How much medical support do you get?

[paulins]

I have read your posts with great interest. I don't have a diabetes nurse. I have to ask the doctor when she wants to see me again. I have been signed up for a DESMOND day (waited four months, it is in May, and I realise will probably not be useful having read your experiences), but that seems to be all the support I'm offered. My doctor is interested that I'm doing the Newcastle diet, but again I'm left to get on with it, and so have.

What should I be expecting in terms of care/support/supervision? I find some of the possible implications really scary, and am so impressed with how everyone on this forum is so supportive of one another. You are educating me, along with my own reading about diabetes, not my healthcare professionals. No wonder some people feel completely in a panic and quite isolated.

 

[Karen.G.]

Hi - does your Doctors practice have a diabetic clinic? or a diabetic specialist nurse? You should see someone at least twice a year and get your HBa1C / cholesterol etc checked. Also, you should get your eyes checked at the hospital once a year.

I've never been on a Desmond course, but I've heard good things and bad things about them.

I have to admit I am one of the lucky ones. My Doctors practice has a diabetic clinic and because I was so naughty I was sent to the Community Diabetic Clinic too.

It really does annoy me how people are diagnosed and left to their own devices. Thank goodness I was diagnosed so long ago when they actually spent time with you and explained things, back when all these things were dealt with by hospitals/consultants.

One good thing about having Type 2 diabetes - this website and all the lovely folk on it.

 

[paulins]

Hi - does your Doctors practice have a diabetic clinic? or a diabetic specialist nurse? You should see someone at least twice a year and get your HBa1C / cholesterol etc checked. Also, you should get your eyes checked at the hospital once a year.

I've never been on a Desmond course, but I've heard good things and bad things about them.

I have to admit I am one of the lucky ones. My Doctors practice has a diabetic clinic and because I was so naughty I was sent to the Community Diabetic Clinic too.

It really does annoy me how people are diagnosed and left to their own devices. Thank goodness I was diagnosed so long ago when they actually spent time with you and explained things, back when all these things were dealt with by hospitals/consultants.

One good thing about having Type 2 diabetes - this website and all the lovely folk on it.

No, no diabetic clinic and no specialist nurse. There is one doctor in the practice and she is deemed 'the expert'. She gave me statins then stopped them as my legs and hips were aching terribly. I did get my eyes checked though at the hospital. I do feel I have been left to my own devices, and it is very very isolating - and nobody has ever suggested a hospital or a consultant. I'll let you know how DESMOND goes.