Couchsurfing with the Diabetes Fairy

Today was an exciting day for Stitch, we was attending a Living With Diabetes Day. We left early as we had to get the train to the other side of London. It was still dark when we arrived at her local station and boarded a train to London. When we arrived at Liverpool Street station it was time for some breakfast. Stitch knew just the place for a nice healthy breakfast. We ordered our food then grabbed a table. While waiting for her scrambled eggs to arrive she tested her blood glucose, 17 again. Why aren't they coming down?! We finished breakfast and a cuppa then we ventured down and onto the tube system. The map looked very confusing to me but Stitch didnt even look at it, she just walked straight to the platform and onto the train, we went a few stops then had to change onto a different train. It was very busy and we had to stand up. I stayed safely tucked away as I'm small and might have got lost in the crowds. After about 30 minutes on the tube we had arrived at the station we needed. After a short walk we arrived at the hotel where the day was being held. We got our goody bag and name tag which had the days activities on it. We found a good seat and got ready to learn a bit more about living with diabetes. Stitch placed me in the goody bag so that I could look through some of the leaflets and stuff in there.

The day started off with an introduction on what diabetes is and how insulin affects the body. Then there was 3 different workshops to go to. The first one was all about day to day aspects like work, insurance and driving. Stitch had read about these things already when she was diagnosed. It also went through the 15 health checks that diabetics should get.

After the first workshop it was time for some lunch. There was a nice buffet put on for the people attending and Stitch had some chicken and salad.
 
Then the afternoons workshops were Eating and food then managing diabetes.

The eating and food session was a bit more useful as it went into swaps that should be made with regards to food and how some foods will affect the blood glucose levels more than others. It also explained how to read food labels. Stitch has already made loads of food swaps both for losing weight then when she found out about her diabetes. And I know she checks labels as she was doing this when we went food shopping last week.

The last session was about managing diabetes. Stitch didn't really enjoy this session as she felt that she didn't really get anything out of it as it was a case study with a fictional scenario to go through and it didn't seem to benefit her much. Although it was a useful day in some aspects, Stitch came away not learning much new. She explained that since her diagnosis she has visited websites and read several books and knew all the stuff that was told to her today.

We left the hotel and started the journey home. i did enjoy the train again though. When we arrived back at home Stitch read through some of the leflets in the bag and let me wear her name tag.

There were a couple of letters waiting for Stitch when we got home too. One was from the Diabetic Eye Screening people saying that her results were all clear and they would see her in 1 years time and the other was from a local clinic inviting her to attend a S.T.E.P.S diabetes training course, Stitch is hoping that this one is more useful.

After dinner, grilled cod, new potatoes and veg, Stitch made an appointment to see her doctor again as she is worried that her blood glucose levels are still very high.
Now its off to bed, we are going to work tomorrow! DFx