Whatever medical condition I have I like to get a good understanding of it. How does it work, why are things happening, what are the pros and cons of all the options for treating it? I’ve always seen this as critical to successful diabetes management. Open conversations with medical professionals are key to this. I… Read More »
It’s that time of the year again when I pop along to have my eyes tested by my local optometrist. I have them photographed once a year at my local hospital as part of my usual check up, but I also get my optometrist to check them because I value my eyesight (I really, really,… Read More »
Dear Alison’s Mind Today Alison went for her annual toe tickle. And she was feeling pretty grumpy. In the waiting room she was acting as a handy generational bridge between a 6 year old with a verruca and an 80 year old who needed help cutting his nails. This is not her ideal way to… Read More »
Last week I performed my civic duty of attending the hospital diabetic eye clinic in order to reduce the average age of attendees by at least 30 years. There was also a bit of faffing round with my eyes which left me gobsmacked at quite how disjointed diabetes care can be. My local PCT have… Read More »
Yesterday, six months had rolled around again and it was back to the Royal Infirmary for my bi-annual check up (odd word ‘bi-annual’, does it mean twice a year or once every two years? One to ponder. Or not.) The very familiar waiting room was the same as always and the goldfish in the remarkable… Read More »
Today was the day of my annual (or thereabouts) eye check up at the Royal Infirmary. I moseyed on down the hospital for an appointment first thing and went through the usual procedures. We started off with the standard eye-sight test which involves reading letters off a board. This is done by looking at the… Read More »
There have been a couple of interesting articles recently about how patients and Drs interact. There was a particularly amusing/irritating dispute on the CNN website where Drs had recorded videos complaining about “patients who know too much”. Patient advocates, including www.diabetesmine.com’s Amy Tenderich quickly gave those Drs short shrift, objecting to their defensive stance and… Read More »
This dog doesn’t often get the chance to chat with others about what diabetes care they receive, so it’s hard to get an independent view of what should be happening and then compare that to your own reality. This dog fetched himself a copy of the latest National Diabetes Audit and was aghast to discover… Read More »