Fenred – I’m under Broomfield as well. What pump did they give you? I’ve done the BERTIE course and have been religiously carb counting, etc for the last 6 months. Got a checkup appointment in a few weeks and will be asking them if I can go on a pump as think it will suit me. Thanks

I’ve got a medtronic minimed, mines 3.5 years old now so the pump they will supply you with may or may not be the same but as far as I know they are still giving out the medtronic pumps. Jane/Margaret and the team at Broomfield are awesome! I was in the first 15-20 to go on the pump when they introduced it so it was a little bit ‘new’ to them too but they have tons of experience now and the support you will receive (including them calling you during the evenings for the first couple of days to make sure you’re OK) is great!
From the sounds of things, your lifestyle should suit the pump well and it is a revelation not having to carry 2 different pens etc around on a night out etc. You WILL have far fewer hypos once you get everything dialled and for riding and being able to reduce your basal rate within a couple of button clicks is, for me just fansastic and takes the stress out of the ‘guess’ work. BERTIE/DAFNE courses are ESSENTIAL imo I really dont know how diabetics can control BS without being able to carb count.

Good luck with it, my email addy in profile if you have any questions, happy to discuss with you. 8)

Thanks fenred, useful info!

Just thought I’d let you know that I passed a link to this thread to my daughter’s diabetes specialist and it has been sent on to her “exercise fanatics”. We are under the care of the Bury team and they have been absolutely superb.

In other news a good chunk of the money raised at this year’s Hit the North is being donated to the Bury branch of Diabetes UK. They intend to buy some reference books to be loaned out to the parents of those newly diagnosed and put the rest towards the purchase of some CGM kit.

I think I’m extremely lucky when it comes to moods. I’m uber laid back 100% of the time and even when I’m crashing low I’ve never once snapped at the wife. I do wonder if/when it will happen though. Would break my heart to be mean to her ill or not.

Harry_the_spider that is very cool.

In terms of not doing DAFNE I didn’t do it because I learned to carb count from the book I mentioned.

I have 1u of Novorapid per 12g of carbs. Apart from my breakfast of porridge which although about 24g of carbs I only need 1 unit for. I take a split dose of Levemir 16u at 7:30pm and 12 at 7:30am

Harry, that’s great! Things are moving so fast technology and research-wise your daughter will be just fine!

OP- let me quantify my statement, I did mean learning to carb count, if you can learn to do it without a course then that’s cool! Similar ratios to me, pretty much 1u per 10g carbs 😉

I’m 1.5 per 10g carbs, which, believe it or not, can be an incredibly difficult sum if you happen to be low just before eating a meal!

forgot tk say…I’m with Forth Valley (Stirling area) and have to say the suppkrg is unbelievably good. there when I need them and the doc is a fitness fanatic so understands it all incredibly well. they are very good.

fenred – Member

BERTIE/DAFNE courses are ESSENTIAL imo I really dont know how diabetics can control BS without being able to carb count.

Eh, you don’t need dafne to carb count- it’s a pretty simple idea. Go back to the mid 80s and it was standard practice. What’s changed is that the insulin caught up and allowed the simple dose adjusting. I’d recommend DAFNE for anyone that’s new to it or struggling though.

Eh, you don’t need dafne to carb count- it’s a pretty simple idea. Go back to the mid 80s and it was standard practice. What’s changed is that the insulin caught up and allowed the simple dose adjusting. I’d recommend DAFNE for anyone that’s new to it or struggling though.

OP- let me quantify my statement, I did mean learning to carb count, if you can learn to do it without a course then that’s cool! Similar ratios to me, pretty much 1u per 10g carbs

Doh, sorry, I missed your second post 😳 I get a wee bit worked up about diabetic care fads sometimes tbh so please excuse my triggerhappiness.

No harm done Northwind and no apols required…We’re all in this thing together 😀

I was kind of stuck in an 80’s time warp as I somehow fell through the cracks and missed out on a lot of the advances. The BERTIE (DAFNE) course was something of a revelation to me. The concept is simple, and doesn’t take much mental matter to pick it up. Was useful talking to other people though. My levels seem to have been much better since doing the course.

pdf/others looking at the pump – just while I remember, if you elect to go down the pump route, ask about switching to “apidra” as your insulin of choice, anecodotally its easier to fill cartridges with and is quicker acting than hum/nov and the like 😉

Well that is the third trip into the 2s for me in a week. That one of those I had was last month. Weird how these changes happen. Seeing as when I was ill and not eating last week my BG didn’t move I’d say this is a bolus issue rather than basal.

Well, had my 6 monthly checkup today at Broomfield and my HA1C was 6.7 😀

I also asked to go on a pump. Initially the consultant was a bit, ‘well you have very good control at the moment, why would you need to go on a pump?’, but after a chat I was soon sitting with Margaret discussing the 2 pumps they offer and next steps.

Big thing for me will be eliminating night time hypos and ‘dawn phenomenon’, as well as being able to cope with long rides and changes of plan at the last minute. Decided that the Accu-Chek Combo is the way to go for me, just gotta get it all approved, etc through the PCT. Fingers crossed in a month or two I’ll be sorted!