Today I see myself with a new challenge and opportunity. In the one day I have been contacted by the local news paper to talk about living with T1 for an article for world diabetes day and also received my invitation to speak at a diabetic educators conference in 2014 talking about diabetes and technology.
The topics and information begins rushing down to the tip of my tongue however for the article I need to make sure the important factors are covered.
1. A clear delineation and explanation of the differences between T1 and T2 is a must.
2. The work that goes into constant management by both the diabetic and the family is endless. It isn't a matter of set and forget it is constant change, calculation and adjustment.
3. Try to portray how strong we all are for what we are forced to deal with.
This is an opportunity to at least clear the messed up picture of what T1D is and how we live with it. I know it won't change the world however to have at least one person take a look and change their perspective would be an achievement. You would hope that a snow ball effect will hopefully start gaining momentum if enough of us stand up and start yelling and educating.
Now to the conference. This is a little more daunting. 30 mins, approx. 120 delegates and those delegates are the people we rely on to be in our support teams. I don't know what would be easier speaking to a hall of people who doesn't have a clue to educate or speaking to people who work in the industry. I suppose I will find out....
The technology advances have been amazing. Not only in management but also in regards to communication methods between T1 communities, doctors and educators or to the companies that put a large amount of money into research to make managing T1D as easy as possible.
The days of sitting in the waiting area of your specialist looking at the history of your BSL meter writing down all your readings and on the days when you couldn't give a dam you make up a few are over. BSL meters now connect to your pump, the cloud or to specially designing program's or apps on computers or even smart phones. Recording of my levels, even in the early days of a pump was not my strongest T1 practise. However firstly the availability to down load my optimum exceed meter to my laptop made things easier. It didn't add any smarts to the calculation but it did allow to start seeing trends and a clear picture for my support team to see what was happening. I then moved to the Bayer Contour meter that talked directly to my Medtronic Pump. When I first heard of this it was like Christmas. It would mean there was one less thing I had to worry about. This may seem petty however taking one thing out of this life is a big thing. It is like taking a process and automating it and as long as I don't run away from the meter as it is calculating then it will jump to my pump and give me suggestions if I am high or low.
I have been given another BSL meter that actually connects to my iPhone or iPod. To be able to activate its functions all you need to do is download a simple application that will take the information from each reading taken and start to graphically represent what is happening and what patterns are forming.
Now to the big change, the move from multiple daily injections to the insulin infusion pump. This was a life changing advancement. Yes you have something attached to you 24 hours a days, 7 days a week but to me it was more than worth it. It allowed me to put the required rates into my system when needed and put some normality back into life. No it wasn't a cure but it was definitely something that made my life easier and made me feel better inside and out.
From a management perspective the ability for the Medtronic pump to be downloaded to the cloud was a very attractive feature. It meant that as long as you remember your user name and password, not that easy now that everything is on line, you or your support team can see the latest results and patterns of what has been happening. It can be drilled down to months, weeks or days to find patterns. Along with the data that is sent from my BSL meter it now captures everything other than anomalies that life throws at you every now and again.
Away from the technology advances around management and delivery the biggest part technology plays in this life now is things just like this blog. The ability to reach others living the same life is easier than ever. For so long there was very little interaction but now you have the likes of Facebook, online forums, blogs, etc etc etc... You can open up your browser and read, respond or even ask a question that you know will get answers or suggestions from people who have similar experiences. This allows the gap between you and the next person living a similar life with the same challenges only seem like they are around the corner rather than feeling like there is no one else in the country let alone the world. This can be the one place that you can celebrate getting a perfect 5.5 BSL or the excitement of receiving you new pump consumables or even the place where you can rant or rave about someone telling you that we must have been over weight as a child to have diabetes, that their BSL's are out of control for no apparent reason and you just wish it wasn't there anymore. With all of these things unless you live this life the frustration and excitement cannot be understood however the support and understanding from across the world is not only welcome it is comforting to know there are others who understand and will listen.
If these are the changes that have happened in a relatively short period of time in our history then I look forward to what may come in the coming years as it can only get better from here.
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