Needle-phobes?

29 October 2009
2 Comments

I remember those first few days after diagnosis. It was back in 1994 when I think pre-fill pens were just coming in, but the modus operandi of the hospitals at that time was to get the patient to start with syringes. On the end of my bed I’d sit – drawing up the clear then cloudy (or was it cloudy then clear), which was the easy, methodical bit. Then, I’d take a deep breath and sit there for minutes on end knowing I had to put the needle in my stomach and appear at the dinner table. That was the hard bit.

Nowadays – 15 years on – I have no such trepidation (in fact, it only took a couple…

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By Nic on 29 October 2009 at 4.06 pm
Posted in Technology & Equipment
This post has 2 comments so far. Add yours here.

My type 1 diabetes pregnancy: 36 weeks to birth in 48 hours.

28 October 2009
10 Comments

Well, I set out to document my entire pregnancy, so here I go in finishing it off…

In my final update before giving birth to my son, Hugo (first bath pic, left), I was typing as I was about to head out the door to be admitted to hospital. The general story goes something like this:

I went in for 36 week scan two Mondays ago (the 12th) and my blood tests indicated my platelets had dropped to concerning levels (they were already keeping a close eye on them after they’d been dropping the week before) plus blood pressure and swelling up, insulin needs down, all in their own way highlighting…

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By Nic on 28 October 2009 at 10.09 am
Posted in Pregnancy
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I’m back!

26 October 2009
No Comments

It may seem like I’ve been back on the blog for a few days now but Aaron has just been publishing a couple of posts I had pre-written…. I’m not that clever/enthusiastic/obsessed!

Today was actually the day that I was expecting to be induced (I would have hit the 38 week mark in my pregnancy today) so it’s crazy that almost two weeks ago I had my baby already! When I wrote the post about the 36 week scan and being admitted to hospital I really didn’t expect to be having the baby two days after that…. I honestly thought I’d go into hospital for observation, they’d observe me and discharge me 48 hours later and I’d continue on with…

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By Nic on 26 October 2009 at 6.24 pm
Posted in Pregnancy
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Strip-free testing – the new wave?

23 October 2009
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I seem to be on a Roche-wave at the moment and it’s not through any bias, I promise…. I just picked this one up off a Twitter feed.

I can’t really find any info about what markets this has been released in as of yet but the fact I can find sites in Russian and German does seem to suggest it’s either out there or nearly out there already. The pic on the left is a bit pathetic/squashed but if you look at the item at the right/lower corner, that is actually a “continuous tape” which you insert into the meter, allowing you to do 50 tests before changing it over. The idea is that if you have your Multiclix…

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By Nic on 23 October 2009 at 11.35 am
Posted in Technology & Equipment
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Glucose ‘bits’ are released in the States.

20 October 2009
1 Comment

I know I’ve talked to you all before about what you do for treating hypos and I know you’re not all glucose tablets ‘fans’, but for me glucose tablets are the best (not the only) choice for having in my drawer at work or in my handbag, the two main reasons being (a) they actually look like medication so if I’m eating them in a meeting it doesn’t look like I’m just chowing down on some ’sweeties’ for the hell of it and (b) friends/workmates/myself are not tempted to eat them just as a treat.

Over at Diabetes Mine, they’ve announced a new product in the States which is known as “Diabetes Bits”. (

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By Nic on 20 October 2009 at 5.34 pm
Posted in Hypos & Hypers
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