The Summer Holidays are about to begin....

For the month of July and August I have very little time to ponder the mysteries of my diabetes because I have two not-so-little-anymore people, who need to be provided with entertainment more than usual. So, we take turns, they come up with a few ways to fill the days and I come up with a few and any free time I have in between, is spend with coffee or in a vegetative state. Oh yeah and a little bit of house cleaning (a very little bit).

Monday afternoon this begins. And while it will be nice to not have the alarm set every morning, I know, there will be times when children will have to be separated from each other and I will have run out of or be too tired to come up with something new.

My diabetes will have to adapt to a new routine and by the time September rolls around I may just have figured it out.... or I might have my Dexcom and figure it out sooner??? 

P.S. I do have the Friends For Life Conference to look forward to on the 15th of August in London (!!!!!) and I'm looking forward to writing all about it in September.

Here come the....Statins!

I challenge anyone to say that sentence "Here come the...." and not finish it with "girls" while being reminded of the Boots Christmas ad of 2008.

Sorry about that - back to statins (yaaahhh!). I have had type 1 diabetes for 21 years now and have been complication free; not only complication free but apart from insulin I'm medication free too. I'm very proud of that! Even though, it probably had very little to do with all the work I put into managing my diabetes and more to do with genetics. It's very hard to kill off my family;-0

I've been in hospital twice in the last three years for minor things and when the pharmacist came around with her drug trolley, she would stand at the end of my bed trying to figure out why I didn't get anything from her. Such an awesome moment! Almost worth being in hospital for (not really though).

Anyway, at my last visit with my endocrinologist she pointed out that while all my test results were perfect she was keeping an eye on my cholesterol level which is now 2.9 (LDL). She would like that to be 2.5, which is the recommendation for people with diabetes.

So my days of insulin-only medication are numbered but I'm comforted that this is an action that will prevent a diabetes complication rather than a treatment for one.

You might be asking why I'm not trying to take the non-medication route on this? Well, I would find it extremely difficult to fit in any more vegetables into my diet, I'm already on high fibre, low fat (mostly) and low salt. I exercise more than the recommended 30 minutes/5 days a week. I feel that I've gotten this far medication free, I'm doing fairly well and I'm not willing to sacrifice any more "bad" living for the good of my health. However, I will be paying a little more attention to my saturated fats, cos I know I have a few of those.

Still, along with the grey hairs and the creaky joints, its another reminder that the best is over, that its time to take my feet off the pedals and just free wheel down the other side of the hill..... Just a little:-)

10 Things You CAN say to a person with diabetes....

We've heard so much about what you should not say to a person with diabetes. At first, I really enjoyed all of these lists and they're useful to help me vent some of my diabetes frustration. But after a few years you get tired of reading the same thing worded in a different way.

So when I saw a most recent list, it suddenly occurred to me, "what would we like people to say to us?" I mean the numerous lists that inform people about what not to say isn't really all that helpful in encouraging people without diabetes to talk about it or to become more aware of what it is. If I were a non-diabetic confronted by a list of what not to say I think I would actually be too afraid to say anything and change the subject rather quickly.

So I'm putting on my thinking cap and I'm going to try and come up with some ideas on what to say to a person when they tell you they have diabetes. And maybe in the comment box you guys and gals can add some more suggestions.

Remember, you have just told someone; a stranger, a friend, a neighbour, an acquaintance, a loved one, a random person, that you or your son/daughter has diabetes (either type 1 or 2), what would you like to hear them say in response?

No. 1     I really don't know anything about diabetes, do you mind explaining it a little bit for me?

No. 2     What is living with diabetes like?

No. 3     Do you want to talk about it?

No. 4     Do you want a hug?

No. 5    Isn't that what Olympian, Steve Redgrave (or Olympian Kris Freeman, or Tom Hanks, or some other superstar who is living well with diabetes) has?

Sorry, I couldn't come up with 10 things. Help!

Irish Type 1 Diabetes Role Models 2014

I did a post on 19th April 2010 about how it was so hard to find Irish role models in the world of Diabetes. I'm happy to report that this list is growing. I'm not happy that they have diabetes but I'm happy, nay thrilled, that they have been brave enough to stand up and be a role model.

Irish Public Figures who have Type 1 Diabetes.  

• Kevin Nolan, Senior County Footballer with Dublin
• Stephen Clancy, professional cyclist from Limerick with Team Type 1
• Mary Banotti, former MEP
• Pat Carey former TD from Kerry
• Catherine Brady, world champion kickboxer
• Kenneth Sweeney, former senior county footballer; Sligo
• plus, the everyday role models whose names we don't know but have been instrumental in setting up an Irish Diabetes Online community. Thank you founders of the Diabetes in Ireland, the Parents of Children & Teens with T1 Diabetes in Ireland, and the Diabetes Ireland facebook pages. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Irish Public Figures who have Type 2 Diabetes.

• Derek Davis
• Gerald Kean
• Karl Spain
• Ian Dempsey