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| Parliament (or possibly Hogwarts?) - one of a number of inexplicable invitations in 2016 |
2016 was, by many people's reckoning, a bit of a git of a year. There were some things that happened that many people would have preferred had not, choices were made that left some people feeling distinctly 'Huh?!' or occasionally 'Oh NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!' and death seemed to be stalking around picking off an extraordinarily large number of beautiful, creative and talented people to such an extent that it is really hard to remember more than a few of them without feeling slightly overwhelmed. Humanity's ability to be generally awful to each other seemed to be conspicuously in evidence and even the weather and the stability of the earth's crust itself appeared to want to get in on the act.
And yet, when I look back over things closer to home, I realise that we as a family had a pretty great year while all of that was going on. Our eldest left to study away from home, found some great housemates and is having a wonderfully creative time. Our yougest embarked on a new adventure, effectively the next stage of their life, and is exhibiting extraordinary maturity and creativity. And we added a new hairy member to our househood who ensures, as has been remarked upon, that at least once every single day, each of us breaks into a massive grin and/or hysterical laughter.
Early last December (except-that-technically-it-wasn't-because-December-finished-yesterday-so-I-missed-it-by-one-day-but-anyway-you-know-what-I-mean-because-December-2015-sounds-too-long-ago) I took up an invitation to speak at the Royal College of Physicians in Edinburgh. This was the first time I had been asked to speak to healthcare professionals and share my 'grass roots' experience of living with type 1 diabetes, and it was as rewarding as it was utterly terrifying. In January I was invited to talk about what it had been like contributing as a lay member of the Guideline Development Group for the updated NICE guidelines for type 1 diabetes in adults at Partha Kar's #talkT1 event which later gave rise to t1resources.uk. In March I received sponsorship to attend the Diabetes UK Professional Conference where I spoke about my experiene of using the Freestyle Libre glucose monitoring system and a few days later was invited by the wonderful May Ng's to speak at the Children and Young People's North West Network Education Day in Leigh. June saw me invited by Abbott to join bloggers from across Europe at DxStockholm for a hugely inspiring weekend. More invitations followed to present to parents or children with diabetes at the CYP East Midlands Network Day and to healthcare professionals at the Yorkshire and Humber CYP Diabetes Network. In the meantime a funding application was granted for a clinical trial of a new intervention to tackle problematic hypoglycaemia for which I have been asked to assist with patient involvement (much more on that later). Along with some really interesting and useful meetings as part of the Medtronic 'Bloggers and Advocates' group I was also invited to share my experiences of hypoglycaemia as part of their excellent Hypo Heroes campaign for World Diabetes Day 2016. There was also an entirely unexpected invite to a meal at the Houses of Parliament, but to be honest I have a suspicion I may have dreamed that one. I mean... what would I be doing at the Houses of Pariament?!
The growth and launch of T1resources.uk from an embyronic 'wouldn't this be a good thing' idea to actually seeing the site filling out and gaining traffic has been a particular joy of 2016 - and seems to be one that will continue to grow in value and presence during the next 12 months.
Diabetes-wise 2016 has not been without its struggles for me. While all those 'peaks' and moments of excitement were going on, sometimes it felt like I was living in a very deep and shadowy chasm, perhaps largely of my own making. But more recently (and particularly following my most recent Pump Clinic appointment where some of you wisely advised me to opt for 'painful honesty' with my team) I have felt more myself about my T1. While it is still intensely irritating at times, I feel considerably more on top of things than I have for a good long while. And improvements in BG levels? Well those too may come in time.
Looking forward it is hard to know quite what to expect from 2017.
I have made one small, but potentially quite significant decision though. For the last two years I have occasionally used Abbott's Freestyle Libre to either see me through particularly chaotic periods of blood glucose (Christmas, birthday, summer holiday... that sort of thing), or to act as an opportunity for a reset when things have drifted somewhat. All of the extra data make it slightly easier for me to separate wood from trees and to tweak basal profiles and/or meal and correction ratios.
For 2017 however, while I may still occasionally use the Libre I have decided divert some family funds and to finally invest in the transmitter and charger to allow me to occasionally use CGM with my MM640G. If I can manage to stretch sensor-life to 10 or 12 days then the ongoing sensor costs are not dissimilar to Libre and, of course, come with the added benefit of SmartGuard, which worked so well for me before. I will only know whether this level of occasional use will be of any benefit to me if I try it (research data shows that better outcomes come for those who can use for 70% of the time - which is sadly significantly outside our funding ability). The cost of the transmitter is an eye-watering £500 and it is only warrantied for 12 months' use. Nevertheless the system was so effective for me when I used it before that I am keen to see if I can replicate some of the same effect with an odd sensor every so often. And, of course, whether the CGM data will allow the same 'reset' opportunity that I currently gain from a fortnight of Libre wear every month or two. My hope is that the transmitter will continue to function beyond the 12 month warranty if I treat it gently and talk to it soothingly every so often.
Time, and subsequent blog posts here, will tell.