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!

Have A Nice Day

I've been a pretty rubbish blogger this year. Sitting down to write a post but letting things distract me or just putting it off until tomorrow, then the next day yaddayadda <insert more excuses> I'm not the most open and trusting person on the planet, so sitting down to write how I'm feeling isn't the most appealing thing. However I've gotten a little better thanks to the people I've 'met' online with their constant encouragement, whatever the situation.

Seeing that the Fourth Annual Diabetic Blog Week had come round again already to me was fate, and time that I got my butt back on here!

DBW was created by the amazing Karen at Bitter Sweet encouraging bloggers to share their own unique stories and insights on particular D (and non-D) related subjects. It's a great opportunity to connect with other PWD and see how they deal with their D. All of the sign-up information and post topics are available over at Bitter Sweet :)

As for little old me (24 next month.. Oh my freaking gawwdd!) I'm doing okay at the mo. I got my eye screening results back last month and have reversed the background retinopathy found last year =D

*do a little dance*
*make a little...
BACK TO TOPIC!

The holiday to Florida that I've been worrying and panicking about for months has sadly been and gone :( However it was a very different trip from the last one. I got advice from the Diabetic Nurse at my local surgery after finding various different methods of dealing with time zones etc online. She took note of everything I currently did and suggested sticking with injecting at UK time (around 4/5pm USA time). After a few bumpy days of BG results (and one case where I remembered my Lantus 3 hours after it was due.. Doh!) things started to settle. I actually had a few no hitter days!

I went with a completely different attitude, I wasn't going to work my holiday around my D. D was going to have to fit in with me. Last time I was constantly testing and correcting, this time I tested when I needed to. I was a lot more relaxed, a lot more in control and had a lovely time with my family. My parents commented a couple of times of the massive change since our last vacation, which was lovely to hear :)

The bloods for my latest HbA1c were taken before I left for my hols (just in case it was a disaster) so I'm hoping for a reduction since last time, my average when I left was 7.9 so fingers, toes and everything crossed. My BGs have taken a few days to settle after getting home, so I'm now trying to get back into the swing of things and get my average back down. 

I've also found an event I'm going to take part in later this year to raise money for Diabetes UK (nothing hardcore like a marathon I'm afraid!!). A local fun run is being held in October, so expect a post once I've signed up :)

It's good to be back.

Emma x