Is Desmond worth waiting for?

Went on my first Juggle course (it's name in Nottinghamshire) Learnt all about the parts of the body and how the pancreas works. Was asked who tested, me I said. Why do you do that - so I can learn what I can and cannot eat, you should not test it will make you anxious - I will be more anxious if I do not know what I am putting in my body, you will make your fingers sore - I have plenty of fingers. At that point I gave up. Some of the others in the group when we had a break were asking me about what they should do. I've got another three sessions to go, next one is about what you should eat. I don't think I should go to anymore because I will not be able to keep quiet while they spout their drivel.

carol43 said:

Went on my first Juggle course (it's name in Nottinghamshire) Learnt all about the parts of the body and how the pancreas works. Was asked who tested, me I said. Why do you do that - so I can learn what I can and cannot eat, you should not test it will make you anxious - I will be more anxious if I do not know what I am putting in my body, you will make your fingers sore - I have plenty of fingers. At that point I gave up. Some of the others in the group when we had a break were asking me about what they should do. I've got another three sessions to go, next one is about what you should eat. I don't think I should go to anymore because I will not be able to keep quiet while they spout their drivel.

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Sorry to read that you had a bad experience @carol43.
I was also asked why I tested when on my Desmond cse and gave a similar answer to you. I also emphasised that as it is myself that has diabetes then it is surely my choice as to what information to act upon.
I did go back for part 2 (there are only two sessions here) to demonstrate my cooperation with the system currently in place. The dietitian handed me some reading material as soon as I arrived. I thanked her for her thoughtfulness. It was interesting but not very useful. In exchange, I gave her my preferred "bread" recipe and also an ingredients list for the Lidl bread rolls.

I attended my DESMOND course yesterday having been diagnosed 7 months ago. I am an avid reader of this forum so whilst I approached it with an open mind I did have a few negative thoughts. These are my personal opinions;
The course was a full day delivered by 2 health care professionals (diabetic nurses), they were both very good and kept us fully engaged throughout. A very mixed audiance of age and length of diagnosis from 85yr to 50yrs, 2 months to 7 years. I could not do the day justice in a few words but overall I found the content very useful with all the questions asked answered in full.
The day is clearly designed to manage our condition through diet, exercise and where necessary medication, the primary objective was to achieve the targets of blood pressure, blood sugar levels and weight. Diet was a major feature of the day, a number of interactive games to identify sugar content and carbs for different food, there were a number of surprises both good and bad.
The issue of self testing was addressed, the answer is yes you should but the cost is prohibitive to the NHS, the strips cost more than medication was the answer, unless there are exceptional circumstances we need to purchase our own.
There was no arguement about carbs, they should be calculated as part of the overall sugar content when managing a diet, there was no mention of the NHS balanced plate. We were informed that the NICE recommendation is now 8 portions of fruit and veg increased from 5.
I suspect from my reading that there are variations in the content and quality of these courses, in my experiance I found it to be a very good day and pleased I attended.
I feel I am in a better place to make informed decisions, this forum continues to play a big part in that process.

I have my Desmond day at the end of this month, diagnosed in March this year, have learnt so much from the forum and from reading books and articles on the web. Do wonder what I will gain from this full day course. Have to take my own lunch and wondered if they would comment on people's idea of lunch for a diabetic? I am mainly going as my doctors are insistent that I attend and that I will gain a great deal from this day. I have my doubts. I have purchased my own testing kit and if I am brave enough I will admit this on the day - my reason is that without testing you simply do not know what reaction to carbs your body has, also my doctor told me it is my illness and it is up to me to do what is right, they only offer advice. Therefore my decision is to test to find out which carbs cause the spikes that I wish to avoid.
On my next food shopping trip I will be trying out the Lactose Free Cheese as well as the milk - I need the calcium for my bones and I like milk so if it is as good as then I will only purchase Lactose Free in future.
Wishing you luck with your diabetes and your understanding, I have to date found that I have gone through several periods of doubting what is the right thing to do - feeling confident about my knowledge to ignore nurse advice on carbs and doing what I need to get me through to a point where I know what to eat and how much I can eat and keep my BG stable.