At my daughter’s diagnosis, we were educated in the hospital, privately, for more than 8 hours. Although I thought my head was going to explode, it was invaluable. We were also given the Pink Panther book, which I read from cover-to-cover.
Hi Andurea,
Thanks for the reply,
You are so right about learning curve. I have meet some healthcare proffesionals that either don’t get it or don’t want to get it. It confuses me that they do not get more engaged in the care of diabetes when almost half of their practice live with diabetes. This is a fact and present reality but it does not have to be the defacto for the future. My goals for our center is not just to help patients better manage their diabetes but also to subtely educate physicians on the nuances of many new and even conventional therapies (ie. GLP-1 Agonist (Byetta), Amlyin Analogue(Symlin), Rapid Acting, Long Acting , pump therapy ). Definaelty a huge learning curve to overcome but really worth the effort to get patients more in controll and feeling better which boost confident that they can manage their diabetes with their doctor; An expert at their side.
Congratulations on the baby, I have 2 children and I live and take care of myself for me and for them.
-Tony
Hi Carb101
Thanks for the reply,
Yes, I have heard great things about that book. I have not read it myself but know of many that have. 8 hours is a lot at once but I can imagine that being a parent in that situation forces you to be very attentive and focused to all the information that’s given.
I have spoken to parents of newly diagnosed children and most say that they were very nervous when leaving the hospital. They may have known more about diabetes than ever before but still felt uneasy that they were now on their own , they explained to me that the confidence came in time and from experience.
-Tony
Hi Tony, I had diabetes education through the local hospital, 1 a month for 5 months just short of 2 hours each session, the sessions were 1 on 1. The Ladies were quite informative and pleasant unfortunately being they were CDE they were stuck in only teaching the outdated ADA way and when I asked about the glycemic index, I was doing a lot of research on my own, I got the “deer in the headlights look” I discarded the dietitian’s high carb diet and tested to find my level. I took the information from them and kept the good information and discarded the bad, I think it was easier for me being of the engineering mindset, it became a problem to solve, and what doesn’t work gets discarded.
Hi Dave in MD,
Thanks for the reply,
Yes, diabetes is truly individual, no cookie cutter approach. Everything is based on numbers so if glycemic index works for the numbers and for you, then that is best choice for you. I have found that patients that have a problem solving attitude really do the best but sometimes they are very hard on themselves if they cannot figure it out and that is where a good CDE comes in. Keep up the good numbers…
-Tony
Tony,
So true that people with a problem solving attitude tackle diabetes in a different way. Being more than a bit OCD helps, too:)
Not to sound disappointed , however …where was everybody ???
I posted on the Canadian TuDiabetes site, Feb. 23, 2010 , that Medtronic Canada was holding on line information sessions on 3 different dates , featuring a well known Canadian Doctor and an insulin pumper .One had a chance to ask questions . …The posting received 5 " replies " …all by me .I thought I was clear enough in explaining the procedure how to sign up …no one asked for clarification .Ah , maybe the Canadian TuD audience had participated previously , while for me it was a new tool to connect .
And by the way I do not work for MM, just wanted to share information I had received and I love TuD too …another great tool !!..
Thanks Tony