CathyN
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 248
- Location
- dorset
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
- Treatment type
- Tablets (oral)
- Dislikes
- prejudice, racism, complacency, ignorance
Just attended the second of three education sessions. Felt as if I had gone back to primary school - such was the level of the education. It felt as if their target age group was 8 -10, rather than a room full of adults. I felt patronised and talked down to - all very well meaning but really hard to take seriously. Of course, until I have attended the third session I should withhold my judgement but I don't hold out much hope.
Unsurprisingly, a month of random urine stick testing had produced few positive results, as these sticks don't read positive until 10 mmol/L. This was greeted with more patronising enthusiasm and I'm sure a slightly confusing message that we were all well under control. So I just had to raise the question - if you're officially diabetic at 7mmo/L or over, you could have been 9.9mmol/L for the entire month, but the sticks would not inform you of this worrying fact. Suddenly the patronising charm was replaced by a more business like attitude. The nurse actually said " If you are not using insulin, and you get a test result of, say, 8.7 - what are you gonna do about it? You can't DO anything about it"
I said possibly you could look at the food you had eaten to try to understand the result. You could definitely go for a brisk walk or do some exercise. And that was the end of that. She ended the discussion then and there. So it is very obvious that self testing is completely ignored as a help to control type 2.
Going onto diet. This was depressingly puerile. Arranging plastic food into the correct groups on a plastic pie chart - and then being instructed to eat healthily is primary school stuff. That would have been ok if followed up with some grown up advice. I could not tell what the message was except to eat healthily ..... well it is a start but I don't call it diabetic education. We did not even touch upon the sort of food that will raise levels in the diabetic person.
I await lesson three.......
What I'm deducing here though, is that if you are unequipped to help yourself ie. you don't read about type 2, you don't test, you have negative urine sticks and have been told it's excellent - then your chances of really managing your diabetes are slim.
It just isn't enough.
Unsurprisingly, a month of random urine stick testing had produced few positive results, as these sticks don't read positive until 10 mmol/L. This was greeted with more patronising enthusiasm and I'm sure a slightly confusing message that we were all well under control. So I just had to raise the question - if you're officially diabetic at 7mmo/L or over, you could have been 9.9mmol/L for the entire month, but the sticks would not inform you of this worrying fact. Suddenly the patronising charm was replaced by a more business like attitude. The nurse actually said " If you are not using insulin, and you get a test result of, say, 8.7 - what are you gonna do about it? You can't DO anything about it"
I said possibly you could look at the food you had eaten to try to understand the result. You could definitely go for a brisk walk or do some exercise. And that was the end of that. She ended the discussion then and there. So it is very obvious that self testing is completely ignored as a help to control type 2.
Going onto diet. This was depressingly puerile. Arranging plastic food into the correct groups on a plastic pie chart - and then being instructed to eat healthily is primary school stuff. That would have been ok if followed up with some grown up advice. I could not tell what the message was except to eat healthily ..... well it is a start but I don't call it diabetic education. We did not even touch upon the sort of food that will raise levels in the diabetic person.
I await lesson three.......
What I'm deducing here though, is that if you are unequipped to help yourself ie. you don't read about type 2, you don't test, you have negative urine sticks and have been told it's excellent - then your chances of really managing your diabetes are slim.
It just isn't enough.