Hi Margaret
Wow – approaching 50 years as a Type 1 Insulin Dependent Diabetic that is one serious achievement
& in the myriad of doom and gloom regarding living with diabetes I think we should celebrate longevity of individuals living/coping/managing/surviving with diabetes.
A lovely statement that “no two people are alike”. I think that is also often forgotten and all of us have to both accept & understand that what works well for one individual with diabetes may be a nightmare for another.
Health Services often funnel individuals down a 1 size fits all approach so as Dr R D Lawrence wrote “The person with diabetes must be their own doctor, biochemist and dietician” & with support from fellow diabetics and online forums such as these we can take some ownership of our diabetes away from the policy makers & the professionals who are not actually living with diabetes.
At a recent focus group our local diabetes health team stated “we need to to listen more to our patients with diabetes after all they are living with the disease we only know the theory behind how to manage it”.
Apologies had a sudden soapbox moment – I will climb down now! :lol: :lol:
The changes within diabetes management are great for reminiscing – particularly how when I was diagnosed we did not have blood glucose (BG) monitoring – I cannot even comprehend how I would manage now without knowing what the BG’s are doing. :shock:
The early BG monitors were the size of an average house brick and you had to drop a gallon of blood on the stick and then wait an eternity for the result!! :lol: :lol:
Margaret hope you look forward to receiving your medal when you reach the 50 years milestone.
I raise a glass of champagne to you.
Best wishes
Txx