Even though I have a continuous glucose monitor CGM, I was “snoozing” the early warning alarm and relying on my symptoms to tell me if the CGM was fibbing. I needed to come up with a back up plan to make sure I paid attention to my alarms and if I didn’t.

My bi-annual diabetes clinic appointment is coming up and in preparation I get my labs about two weeks beforehand. I maybe unusual in that it’s not something I get stressed about these days but that hasn’t always been the case.

I’ve been using an insulin pump for ten years but it’s really only the last two years that I’ve had frequent experience of Insulin Pump Needle clogs or occlusions as they are known. Here’s my most recent experience and how I addressed it.

At the beginning of June, after 27 years of diabetes, I don’t have to stick or prick my fingers any more because I’ve upgraded to a new CGM. The other day I was thinking about my finger sticking journey from those first days and how it evolved to come full circle.

On the 25th June, two years ago, the National Clinical Guidelines (NCG) for Adults with Type 1 Diabetes were launched and endorsed by the then Minister for Health, Simon Harris. Last week, I chatted with endocrinologist chair of the guideline committee, Dr Kevin Moore about the launch and what has not happened since.. “Our job is so much easier if people with diabetes have access to diabetes education” Dr. Kevin Moore

Diabetes has a terrible public image. What if we created an awareness campaign to address the huge stigma in diabetes, specifically type 2 diabetes, and this led to a huge increase in funding for research and care delivery for all?