top of page
Blood Sugar
Trampoline
Control the Controlables at Thriveabetes
Thriveabetes is a diabetes conference for people with type 1, organised by people with type 1. (Disclaimer; I’m heavily, like up to my neck, involved with it’s organisation.) However, as an adult with type 1 diabetes I only attended the presentations that were specific to me. I have more reviews to come but these two presentations really had an impact on me. Control the Controlables The first was “ Control the Controlables ” by Mark Davies, a Psychologist from Belfast and
grainne39
Apr 11, 20183 min read
Book Review - Until There is A Cure
I read Gary Scheiner ’s book “ Until There is a Cure: The Latest and Greatest in Diabetes Self Care ” just before Christmas and the night I read the very last page, I started again at the first page again. I’ve never done that before. Ever! This book is more of a follow up to his other book " Think like a Pancreas ", which is a “everything you need to know about diabetes” book. "Until There is a Cure" is more of a “what things we can focus on” every day. It had a number of n
grainne39
Mar 28, 20182 min read
Diabetes Support Organisation - DiabetesSisters.org
I wanted to write this post six months ago but finding time to write seems to be a luxury I can’t find these days. However, the timing is perfect now because of the support I have felt from the diabetes community in the last couple of months. I’ve never felt more supported by my peers with diabetes, felt more a part of a like minded community and part of something really big. Being part of Diabetes Sisters is like this too. DiabetesSisters.org is a nonprofit organization s
grainne39
Mar 21, 20183 min read
Libre4All Update
Some of you may be aware that I have been collaborating with two other members of the diabetes community on the Libre4All campaign: Davina Lyon from Kildare/Offaly, Liz Murphy from Waterford. We are also collaborating with Diabetes Ireland. The Press Release below was issued by Diabetes Ireland on Monday afternoon, 12th March, it's a combination of the press release myself, Davina and Liz issued on Monday morning and new information received by Liz. We are asking the Ministe
grainne39
Mar 13, 20184 min read
Sugar Tax and Diabetes
<p><strong>There is a new sugar tax coming into effect in Ireland in April and as a person with type 1 diabetes, who has to keep high sugar edibles and drinkables on hand all of the time, I wasn’t sure how I felt about it at first.</strong></p>
grainne39
Mar 7, 20183 min read
Thriveabetes 2018
I don't have a blog post this week because I'm in the midst of making sure everything goes without a hitch for this coming Saturday at Thriveabetes . If you are new to my blog here's a little backstory to this event. It is a one day conference where you learn to Thrive with type 1 diabetes (hence "Thrive-abetes"). It was founded by myself, and fellow members of the Clare Diabetes group: Christine Meehan, and Rebecca Flanagan. It was inspired when myself and Christine travell
grainne39
Feb 21, 20181 min read
HSE Discriminates Against People with Type 1 Diabetes
The HSE discriminates against people with type 1 diabetes on the Freestyle Libre reimbursement scheme announced on January 19th 2018. The HSE states that it bases it recommendations on the Health Technology Assessment Group (HTAG) Advice Note so “that numbers being treated do not exceed that expected”. The HTAG Advice Note recommends that: “Careful patient selection should be part of the agreement, with hospital consultant initiation, and preference for children and young
grainne39
Feb 14, 20183 min read
Diabetic Retina Screen time
I remember the first time I got a letter like this from my Diabetic Retina Screening stating that I had background retinopathy. It. Freaked. Me. Out. Big Time! The language of the letter did not help either. It was actually my very first screening with the new service in 2015. It was such a shock as all previous eye exams done at the community health centre were reported clear. I suppose it’s the difference between having a digital image that the reader can magnify and only r
grainne39
Feb 7, 20183 min read
Managing Diabetes in the Dark
<p>I’m so fortunate to have a fully funded continuous glucose monitor (CGM). It’s made a huge difference in helping me manage my type 1 diabetes. Without it I feel like I’m managing diabetes in the dark.</p>
grainne39
Jan 31, 20182 min read
Freestyle Libre Access For All
<p>The Department of Health announced the HSE’s decision to approve reimbursement of the Abbott Freestyle Libre for Children and Young Adults with type 1 diabetes. The news that approx 10,000 to 12,000 adults with type 1 diabetes have been excluded completely from this scheme caused a lot of anger.</p>
grainne39
Jan 24, 20184 min read
Ways to Deal with Your Compliant Healthcare Professional
<p>Have you been called "non-compliant" by your doctor? Maybe the problem is you have a "compliant" doctor who doesn't get it!</p>
grainne39
Jan 17, 20184 min read
Food, Diabetes, Food, Diabetes!!!
Food is the single biggest influence on blood glucose levels when you have diabetes. The topic of food and diabetes will come up in every conversation. It is a massive minefield with so many people offering advice and so many people who are passionate about a single way of eating with diabetes. DISCLAIMER; I'm not a nutrition expert or anything even close but here are the food choices I've made over my 24 years of living with type 1 diabetes. One of my personal pet peeves is
grainne39
Jan 10, 20182 min read
Christmas Traditions
Do you have any Christmas traditions in your family? We had a couple when I was growing up and now as we have created our own family we have created new ones. Apparently though, my husband doesn’t think we have any! The other day, his colleague asked him if our family had any Christmas traditions. To which he replied that off hand he couldn’t think of any other than going into town on Christmas Eve afternoon and not being able to find any gingerbread men! Yes, that is one, bu
grainne39
Dec 20, 20172 min read
Making Sense of the Glycaemic Index
Mid October, I went to the DiabetesSisters Weekend for Women conference Alexandria, Virginia. See disclaimer at the end. One of the outstanding presentations I attended was by Thriveabetes 2016 speaker, Gary Scheiner ’s presentation on “Making use of the Glycaemic Index”. This should not be a surprise to anyone has read Gary’s book “ Think Like a Pancreas ”. I will be honest here; when I heard the words “Glycaemic Index” I pretended I didn’t. And the reason is that several y
grainne39
Dec 13, 20173 min read
Diabetes on steroids
Back in October, I had a steroid injection in my hip. And yes, it drove my glucose levels bananas! For those of you who may not be aware of it, steroids are one of the medications that truly mess up glucose numbers for lots and lots of people. The ultimate craziness only lasted two to three days but the residual crazy lingered a couple of weeks. Here’s a little of the backstory behind why I got a steroid injection. I have been complaining about my right hip for some time and
grainne39
Dec 5, 20172 min read
Weather the diabetes havoc-er
One of the factors not included in Diatribe’s 22 factors that influence glucose levels is the weather. Sometimes the weather plays with my diabetes management. And here’s how. Do you remember that really, really wet day we had last week? It seems like a distant memory now and I don’t think it had a name, like a storm name, but most of the country was flooded under a yellow weather warning. When I got up that morning and look out the window I thought “ Nope, I’m not walking,
grainne39
Nov 29, 20172 min read
My World Diabetes Day
For the last three years, I have used the first fourteen days in November, to give a little insight into my life with diabetes and try to dispel some of the myths around the public perception of diabetes on my Facebook and Twitter profiles with my friends, family and followers. Why the first fourteen days in November? I do it for only 14 days because I'm only human and just can’t do it for the whole month. But I also bring it to a close on World Diabetes Day , which is Nove
grainne39
Nov 22, 20176 min read
Living with Diabetes is like Parenting
My life is finally slowing down after a number of weeks of events, diabetes awareness "stuff" and children being off school for mid term break. I have so many blogs posts in my head and no time to write them. But soon... In the meantime, while I was fast asleep, my husband had a moment of inspiration about living life with type 1 diabetes and what common human experience might come close to describing the type 1 diabetes experience? Yes, there are a lot of questions to ask ab
grainne39
Nov 15, 20176 min read
Learning about the Diabetes Technology Space
<p>Some people might assume that the word “<a target="_blank" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/technology">Technology</a>” means the discussion would be around Apps, Smartphones and computers. But in reality, people with diabetes have been using “technology” since insulin was first discovered. I would consider the topic of Diabetes Technology to include every device we use from the humble BG meter, insulin pens all the way to the DIY closed loop.</p>
grainne39
Oct 25, 20176 min read
Diabetes Sisters There's nothing like a Diabetes Conference
Last weekend, I went to the DiabetesSisters Weekend for Women conference Alexandria, Virginia. Disclaimer: Diabetes Sisters paid for my conference registration and accommodation but also gave me a contribution towards my travel costs. All they asked for in return was that I would write a blog post about the conference which I had to do anyway because I learned so much that needs to be shared;-) There’s nothing like a diabetes conference! Seriously, diabetes conferences are
grainne39
Oct 17, 20173 min read
bottom of page