Had a great meeting with my new DSN yesterday. She's phoned me this morning and said she's referring me to an Endo as she's surprised that as a Type 1 diagnosed in February, I hadn't yet been referred to a consultant.
This might be a dim question, but what's the usual form in one of these meetings? I like to go to see my DSN prepared with facts and figures. Does the consultant get into this level of detail?
I've never been to one, Paulaah, but I would go prepared. You need to be able to give a full background and your current situation to anyone new. If you don't need it, no harm done. Much better to have it than not.
Mine asks me to prepare a full day's reading every month consisting of fasting, before and 2 hours after readings. Before I go in, nurse takes my HbA1c and I get the results after 10 minutes while I am in with her. She looks at my figures that I have written out for her. Then she weighs me , tests my feet with a "tuning fork" for sensitivity and looks between my toes for fungi, then takes my blood pressure which is always too high due to white coat syndrome. I always bring in some BP measurements I have taken at home. She accepts the readings that I took because I compared my BP meter with hers at a previous appointment. Then we discuss my medication. This all takes half an hour. I go every 4 months. This may be different from other peoples' experiences since I live in Switzerland. Once a year she sends me for an retinal examination.
Once a year I have full blood tests done and she goes through the results with me first, comparing them to the previous year. I always ask the receptionist/nurse for a photocopy.
I always go to the same person - she is the only endo in the practice, along with her husband the generalist, and she is extremely pleasant and encouraging