When are you 'experienced'?

[ebony321]

One of those questions..

When do you class yourself as experienced? 10+ years? having wide knowledge? having good control?

Just wondering as someone said 'oh less than 3 years your stilla newbie'

Well i don't feel like a newbie, i sort of feel like i've always had it and always will.

I feel like i am experienced in diabetes even though i've only have diabetes for almost 3 years?

What does everyone else think?

 

[Sid Bonkers]

Thats an interesting question ebony, I consider myself to be experienced in my diabetes after 3 years as I know how to keep my bg levels under good control.

Do I consider myself a diabetes expert, no not by any stretch of the imagination.

I have a good understanding of what does what and why stuff happens but I am not at all academic so would never claim to be an expert in any medical field.

I play the guitar and have played in bands and toured the pub/club circuit in London and the South East. I think i play pretty good but I dont consider myself to be a professional musician, semi pro once upon a time maybe, I just know what I need to know to get by

 

[anna29]

Hi all,
I would never class or say I was/am experienced ...
As everyday and week, month I am always learning more and more about my own and others journeys living with diabetes condition.
Its so complex with many twists and turns , totally unpredictable too at times also. [ Well mine is !]
Its wonderful to have a couple of days with a bit of energy, get up and go , BG levels dip a bit for me and are my lowest ever. Sadly it never lasts though, as with an illness ,cold, infection, antibiotics, steriods, 'whoop' up they go again.!!! Then am back to square one ...
The best I can do is keep to an established routine, play and eat safe to the best I can, be thankful and grateful for what I do have, great support from my family and fantastic GP .
My own personal favourite thing is as we grow older the wisdom we gain through lifes experiences.
As a diabetic I am simply ME ...
Anna.x

 

[gollymax]

Well its a hard question to answer I have had type 1 diabetes for nearly 50 years now and I seem to learn bits and pieces each day about the complaint, it has got easier as the years have gone past, no more urine tests no more glass syringes etc. Its now made easier but one could say you still have to watch everything and if you dont complications set in, I have a few problems over the years but luck enough to overcome them. if you go to www.palingswickhouse.co.uk you find where I lived and a bit of my story look for kevin Baum hope you find it interesting

 

[Otenba]

I've never referred to myself as expert or experienced like it's a medal or anything. I just say think being diabetic for 21 odd years is just simply another statement of fact about me.

On that note, I have been called experienced before though... and called "an old hand", which made me laugh because it came from a Type 2 diabetic who was much older than me. Bless 'em!

It certainly isn't grounds for bragging rights, but it is also understandable why people look to those who've been familiar with anything for longer; people naturally do that when learning anything new! ^_^

 

[Fallenstar]

Hi Ebony
I love these sort of questions that make you question yourself, and think

I don't consider myself "experienced" in the field of Diabetes..but I would consider myself experienced in my care. I think anyone who does anything day in day out, year after year would be considered somewhat experienced if not proficient at what they do....Though, having said that I came to this forum out of sheer frustration after coasting along for a lot of years with decent enough control and never having to second guess my knowledge regarding my own treatment and handle on my condition..to it going all of a sudden all over the place.
Actually, it was a bit more pernicious,subtle than that ,but never the less from years of being on top of something to going to flailing in the dark was quiet a shock. Diabetes can and does change and digress over the years, sometimes for the better as has been posted on here, and sometimes for the worse .

I have always made it my priority to know as much about any subject that concerns or effects either myself or any of my family . Knowledge puts you in the best position, to hopefully get the best possible outcome available from the treatment that is on offer. And, in my opinion this does not always have to be the most conventional route. Pin pointing what is wrong, and options and choices for treatment it the best way forward..in any situation really :wink:

Again researching, and using various sources,as many as I could has brought me back to a good place with my diabetic control, along with other Endocrine illnesses I have, which are all interlinked. I have found self knowledge the best way forward. So research, research, research along the way, for an ever changing condition which has various options for treatment. Well one really, insulin! ...But...

There are choices within this treatment, a number of choices .So, I suppose my answer is I will never be experienced, just always looking for answers on improving control, and keeping an open mind :wink:

Thank's to this forum who I'm sure has helped a whole lot of people, along with other sources...but never the less, thankyou

 

[ebony321]

Hey everyone,

All very interesting replies!

I guess a better wording of the question would have been 'when are you experienced in YOUR diabetes?'

I think the length of diabetes probably does make a difference in 'experience' but then again the world is learning more and more about diabetes so someone who was diagnosed 30 years ago after 3 years wouldn't know as much as i do now 3 years into diagnosis.

Sometimes i come across a problem in my diabetes and i know exactly what to do to solve it, which makes me feel experienced, then occasionally something happens and i feel like i like i'm back to my first week of diagnosis with no clue what to do!

Also a good point is how you are taught and how you learn things, a few times on the forum people have posted saying they have had diabetes for a long time but feel like they are newbies to it all because they've never been offered the kind of information that others are?

It certainly does make me feel a bit shy about it when someone says they have had diabetes 20ish years as they might have been diagnosed alot earlier than i was, so people are sometimes shocked that i've had diabetes for a short while, obviously because it's known to develop at a much younger age than 20.

For example a guy at work asked me if i had diabetes as he'd seen me test my BG in the canteen. I said yes and we were talking as he has type 1 diabetes too, he's in his late 40's and has had diabetes since he was 6 years old, so he looked quite shocked when i said i'd only had it almost 3 years and alot of people assume because i have a pump i must be a pro or something! :lol:

I feel like i know alot about diabetes, the theory behind it all and the medical side and of course my own treatment. I also feel like i still have alot to learn, maybe i'm at an amateur status for now until i gain some more years eh? :wink:

 

[Otenba]

It certainly does make me feel a bit shy about it when someone says they have had diabetes 20ish years as they might have been diagnosed alot earlier than i was, so people are sometimes shocked that i've had diabetes for a short while, obviously because it's known to develop at a much younger age than 20.

It was common for Type 1s to be quite young but, let's be honest here, I think these days the Types are crossing over when it comes to age of diagnosis. Kids these days are getting Type 2 for example, and I've heard of Type 1s being diagnosed around the age of 40. Due to this, I don't like to generalise either condition with age; not any more anyway.

I do find it quite interesting to hear what it's like to be diagnosed as a Type 1 at a later age. I feel like my diabetes has effectively been my life considering I cannot remember much of my life before the age of 5, before I was diagnosed. In a way I'm thankful for getting it at a young age because then I haven't got the hassle of changing my lifestyle to accommodate the injecting regime after a decade or two of planning my life without it.

It's a different kind of diagnosis shock I suppose depending on your time of life... I know I became a very different little girl after I was diagnosed. Very withdrawn after years of being happily outgoing.

I hope that I am now finally back to how comfortable I was with myself back then but I'll probably never know for sure!

 

[ebony321]

Indeed it is the case now, it seems the lines are become blurred between the typical ages of diagnosis, but we only know that because we have diabetes. Many people who only know what they hear still think type 1 diabetes is children and type 2 is fat people. Harsh i know but it's what some people think until told otherwise, obviously we know thats not the case

That's why they no longer refer to the type main types as juvenile diabetes and mature onset diabetes, because it's just not the case anymore.

It's weird because i can definately remember not having diabetes, and in one way i was lucky as i had a care-free childhood without diabetes. But obviously i had to adapt to the change after living for 20 years without, then someone who is diagnosed young may not remember any different so will always be used to it in a sense but didn't have the care-free childhood i did as in no injections or testing etc.

One of the hardest things at first was to remember i now had diabetes, walking into the kitchen and grabbing an apple without thought was hard to get out of, i often sat down for a meal and only halfway through remembered to test my BG! Sometimes now if im really hungry i still go to stuff my face then remember i haven't bolused or tested!

I think whatever age your diagnosed it is quite a blow. It must be very difficult to grow up with diabetes though and i definately do consider myself lucky to not have developed it until age 20, but my father had type 1 diabetes and he was diagnosed at 14 so maybe in my case not only was diabetes hereditary but the late development was too?

I don't think your ever the same after a diagnosis such as diabetes, i believe it does change you and how you view some things, but i don't mean that in a bad way. I mean it as in for me it's made me a bit tougher and more compassionate to others, to take time to understand because i know what it feels like to feel alone and mis-understood.

 

[marti]

i may be a diabetic for 6 years but i am still new at all this

 

[ClaireG 06]

Very interesting question

Like others have said i feel i am learning every day. I don't think i'm that experienced. I do however have an interest in diabetes and my own care.

My new DN said i am her most knowledgeable patient. I have learnt an awful lot from reading around on the subject and from posts here but i don't think that makes me experienced.

 

[lovinglife]

I consider myself to have a good working knowledge - My care team have a vast working knowledge - but the only expert is me - and my expertise extends only to me!

 

[Jen&Khaleb]

I would have to say that I muddled through the first year, got it together in the second year and things have been pretty good for the following 2 and a bit years. I would say I am very experienced with my son's diabetes but I could only offer suggestions to other parents with T1 children with the knowledge that what works for me might not work for them. It isn't the food and insulin questions but what you have to fit into your lifestyle.

 

[anna29]

A great topic here... Thanks ebony.
Have enjoyed reading posts and all varying angle's on this topic.
It has been interesting and helpful to me. Am sure it's the same for other members too.
Please keep posts coming along . . .
Anna.

 

[hallii]

I am an expert in all things, I am never wrong, it must be true, my wife says so!

H

 

[lostsoul]

hI:

One of the best questions I have ever read and the answers by many are true for each of them. Diabetes is as individualistic as the person dealing with it. No one can claim to be an expert in the field, not even doctors or academics because at nearly 100 years since the development of Insulin, there is still much to learn, not just about the condition, but about the side effects of the condition relating to diabetes and survival caused by hypos, and why the bodies will to survive outweighs death. Controlling the condition is an experience itself that will one day lead to a full true understanding of the disease and how and why it affected differing people from a wide range of cultures. 45 years of living and dealing with the condition, but it has taken me 30 years to truly come to terms with it and how it works and why it does what it does. There is more to diabetes than any of us will ever understand on a clinical, psychological and behavourial level than most will ever understand. No, I am no expert and never will be. Doctors are experienced at treating the disease and guiding patients in the best medical and health care possible, (brilliant bunch of people) but I have yet to come across any doctor whom can truly claim to be an expert in its field of medicine, psychology and methodology in why it does what it has been designed to do-kill. Why? To understand why, we have to go above several levels of kinistic parapsychological levels and ignore that you have it, and question lifestyle and possibly more.......Looking forward to going home one day.