2nd February A date with DESMOND


Today I had the first of two sessions with DESMOND up at Mansfield Community hospital.Or perhaps that should be 'at' DESMOND, standing as it does for 'Diabetes Education and Self Management for Ongoing and Newly Diagnosed'

This was the first course that I was able to attend and even though it falls on my day off, I wanted to try to get on top of this asap so it was worth the sacrifice.  It's aim is what it says on the tin, to enable people to self manage their condition by provide a whole range of education for those who have had the disease for a while (some people had been diagnosed over 13 years ago) and some who had only just discovered they had the big D (four of us found out at the start of the year)

As such it was a mixed bunch, some of who had to give their entire medical history to answer a simple question, some of whom never seemed to have heard th question and some of whom volunteered an answer that was invariably wrong.

Looking around me, if I am honest, everyone else 'looked' far unhealthier than I do. And yet when managing to take a sneaky people at the blood results of those sat near me, and it was hard not too, it soon became clear that looks and indeed what one feels / can do, can be quite deceptive. Not only was my sugar levels far higher than anyone else but my 'bad' cholesterol was one of the highest too.

The course itself was fine although I'll have a better idea after part 2 next week, but it's given me a good basic understanding and reminder of  'FAT', the frequency, amount and type of food). Although with this middle aged spread around my waist as Sandi Shaw once sang, 'there is always something there to remind me!'.

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