I'm so, so tired! Yesterday afternoon we visited some friends. It was a family-style event where everyone brought something to feast on. The food was sooo good. The diabetic downside is that while the food is really good I had no idea what the carb count was and therefore, no idea what my blood sugar was going to do. I've been using a CGM since last November and this has been really beneficial with reigning in those blood glucose numbers. I could track my BG's while I was eat

The HSE approved funding for my Dexcom G4 continuous glucose system since November (love it!); I received my start up kit through funding from HSE’s community care budget. My Animas rep called me in January to tell me that my Dexcom G4 Platinum Sensors had been, finally, approved funding for them through Long Term Illness scheme. All I had to do was get my GP or consultant to update my long term illness book and bring it to my chemist. In the meantime, she rang my chemist to

I am a huge champion for peer support to help us live with type 1 diabetes. My type 1 diabetes friend in Clare and around the country have kept me positive and fighting for almost 10 years now. But, as it's Valentine’s Day and the month of his birthday, this post is a tribute to my home team. My husband has been my very biggest supporter and cheerleader for over 15 years.  From that very first day, when he asked me for books on type 1 diabetes so that he could learn something

You never know where one of our comrade in arms will pop out from. We are everywhere! You may not think it but we are. My neighbour across the road from me who I've know for at least 5 years, only told me at Christmas that he has type 1 diabetes!  And here's another one for you. I have no qualms about saying that as an Irish housewife I love going through the Aldi Supermarket weekly ad magazine. Always looking for a bargain, I am. Or a nice surprise. Just in case you are not

A combination of my personal blog about living with type 1 diabetes in Ireland and sharing information I collect along the way. I feel that living with type 1 diabetes is sometimes like being on a trampoline, except you can never get off. It doesn't take long for us to get tired of all that bouncing. It's not any fun. Here, we can bounce together, keep each other steady, and cheer each other on when we get tired and want to get off the trampoline.

Imagine living in a country where you could not afford to buy insulin for your child with type 1 diabetes?  I'm so lucky that I was born and live in Ireland. I can go to a chemist at any time and walk out with a month's supply of insulin, test strips and whatever else I need to live. Without paying a cent! If I was born elsewhere that would not be the case. I would not be able to afford my insulin and I would not be here today. Yesterday, I donated money that I had set aside

The complications of diabetes are real and people are living with them. People are also living in fear of them. Myself included. I am actively trying to overcome this fear because if I do end up with complications I don't want to feel like it is the end of my life. Or that I failed to manage my diabetes well enough. And I certainly don't want to be made to feel that it's my fault. I don't believe just because I am doing everything in my power to manage my diabetes that I wi

I thought I knew a lot about food and in particular carbohydrates and sugar. However, I attended a diabetes support group recently that sent my head spinning in confusion.  You see, I always thought that the word "carbohydrate" referred to the group of foods that have the most influence on blood sugars and that "sugary" foods would be part of that group. So when a gentleman remarked that white bread was full of sugar my head slowly exploded. Inside my head I was asking so man

Starter Kit; A Guide for Adults with Type 1 Diabetes. This is a little project I had been working on since 2010 and I'm thrilled to announce that it's finally HERE! I came across the Starter Kit on an Australian website and thought it was a very valuable and informative document. I showed it to a few of my friends with type 1 who agreed. At this point I realised that there was a lack of educational booklets for people with type 1 diabetes living in Ireland. So I approached

This season of RTE ’s OperationTransformation   has been focusing on type 2 diabetes in a big way. This is my first time to watch Operation Transformation and I find it a very interesting programme though not why you would think. I was extremely interested in the piece about how unfit our school aged teenagers are, especially the girls. That was eye opening but when I thought about it not surprising. However, it’s the feature on Petrice, which aired on Wednesday, 8th February

Media attention is a good way to create more awareness about diabetes in the general public. So when I learned that RTE 1 was airing a programme dedicated to the disease I thought “great!” I quickly changed my mind when I read the programme synopsis in advance of viewing it. We were going to hear the stories of 3 people, one of whom had passed away since filming from diabetes complications, the second was visually impaired and had limb amputations and the third was only a c

So you’ve heard about the benefits of the insulin pump and continuous glucose monitors and sensors. And you’re thinking “I might just get my diabetes under control if I have one of those” How do I get one? Well the answer is that it’s not as easy as just deciding to get one. In Ireland, people with diabetes get all of their medicines and medical supplies, relating to diabetes for free on the Long Term Illness Scheme, which is fantastic! However, when a new treatment comes

I recently had a conversation with my consultant endocrinologist’s secretary that left me so annoyed, I had to wait until I calmed down to write about it. On Thursday, 27 May 2010, I received a phone call from my endocrinologist’s office. It went something very close to this; Secretary; “Gráinne, I’m calling with your fasting bloods results.” Me: “my what? The bloods weren’t fasting- do you mean my HbA1c?” Secretary: Your Hb mm… yes. The result is 7.0 mmols and the Dr. says

When I was diagnosed with diabetes, it was 1993 and I was a 20 years old student; living the typical student life. That all changed with diabetes. For a very long time I only knew what I absolutely needed to know about diabetes to survive. I fought it but not in a good way. My attitude was that diabetes was not going to get in my way! My friends and family would ask about it and how I was getting on, I replied “fine”. I had no idea of how I was doing, health wise, my medical