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Message: <blockquote data-quote="glenmoray" data-source="post: 2560793" data-attributes="member: 45378">ive had Type 1 diabetes now 45 years. Looking after your diabetes today is fantastic with glucose pens that log your units of insulin your giving, Insulin Pumps, blood glucose test machines, sensors which communicate with your pump or App to tell you how many units of insulin to give. We have yearly eyes tests to check for Glaucoma and if your driving DVLA check your eye sight for tunnel vision. There’s a week long course Type 1 diabetics can do called the DAFNE course where a diabetes Nurse, A dietitian and a doctor explain your diabetes and diabetic control in detail. I’ve done this course 30 years after I was diagnosed as a type 1 diabetic. I remember the first day of the course and I walked into the room and saw a load of breakfast bowls and cereals  in front of me. I was told too pick a bowl similar to what I use at home and pour into it a cereal I normally have in the morning . I normally have Cornflakes so poured the amount I normally have. The dietitian then weighed the cereal and started laughing and asked me roughly how many carbs I have for my breakfast. I replied about 30g. She replied to me that I had poured 105 grams of carbs into the bowl and bowl sizes can deceive the amount you actually eat. So it was drummed into us to weigh the bowl empty then add 27 g of carbohydrate ( Cornflakes ) . We have too arrive on day starved so they could workout what our long acting insulin ratio ( baseline glucose level and we all had a private session with the Doctor so we could talk to him about problems we did not want to discuss as a group. The DAFNE course is for every Type 1 Diabetic newly diagnosed and people like me. I also believe you can claim to do this course and be paid for it. The course nurse has the forms. When I was first diagnosed back in February 1977 I was 17. I ended up in Hospital  for 2 weeks. I was given 3 glass syringes and 6 stainless steel needles. I was shown how to sterilise the needles and syringes and store them in a container filled with industrial Methylated Spirits. We also back then used cotton wool balls soaked in industrial methylated spirits to clean the injection site. Back in 1977 we had no blood glucose test machines besides the blood taken when I went to see my Diabetic Consultant. I was given a urine test kit which contained urine test strips, a test tube and a pipette. If I remember right it was 5 drops of urine to 10 drops of water. Then drop the test tablet into the urine mixture. After a minute or so fizzing blue colour meant  No sugar in my urine, Green meant up to 1% glucose in my urine and yellow/ orange meant 2-3% sugar in urine. I caught Covid 19 in the First wave in April 2020  and ended up having Covid Pneumonia. in intensive care being ventilated for 21/2 Months. I woke up on the 4th June unfortunately I ended up with long Covid which has effected my mobility, my balance, my short term memory and I cannot concentrate anymore. In December 2020 I had to retire due to I’ll health. My glucose levels went from normal 6-8 mmol to 25 mmol and higher. My diabetic consultant said to me a insulin pump would be beneficial for me. They had too wait for NICE approval and I was shown 4-5 different insulin pumps. When NICE approval was obtained I was asked which insulin pump I would like. My wife looked at all the pumps and thought the Medtronic MiniMed 780 G would be ideal for me and on April 4th 2022 I was connected too the pump. I had to use the Abbotts Libre Sensor 2 to start with but my Glucose levels fell from 25 mmol to 7 mmol within a few days. On July 4th 2022 I was called back to the clinic to pick up my Medtronic Guardian 4 glucose sensor. This connects directly with the Medtronic MiniMed 780G. So now my Guardian 4 gives a glucose reading to my pump and alters my glucose levels to keep my Basel glucose level steady. The last thing I noticed with using the pump and guardian 4 sensor is my insulin demand has fallen and I’ve lost around 5 Stone in weight. I keep to within normal glucose levels now 95% of the time. Diabetes care today is fantastic compared too 1977. I get my feet checked, bloods checked, my eyesight checked and my weight and all my pumps readings are sent to my Diabetic Consultant and Diabertic nurse via the Medtronic  Care Link App. I hope you enjoyed my brief story about the care I over the last 45 years. Today we are so lucky we new pumps, equipment and diabetes care improving every day.</blockquote>

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