up spuds is now a confirmed low carber who now and again strays off the straight and narrow.

I might be jealous, no one ever offered me a course, definitely not fair LOLOLOL.
 

Mbaker

Well-Known Member
Messages
4,339
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Available fast foods in Supermarkets
Hi @Mbaker .. you are right, of course .. and I'm sure that this "sharing" and "communicating" stuff will be right for lots of people .. but it's not for me. Economies of scale or not, this brings a horrible vision to my mind of everybody sitting round in a circle saying "my name's ****** and I'm a diabetic"
Good morning @AM1874, I attended a DESMOND course a few years ago. The takeaways for me was that one of the 2 teaches stated that it was not possible for me to reduce blood sugar numbers with exercise, as I had stated, I said my meter told a different story (tumble weed moment)

From a human perspective there was some my name is .... this was not altogether boring though as I learned a lot about how regular people with diabetes manage / miss-manage type 2. There were around 12 people on the course, none were diet and exercise only. Most were "normal" looking weight wise by modern standards i.e. in my assessment carrying maybe 5 to 10 kgs perhaps more than they would desire but not extreme; only 1 gentleman sitting next to me had the stereo typical big beer belly, and around 2 were what I would class as skinny. There were questions as to whether it was possible to get rid of type 2, which the 2 teaches made clear was a manageable condition with drugs and sensible eating / drinking. There were many questions about what foods and drink were within limits, beer came up a lot, and I remember fish and chips being asked about a few times.

The most fascinating and eye opening thing for me, was during the break and lunch-times which we had outside. Around a quarter were smokers and the contents of several lunch boxes included well known chocolate brands and white bread sandwiches, I think and hope this was just early diagnosis ignorance. None the less, in hindsight had the teachers brought alternative messages of realistic hope such as LCHF, Newcastle Diet, Intermittent Fasting, Exercise etc, many including me would have been at least interested; I base this on the range of questions. Of course the Eatwell plate was front and centre.

Anyway from an observational point of view you might not be bored, and certainly would be going in with more knowledge than I had at the time. If you do go please can you update this thread.
 

AM1874

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,383
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Not much
Hi @DavidGrahamJones ..
I was not knocking the AA or the wonderful work that they do at all

No .. I am not comfortable with the 3rd or 4th stated purposes but, for me that's not a reason for not going. I have said that I will be attending and I am hopeful, as ever, that I will learn some things that will be of benefit

No .. I am not comfortable sharing my experiences with strangers in a face-to-face environment .. whenever I have done so (over more years than I care to remember) it's been because other people have said that "I should", or "it's good to for you" or some other similarly meaningless platitude. I have also found that, after little more than an introduction .. or a seat in the same room, a lot of people want to become your "friend" (and often assume that they are), which generally turns out to be about passing their monkeys on to my shoulders.

I am sorry that you have not been offered a course .. but if anything valuable comes out of mine, I will be posting it here for everybody on the forum
 

AM1874

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,383
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Not much
Good morning @AM1874,
Anyway from an observational point of view you might not be bored, and certainly would be going in with more knowledge than I had at the time. If you do go please can you update this thread.
Hi @Mbaker .. whatever comes out of my course, I will be posting it here for everybody on the forum ..
 
  • Like
Reactions: zand

DavidGrahamJones

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,263
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Other
Dislikes
Newspapers
I was not knocking the AA or the wonderful work that they do at all

I know, just wanted to mention their good work, hic (little joke). I us to enjoy a drink . . . . or two, what people call social drinking. Very controlled because I wouldn't drive for 12 hours after alcohol and it was that control that made me want to stop. I attended AA meetings and witnessing those who struggle is an eye opener. I use to attend a weekly meeting of 90 people, some of those people would attend a meeting every day. A very good organisation.

I am sorry that you have not been offered a course

Not a problem, I was diagnosed 20 years ago. The endocrinologist at ?.?. General just said don't believe everything you read on the internet. He didn't actually give me any advice at all, I left his office and sat outside and a nurse sat next to me to comfort me, obviously thinking I was affected by the diagnosis (I'd waited 5 months from GP's diagnosis to see consultant and be prescribed Metformin, diagnosis not the problem). She seemed surprised when I said that it was his manner I found upsetting, not the diabetes. He's still there, but with a larger team so if need be, I wouldn't have to see him again. At least now I know more.

I find it interesting the way different parts of the UK seem to work slightly differently, even today. Even my surgery has improved the way in which my routine blood tests are done and discussed, for the better I feel.
 
  • Like
Reactions: AM1874

Totto

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,831
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
@AM1874 you know what? By going to this Diabetes an You course you might actually save sombody's life by sharing your knowledge.
 

AM1874

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,383
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Not much
@AM1874 you know what? By going to this Diabetes an You course you might actually save sombody's life by sharing your knowledge.
Hi @Totto .. not sure about that .. but I am going and I have already said that I will post follow-up here as and when .. the course is not until late May :)