Well, the basal change went ok with Adam’s numbers hovering between 9 and 10mmol last night. This isn’t really in target, but it is better than he usually achieves, and management is all about making small changes and watching to see the effect before changing again, especially basal changes as they can take a day or two to really ‘bed’ in. Ahahahaha, see what I did there? ‘Bed’ in? No? Clearly you’re not sophisticated enough for fairy humour.

Being only recently diagnosed, Adam is still in ‘Honeymoon’ – which means that his pancreas is still periodically spitting out some insulin, and could continue to do so for up to two years post diagnosis. This means his body needs less injected insulin – his daytime basal is only half a unit! – but it also means that small increases can have a big effect so they have to be carefully monitored, and that means a lot of waking through the night for Adam’s dad. He very kindly let me sleep through all of the up and down last night, which is a bit of a relief since we have a busy day – Nursery and then through to the Edinburgh Christmas Market to meet Santa!

Well, what a busy day! The first thing we did on arriving in Edinburgh was go to a restaurant to eat, which can be a bit tricky for us carb counters. Small children are notorious for not eating as much as they think they can (lucky I was around to help ‘share’) and Adam ended up only eating about half of what he was dosed for. I shook my head and disdainfully pointed out that they were going to have problems later, but got a knowing smile in return. Hmmm, there’s something going on there….

Next it was straight over to Santa! I got to have my picture taken with him, and he asked us all if we had been naughty or nice. I said nice obviously, since I’ve been such a saint this year, doing this community outreach and everything, and Michelle said I’ve been so good I deserve a stocking full of coal. Well I had no idea this is considered a good present this far north, and I’d much rather have a spa treatment, but at least she’s making an effort. We’ll be best buddies before you know it!

There were so many things to do at the market – we went on a helter-skelter, a rollercoaster and a carousel! I don’t think I’ve ever had so much fun, although I did regret eating so much at lunch after all of that spinning around.

We even went ice-skating! They didn’t have any fairy-size skates – how inconsiderate! – and it was very cold anyway so I just tucked up in Adam’s coat and enjoyed the ride. He did well for his first ever try, though my snout was a bit squashed when he fell over! The children really weren’t interested in shopping, but I did get a little peek…

And where is the post lunch hypo I hear you cry. Well, there wasn’t one. In fact, as you can see from the below we had exactly the opposite problem:

Adam gets excitement highs. And today was certainly exciting! His correction doses don’t make a dent in his readings. The three readings were all while he was at the market, and yet an hour after leaving (with no further correcting) he drops back down. This is one of the reasons an insulin pump is on Adam’s parent’s Christmas list. It’s a 12 – 18 month wait at their clinic, so maybe Santa will bring it for next year. Perhaps I’ll throw a little fairy dust his way, grease the wheels so to speak!

And with that, I’m off to my next lovely host. Saying goodbye, Adam was definitely a little bleary-eyed, and I got a big hug. I wonder if my next host will be as glad to see me as this one was sad to see me leave?

DF x

It’s freezing cold here today! There’s such a hard frost we can’t open the car door and the warmest it got all day was -1! I assumed that this would mean we would stay in and stay warm, but ice is too big a draw for kids so it’s scarves on and straight outside! Adam’s blood glucose meter has stopped working though and is showing an odd error message so it’s back home before long. A quick search online suggests a battery problem but the battery is just new, so they look on the forums and lo and behold an answer! The meters don’t like the cold. They’re civilised, like us fairies. Michelle just mutters that things that can’t handle the cold don’t belong up north.

Hold the press! There’s been a disaster at Adam’s house! Cora was awfully quiet which is apparently highly suspicious so we went to investigate and found this:

Cora has broken into Adam’s backpack and eaten all of his emergency hypo snacks! Thankfully the glucose powder he takes is in bottles she can’t open but it appears a ‘babyproof’ clip-lock tub full of biscuits is no match for her determination. Now I understand why all of his kit is kept on high shelves!

After stocks were replenished we went off to Softplay for a little while to burn off some steam. These places are simultaneously heaven and hell on earth according to Adam’s dad – heaven for the kids since they can quite literally bounce off the walls, hell for the adults because of the noise. He says I’ve plenty to say for myself so I’ll fit right in. I don’t know what he means.

In the afternoon we went over to see Adam’s aunty and his cousins Izzy and Tom. Aunty Amanda is very organised and as well as having all of her Christmas decorations up, she has presents wrapped under the tree! I helpfully point out to Michelle that she might like to do the same, but that really, they didn’t need to be so generous. After all, however could I carry all of those presents myself? I reassure them both that I’ll get a forwarding address for my next destination and they can simply courier the gifts.

In the evening it’s the Sunday night treat of dinner and a movie for Adam and Cora. We’re watching The Snowman tonight, very festive.  It’s soon time for bed though – Adam’s Levemir has been increased tonight so that means regular tests through the “wee small hours” as they say up here. I’ll report on the outcome tomorrow – you don’t really expect me to get up and write this stuff at night do you? Err, maybe I’m talking to the wrong audience here…..

DF x

It’s the weekend so naturally I’m expecting a bit of relaxation, maybe a meal out with friends, some shopping, socialising…all those things people in refined society do. It seems that children – and the people that (attempt to) manage them are NOT refined society. We’re up at 6:30am, which is seriously damaging to my beauty sleep, and by 8:30 Michelle and Cora - Adam’s little sister – are out to swimming lessons (really, they should just live there). But for once, I’m not being dragged along. Apparently, Saturday morning is ‘boy’s time’ for Adam and his daddy. From what I can work out this involved sitting about in pyjamas and watching Thunderbirds. At least I’m getting a rest!

But rest doesn’t last for long here and before I know it I’m out to Gymnastics! This is one of Adam’s favourite classes, he gets to climb and run and jump, and has lots of friends in the class so it is a lot of fun. His BG was 5.5mmol half an hour before the class, and I fluttered out my wings proudly at being such a useful fairy and announced that he would be fine to exercise but apparently if he went to class on that number he would certainly hypo, so we give him a little snack.

I must confess, this exercise stuff really confuses me. Swimming doesn’t need a snack before (unless he is really low) but needs an insulin reduction hours later; gymnastics needs a snack before but no insulin reduction and an hour in soft play requires everything be thrown at it! Duration, type and intensity of exercise all have an effect on blood sugars so it can be tricky to work out what to do. I’ve suggested they just don’t bother since it’s so tiring and difficult to work out but Adam’s gymnastics teacher looks horrified and Michelle says exercise is an investment in your health, and nothing is more important than that. In fact, they both think I would benefit from a bit of a work-out so I get to join in the class today!

Phew! That wasn’t as easy as I made it look!

This afternoon I went into space! Not really, but Adam wanted to introduce me to some of his toys and this involved getting a crew together and blasting off to other worlds! Unfortunately we were invaded by a Coralien from Jupiter. We were having a ‘good blood’ afternoon so it was all nice play – when blood sugars are too low Adam is a bit of a misery and when they’re too high he’s a bit of a ‘teenager’. I haven’t met one of them yet, I’m sure they’d love me…..

Unfortunately the good numbers haven’t lasted and Adam’s bloods are 11mmol after tea and up to 18mmol by bedtime so it’s an extra injection for Adam. His numbers overnight have been on the high side lately so it’s time for a review of his nightime basal insulin. (That’s long acting background insulin to any Muggles reading.) He’s been very clumsy lately so Michelle thinks he might be going through a growth spurt. I can’t think why that is relevant but I’m not in the mood for a lecture so I just nod sagely. After all, they know I’m the expert here… don’t they?

DF x 

It’s Showtime! The nursery nativity is today so there’s an awful lot of excitement in the house. Adam has been practicing his songs for a couple of weeks now with all of the other children so we’re expecting a good show. It’s going to be very busy in the hall so we’ve got to go and get our seats soon, but not before we pop in to see Mrs Jess to ask her to take his BG a little early today and give him a little something to eat if he’s 5 or below so he’ll not feel funny during the show. Michelle said that they’ll be surprised if his numbers aren’t in the teens with all of the excitement but I’ve promised a little sprinkle of dust to add a little extra magic (can’t have old Rufus showing me up).

That was brilliant! There were a couple of familiar numbers and the Reindeer Hockey Pokey! That’s a new one on me but I quite liked it. “You put your red nose in, your red nose out…” Tra la la! I was all for joining in but Michelle said she didn’t want me to spoil steal the show. She’s definitely warming to me, I can tell.

And even better my dust worked! He hovered around 9mmol all through the show.  Don’t all look so surprised now, I am a top level fairy you know.

Friday is a busy day in this house, there’s barely time to grab some lunch before we’re back out, this time for hip hop! I had no idea what that was until I got to the dance studio and saw all of these little kids doing their amazing moves. Adam took me in and I showed them all how to throw some serious shapes - us professional fairies are all amazing dancers – but thankfully it’s a closed class so  Michelle couldn’t get in to take pictures and give away all of my best moves in pictures. I did get a sticker though!

No sooner are we back than it’s a quick run to pick up his prescription – HOW many pages?! – then off to the swimming pool again . I can’t figure out if these are people or fish! There’s no lesson today so Adam and Michelle are just swimming for fun - and practice. Michelle is training for the Swim22 in February – she’s not as good as Adam in my opinion – and Adam has decided he wants to do it too. He explains that they are going to try to raise money for DiabetesUK to “pay for the scientists to be able to keep trying to fix my Diabetes”. I think this is a great idea and I told him that I’m sure that he’ll be able to do it no problem but apparently 22 miles is a bit far for a little person so he’s going to try 2.2.

Finally we’re home for the night. I’m definitely part of the family now so I think I’ll just make myself comfortable in front of the fire and get a little tipple and congratulate myself on the fine job I’m doing as an ambassador for fairy-kind.

DF x

I have a rival! This is Rufus.

Adam was given him in hospital when he was diagnosed. Adam says he is a good diabetes bear who watches over him while he sleeps to keep the hypos away and has decided that I’m here to help Rufus do just that. Michelle raised one of her eyebrows so high it disappeared into her hair, and said (in an awfully threatening tone) “That’s right, isn’t it DF?”  I suggested a nice calm day indoors to keep those sugars in check all day (and hopefully night) but Michelle says no rest for the wicked. Wicked? Excuse me!

Nursery is excellent with sand tables, painting and lots of practice for the nativity tomorrow – I’m invited along! -  but for some reason Adam’s BG is always high while he is there and drops to normal after. Everyone thinks the excitement of being at nursery makes me shed a little more dust – how embarrassing! Adam is currently the only child at school with diabetes so his special paediatric diabetes team had to come out and speak to his teachers after he was diagnosed. Apparently I was very obliging that day by giving him a hypo during the talk, and the teachers were actually a bit relieved because they got to watch a hypo treatment in action. Thankfully I’ve kept my dust to myself so far today, and honestly I’m so tired from all of this learning that I don’t think I could make much mischief. I’m told it’s home for lunch, MORE playing then swimming this afternoon!

Bleurgh, eh, what? No, no I wasn’t napping with the kids, I was, err, meditating. Checking my eyelids for holes? Well ok, I might have nodded off a bit but seriously, these people never stop! Michelle says I need to stop sleeping on the job – we’ve had a mystery hypo this afternoon. Boo. The only sign was a sweaty nose! That’s a new one on me, but apparently a common symptom for Adam!

It’s off to swimming now. Adam’s asked me to join but I don’t think the water would be good for my wings. He certainly looks like he’s having a lot of fun though, and I’m reliably informed he’s doing front crawl, backstroke and trying to learn breaststroke! It’s not quite as impressive as flying of course but he’s doing pretty well. Michelle says swimming plays havoc with his blood sugars however, and is one of the types of exercise he does that has a long delay before the effects show so there’s quite a bit of  extra testing and some modification of insulin ratios required.

Hang on, ONE of the types of exercise he does? How many are there?! Am I going to have to do some? Oh, I’m feeling quite faint, I think a lie down is required….

DF x

Last night was a bit of a surprise!

Rather than get a nice early night with the kids, I’m dragged downstairs because Michelle says the purpose of my couchsurfing project is to learn about people living with diabetes (I argued it was a bit of a jolly to introduce people to my fabulous self but she is having none of it) and that it is high time that I understood not everyone living with diabetes actually has it.

Confused, moi? Maybe a little.

I’m handed a copy of the parent handbook Adam’s family were given at diagnosis and told to get reading!

Apparently Adam is too young to be able to do things like carb counting, working out doses or injecting yet, so these things all have to be done for him, though he can just about manage to test his BG and can count well enough to tell an adult what his BG is and whether that’s in range or not.

This is surprising since all fairies are clearly born with all the knowledge we need……ahem.

I’m told that while all of this can be difficult, especially with things like injecting when Adam is tired and really doesn’t want an injection, it’s even more difficult to help someone who doesn’t understand why, or even when, they need help. Neither of Adam’s parents have diabetes so they don’t know how a hypo feels or what it’s like to be injected 6+ times a day and finger-pricked 10 times, and have to rely on Adam letting them know, which isn’t always easy for a little person to do. By the time I got to bed I was beginning to understand that I don’t just affect one person each time I have a dusty accident.

Yawn! No lie-ins at this house, it’s up and out to Nursery! I’m introduced to Adam’s teacher and key worker Mrs Jess, who Adam’s parents both say has been fantastic. The school don’t have to inject yet as Adam isn’t in over a mealtime but they do check his BG and do hypo treatments if necessary. Adam’s school have been brilliant since diagnosis but I’m told that not all schools are as good as this one so perhaps once I’m finished my jolly, err, I mean re-education trip, I  can go out and do some educating myself. Not sure I like the sound of that!

The best part of Nursery is snack  - well, all of this learning does make a fairy peckish – and that means time for another BG test. Some of his classmates are quite curious but he is usually pretty happy to let them watch and tell them about his kit. It’s even been decorated, though whoever did it is clearly no artist, I don’t even know what all of those drawings are supposed to be!

I think I’ll head back now and try to improve on these!

DF x

Well, I’ve arrived safely at my new destination, which is quite exciting. I hope they have plenty of mulled wine and mince pies ready, it’s been a hard couple of months for this fairy and about time I wound down for Christmas. My rather frazzled and annoyed-looking host Michelle (she says telling everyone that is quite rude, and she’d much prefer to be described as svelte and lovely, but as my description is closer to the truth she’s going to let it go) says they’re only 5 months diagnosed, so I’m confident I’ll be teaching my host something for a change.  Standing a little taller, and preparing to dish out my very best lecture I politely ask whom I might have the pleasure of teaching the finer arts of carb counting, insulin ratios and injection technique to, when she laughs, points down and says ‘Meet Adam’.

That’s knocked the wind out of my wings a bit, I had no idea diabetes could affect people that small! Michelle says that’s not uncommon: lots of people don’t realise children can have diabetes, and many parents don’t know to watch out for the 4 common warning signs, also known as the 4 T’s – thirst, toilet, tired, thinner. Most people also don’t know that the onset for Type 1 can be quite sudden, and that the relatively rapid onset coupled with a lack of knowledge means a lot of children are quite poorly by the time they are diagnosed, especially since the symptoms can be attributed to so many other things in pre-schoolers! She says that it was purely by luck that Adam was caught while still relatively well – because he was diagnosed on his birthday weekend (she’s not very impressed with me for that, I may have to watch my wings…) - the out of hours doc dismissed her concerns as party fatigue and it was purely down to a wonderful nurse suggesting a test for a urine infection that he was diagnosed.

While my adult hosts may be glowering a bit, Adam and his sister are quite delighted to see me! (I have been informed that Michelle had to sign a non-aggression pact to host me given my ‘dust spillage’ with Adam, but she says if I sprinkle my fairy dust over his sister while I’m here then pact or no pact my wings are going in the fire! Yikes!)

The children are excellent hosts thankfully and are treating me in the manner I was expecting when I began this couchsurfing trip – they have given me a special place to sleep in their room, I’m getting introduced to all of their many toys, they have planned some outings for me and  I get cuddles on tap! This is more like it. I can hear the adults muttering ‘don’t get used to it’ but I think if I can just keep away from them this could be quite a good week….

DF x 

Shhh! I’m trying not to type too loudly. You see, it’s midnight and we’ve just got back from the Mexican ‘do’ and Bloden’s gone to bed. Well, I must say, her friends are lots of fun! And the food was spectacular – chicken and beef burritos with black beans, three different ‘salsas’, salads galore, and even a chilli-eating competition (which skidded to a halt when one of the boys started sweating from his eyeballs!). The highlight of the evening though had to be the Mexican chilli-choc fountain (no, I didn’t realise the chocolate fountain was a Mexican invention either).

Just look at those bright green chillis glow – amazing! As you can see, pudding was the main event with Christmas tree and melted-snowman biscuits, almondy chocolate bites, and Bloden’s Mexican fruit salad – which isn’t pictured, so I suppose it was so delicious it had already been eaten at this point. We didn’t really hold out much hope for it when we were making it…

… in fact, it looked so forlorn, Bloden topped it off with a layer of Greek yogurt and some grated 85% dark chocolate. There was so much sugary niceness being consumed, I’m positive I could hear everyone’s little pancreases (or is that pancreai?) whirring away. Or maybe it was the sound of the chocolate fountain. Anyway, Bloden has a hard time guess-timating carbs when she eats out, so she’d only bolused for the burritos and guacamole – pudding was too much of a challenge! However, she did bring one of the Christmas tree biscuits home, “to have as her post-exercise snack tomorrow”. I hope she forgets about it…it seems I snaffled it while I was typing the last paragraph. Oops!

I’m leaving Asturias tomorrow, so I suppose I should go and pack. Bloden has very kindly assembled a little basket of local produce for my journey. “Just in case you get peckish”, she said. What a dear!

I’ve really enjoyed myself in Asturias, it’s a beautiful part of the world. And who’d’ve thought that Spain could be so GREEN!?! TTFN my lovelies…I wonder where I’ll pop up next? DFx

Well, it’s another chilly but sunny day in Asturias. The day got off to a very slow start after a nice little lie-in. Frankly, it’s a relief because…don’t let on…but I’ve been sneaking out at night and going to bingo at the local church hall with Bloden’s neighbour, Josefina. She’s just been diagnosed with Type 2, but wasn’t particularly surprised because Type 2 doesn’t just run in her family, it sprints apparently! And that’s having lived her whole life eating a traditional diet of legumes, fruits and vegetables from her own garden, home-processed meat (they kill their pig on Christmas Day around these parts…Merry Christmas, Mr Porky!) and being physically active all day long. She let me try on her ‘madreñes’ (Asturian clogs) which she wears out and about in the village – you can’t get any more traditional than that!

Yesterday afternoon at Bloden’s work was great fun. How many people can say they get paid to play games, sing songs and encourage children to colour in nicely? And the end result is ever so pretty, don’t you think?

Asturian Gas Warning: these children don’t half love the traditional Asturian diet of white beans, lentils, chick peas and the like, and it gives them a healthy, rosy glow. (Asturias must be a much safer place to live since they brought in the smoking ban).

¡Oye, oye! It’s me, in the lemon tree. That’s Spanish for ‘hey you’, by the way – I picked it up in class yesterday.

Bloden’s sent me into the garden to pick some lemons. It seems we’re going to a Mexican night tomorrow at a friends’ house. She’s been asked to bring a pudding, so she’s trying out a recipe for Mexican fruit salad, with chilli and salt! As you can see it’s a lovely autumn evening, so I think I’ll relax and take my time. I’ve just realised that I’m becoming dia-lingual with all this travelling. In fact, let me give all you less-well-travelled beings a quick English to Spanish dia-lesson: ‘diabetes’, that’s easy, it’s ‘diabetes’ in Spanish; oh yes, and ‘glucose’ is ‘glucosa’; and ‘hypo’ is ‘hipo’…oh no! that’s ‘hiccups’ in Spanish…‘hypo’ is ‘bajón’. I’m practically fluent, I tell you. Look, they even have the ‘Dummies’ books in Spanish!

In fact, I think I’ll get an early night…”Diabetes for Dummies” should help send me off…see you bright and early tomorrow! DFx

Bloden’s gone out early this morning, before breakfast, so I thought I’d have mine in bed with this lovely Asturian view.

She’s gone to her local health centre for a blood test to see if she’s got coeliac disease. This is her second attempt – she had the blood test done in October but the result went missing, so I’ve got my wings crossed it doesn’t get lost this time. I suggested going with her to cheer everyone up, but she had to kick up a fuss last time (her name wasn’t on the list) and doesn’t want to get a reputation for always ‘making a scene’. (No translation this time – so she DOES stop being a teacher every now and then!).

I bet you lot thought I couldn’t read, eh? But here I am instructing Bloden on how to insert a new Freestyle Libre sensor. OK, OK, I’m ‘reading’ the pictures. Apparently, she’s been having a few too many random hypos recently and thought she’d best have a look at her trends. I didn’t let on, but I think some high-grade DF hypo dust may have shot out of my wand when I shouted ‘Surprise!’ on my first day here. Oops!!! That stuff’s expensive…

Anyway, it’s market day in Bloden’s local town. It’s called Pravia if anyone’s interested in my exact whereabouts. It sells a bit of everything: local produce, plants, clothes, jewellery…

Bloden took some photos, but there’s a real nip in the air today, so I decided not to venture out of her toasty puffa jacket. I don’t want to catch some nasty Asturian bug and miss out on the afternoon’s excitement: we’re going to decorate Bloden’s classroom because next week they’re having a Christmas party and she wants everything to look festive for the ‘do’. We had a practice-run after lunch, wrapping some Christmas presents for her family.

Atchoo! I hope that was the tinsel tickling my nose and not the Spanish Flu! Shame Bloden hasn’t got any left-handed scissors. I almost chopped the end off my wand. It’s got me thinking though – I wonder who the lucky diabetic person will be that gets to spend Christmas with me?

Catch you all later! DFx

It seems Bloden’s an early-riser, especially when she’s got a busy day ahead. First of all, it’s breakfast in front of the telly – ooh, looks like it’s going to be a sunny day! Bloden insists that it’s not usually sunny this time of year in Northern Spain, but she isn’t complaining.

She nips upstairs to do her warm-up exercises while I catch up on the Spanish news. Looks like there’s an election soon: hoi, man in suit, put that baby down, you don’t know where it’s been!

Now it’s time for a bit of exercise. My legs are a tad short for this great lump of an exercise bike, so I’m putting all my energy into cheering Bloden on: go Team Bloden’s Glucose!

You’d think she’d go for a nice walk or something, living in the countryside. What’s that, Bloden? Rapid insulin takes all the fun out of exercising…she says she either goes hyper or hypo and ends up feeling miserable. So she’s conducting her very own DSE (Diabetes Science Experiment) to try and build up a bit of confidence…can’t argue with that.

Anyway later, Bloden informs me, we’re off to deepest, darkest western Asturias – where her husband is renovating a big ol’ farmhouse – so she needs to pack some diabetes supplies.

It used to be a bit of a faff, but now she’s all organised and gets everything ready in a ‘plis plas’ (that’s Spanish for ‘jiffy’ apparently – always the teacher, eh?).

Well, I must say, the scenery here is stunning! But there’s no time to relax in the sunshine.

We’ve got a busy cleaning schedule ahead. First stop is what will be Bloden’s bedroom up in the farmhouse roof. She and her OH have always lived in small houses, so she’s looking forward to living somewhere spacious…gadzooks, it IS spacious! And we’ve got to hoover every single millimetre, including the ceiling and the stonework?! “Of course”, says Bloden, “what with all the cement-mixing and plastering and sanding the place is filthy!” This renovation lark is more serious than I thought – I imagined we’d be rearranging some furniture and hanging some new curtains, but they’ve had the roof off and everything. Oh well, best show some willing…

It turns out Bloden and ‘su media naranja’ (‘her other half’ in Spanish – enough already, teach’!) have been renovating their pile in the country since 2010 and are a bit fed up now. I know, I’ll cheer her up with a sneaky overnight hypo (she HAS been physically active this afternoon, after all). Oh no! She says she’s going to lower her Lantus dose, and suggests a bedtime snack. Hypo pooper!

Yum! I’m shattered! I think I’ll snuggle up with these two…see you in the morning. DFx

I think Royal Mail might have messed up, I just poked my head out of the envelope and I’m pretty sure this isn’t Scotland – no tartan sheep, can’t hear any bagpipes and have yet to see a hairy cow or a single haggis…hmm…looks like I might have been redirected to Bloden, in Spain! Ah well! Let's go with the flow, we've arrived and I can hear someone coming - I think I'll surprise my new host!

SURPRISE!!! Oops…I don’t think Bloden likes surprises. She’s muttering something about sending her glucose through the roof and you’d think the Diabetes Fairy would know better.

Anyway, it seems I’ve arrived just as she was leaving for work, so no time to relax in the guest suite.

We’re off to the local town where Bloden teaches English.

Bloden’s left me in her classroom, while she goes and chats to the other teachers. My bum’s freezing. I thought it was going to be hot here in Spain so I left my toasty new knitted pants with Stephknits. I know, I’ll see if I can warm myself up on the photocopier.

I hope no-one catches me. I don’t want them to get the wrong idea.

Well, Bloden thinks her students have worked very hard today so we’re going to finish with a game.

As you can see, it’s called “Go Fish!” – her students seem very excited about playing this game!

Here goes…what’s that, young Spanish lady? You want me to “Gimme all your sharks, big nose, fish face!” How rude! I’ve a good mind to…What’s that, Bloden? Oh, I see, the idea is to collect families of sea creatures using rude and insulting English. Apparently, this game teaches something called ‘register and function’. If you say so!!

Well, I’m pooped. I’ve never played so many games in my life – Animal Pairs, Food Bingo, The Silly Snake Game…phew! We did some shopping after work. Bloden says the shops are open until 9 o’clock, so she gets dinner after work.

Tonight we’re having tuna with, so I’ve been told, a ‘pico de gallo’ topping (looks like a load of chopped salad veg to me) and boiled potatoes – with their skins on to slow down their absorption, whatever that means! She says it’s early to bed tonight because, although she doesn’t have classes on Fridays, it always seems to be her busiest day of the week. DFx

Hurrah! A good night’s sleep. Susan’s tweaking must have worked. Susan and I feel bright eyed and bushy tailed this morning, but sometimes hypos strike without warning.

I thought I might be moving on to my next host today, but Susan said she wants to introduce me to some more of her friends this evening. I wonder who I’ll be meeting. She does know some quite odd people.

I thought I’d better keep up to date on the Diabetes UK forum. I made the mistake of looking at the Advent Calendar. Yuck!!

We’ve been out in the potting shed painting glaze on some of Susan’s pots. She’s already thinking about Valentine’s Day. I hope you like my pendant.

Something else that I’ve learned while being with Susan is that lots of diabetics have other chronic conditions as well, and diabetes really complicates their lives. She thinks that if doctors and nurses had to live some of their diabetic patients’ lives they would be a lot more understanding and helpful. The most help she has had is from the Diabetes UK forum. 3 cheers for the forum – Hip Hooray! Hip Hooray!! Hip Hooray!!!

I helped Susan sort out her next fortnight’s pills. She takes so many that the pretty pink ones won’t fit in her organiser for her morning pills. If she’s got to take them long term, she’ll have to find a bigger organiser, ‘though she says she doesn’t take as many pills as she used to.

The phone went a little while ago and it was a lady called Wendy from the #Superdrug pharmacy. She told Susan they had a parcel for her. Whatever could it be? Let’s go and see. We walked up the road to the shop, waving at the dinosaurs on the way. I could hardly contain my excitement. Alan, the nice pharmacist helped us open the parcel and what was inside?... Some special holders for Susan’s Creon capsules.

What a disappointment!

Gas Level: Gas? What gas?

                                                                                                                                           

I didn’t realise that I’ve been living with a TV star for the last few days! Susan says she’s been on TV twice – once in a BBC studio in Southampton with Mr Pearce (her hero, if you remember) and once at home (which involved a lot of frenzied tidying up – Susan doesn’t do minimal!).

She’s also been on the front page of the local paper and had a starring role in a variety of magazines to say nothing of radio interviews. She does these things to raise the profile of pancreatic cancer and the amazing work of Mr Pearce and his team.  #PLANETS or Pancreatic Liver And  NeuroEndocrine Tumours Southampton is a charity set up by Mr Pearce and some of his colleagues.

They are raising money for an IORT (Intra Operative Radio Therapy) machine. Thanks to PLANETS, Southampton Hospital will be the first place in the UK to have one of these machines. You can read more here: http://www.planetscharity.org/about-planets-charity/

Newsflash:

Susan has been seen eating a raspberry.

I hope you like her hat! It’s not a very flattering photo of Susan, but it’s a good view of my pottery pendant.

Having given my tiara a polish, I was ready to set off to meet Susan’s friends from the GO Group. This sounds interesting, I thought. I wonder where they GO. They all looked quite normal, thank goodness. It was only when I started chatting to them I realised how bizarre they were. The place was full of people with bits missing! Most of them had bits of asofaguss  essoffugus oasyfegis throat missing. One or two of them had no tum (much easier to spell than stumuck). Then there was Susan, with no tum and a bit of throat missing. Yet, they all seemed to be enjoying eating – seriously weird, in my humble opinion. Some of them were diabetics too. I’m beginning to wonder if there might actually be a thousand diabetics in the world. When I mentioned the word ‘photo’ I discovered why they’re called the GO group.

Arriving back home, Susan asked me if I’d like a wash before I went to bed, but when I discovered she meant in the washing machine I declined her kind offer. I’m very delicate and hand wash only.

Gas level: I thought my next journey was going to be rocket propelled by Susan, but I might have to travel a more conventional way.

I’ve just seen Susan with a padded envelope and I’m getting to know what that means. I think I need a good night’s sleep before braving the Royal Mail again.

Breakfast must be ready… How do I know? Susan has burnt the toast and set off the smoke alarm! What a norrible noise.

Could a strange accent be a symptom of diabetes? I will be continuing my research over the coming weeks. I’ll be practising my elocution just in case. How now brown cow grazing on the green, green grass. The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain.

Bye for now. See you in Scotland. I suspect I’ll be glad of my scarf and knitted knickers when I’m there. DFx