AWOL

2013 was going to be a fresh start for me completely, both with my personal life and also with my Diabetes. Everything was getting me down, I'd have a couple of okay weeks then the feelings of failure being unable to cope with D would get to me.

I'd love to say these feelings have gone completely, however I don't think they ever will. The thing that I find hardest about Diabetes is remembering that I have a lifetime to deal with it. Trying to get a HbA1c of 7 is a goal for down the road, any decrease is an improvement. Diabetes is a bloody long drawn out marathon, not a sprint.

Don't get me wrong this year hasn't been all doom and gloom at all, in fact the last few month's have been pretty damn good :)

I now have a new special someone in my life who knew nothing about Diabetes whatsoever when he met me... he's incredibly patient and understanding, trying to understand the ins and outs of having a Diabetic girlfriend. Watching him frown and trying to understand the quirks of D has been very entertaining! :) My first hypo in front of him wasn't exactly a barrel of laughs, and I kept having to tell him to stop looking so worried as it was starting to worry me, even though I knew I'd be fine in a few minutes xD

This year has also seen a change in my D gadgets, since my diagnosis 4 years ago (holy crap that's gone fast...) I've always had my NovoRapid and Lantus flexi pens. At my last hospital appointment one of the women I met suggested the NovoEcho pen which is a half-unit pen. I saw my GP a couple of months ago and was lucky enough to have it prescribed straight away, along with doubling my test strip allowance!!!

I've found that my hypo's have drastically reduced in the past few months and I think the Echo has helped a lot with that. I'm only having 3/4 hypo's a month at the most and they are only in the high 3's. On the downside, my meter average doesn't look brilliant at the moment as I'm still trying to get my post-meal readings down.. but you can't have a perfect balance all the time!

Last week I was explaining injections and pumps to one of my work colleagues, and afterwards I realised that the thought of a pump hadn't freaked me out as it once used to... Being attached to it constantly, tubing getting caught and pictures of messy sites were reasons that I wanted to stay on MDI but now I'm becoming more open to the idea. I don't want to be SWAGing with my pens for the rest of my days, I'd like to have better control. I have my annual Diabetes MOT later this month with my DSN so I'm going to bite the bullet and get some more information about possibly joining #teampump (OMG SCARY BUT IN A GOOD WAY!)

Finally, after at least a couple of years saying I wanted to do something to raise money for Diabetes UK I'm finally doing it!

Tomorrow! :O

I realise it's not Mount Kilimanjaro or running 10 marathons... however a 5k fun run is good enough for me to start with! My sister and I are both taking part and have almost raised £300 for Diabetes UK which is nearly £100 more than our original target :) If you would like to donate please go to www.justgiving.com/teapot8909 - every donation is hugely appreciated.

Lots of blue clothes and accessories for us both, hopefully pictures and a decent time to report back on tomorrow!