Lypohypotrophy .. My problem

Since I've become diabetic 11 years ago I have had major problems with my injections sites. At first when I injected I could just feel small lumps under my skin that were sometimes painful but I could masage then out. I told my DSN and it was her that suggested masaging them and then changed the length of my needles that I was using.

11 years later and I'm in the position of speaking to a plastic surgeon about liposuction or in the extreme case a tummy tuck. Going through my teenages with a big "pouch" on my stomach and lumps on both and arms and both legs was to be honest, hell. My stomach looks hideous and getting changed for PE in a room full of girls was my worst nightmart. I use to try and make sure that I had my PE shirt under my uniform so noone would see. Swimming lessons (even though they were in Junior school) are also a painful memory for me. We were at the age where we all more interested in how our bodies look and being in a skin tight swim suit defiantely didnt help matters.

My mum knew how much it was upsetting me. Im not a skinny girl, I am overweight but I like to think that I am in proportion. But standing in front of a mirror and standing to the side my stomach just looks like its stuck on. I have to "dress" it; choose tops that are of a looser fit or tops that come in under my chest and float down around the stomach area. I can never find a nice dress that im pleased with, as my stomach just seems to ruin everything I try on.

My mum realised how much is what getting to me and how I was holding back in certain things so she made arrangements for us to go and see a private plastic surgeon. We had tried numerous time to get referred through the NHS but my DSN refused point blank.  My DSN had also never told me about Insulin Lypohypotrophy either. Half hour into the private appointment the surgeon had told me all about LHT and had said he has only seen a few people with it as bad as I do; its rare.

Back to diabetic clinic we went and sat my DSN down and brought it to her attention. I wasnt happy that she knew about LHT and hadnt bothered to tell me about it, or even suggest that I could have had it. And still she wouldnt refer me to see anyone higher in the hospital. Highly frustrating and upsetting to say to least.

So as it stands at the moment, with me using the pump, nothing has changed! I havent injected in my arms for around a year now and I still have lumps. This isnt enough evidence for the NHS however and they still dont want to know. Apparently if I leave it another 6 months and my stomach is still there then I may have a case. my parents have said they will pay for me to have it done privately, but it would be nice for me to fight for it on the NHS. I never had a stomach before I was diasgnosed T1, so it is purely injection/insulin based.

This is a personal thing for me to talk about and if anyone out there is in the same boat or knows someone in the same poistion, please please please get in touch.

Stigma

Someone's blog I've read recently really interested me, so Ive decided to follow the same subject and give my opinion on the matter. The subject being diabetic stigma; the ignorance and the annoying and irritating comments people make when they think they understand.

1. not being able to eat chocolate.

I'm not allergic to it, so why shouldnt I eat something that I enjoy (a little bit to much). I was to cut out choloclate because im diabetic, then where would it stop? Biscuits? Fruit Juice? Birthday cake? Alcohol? I try and explain that I'm allowed what I want in moderation, and aslong as I make the correct adjustments I'll be fine. Then comes to funny looks *she's not looking after herself*. Pet hate!

2. diabetic because I ate rubbish when I was younger

i got a lot of stick at school (senior) because of the other kids blaming my diet for the reason I got diabetes. And no matter how much I tried to explain it's majorly down to genetics they still made comments and stayed misguided. I would love to go into schools and explain to children what type 1 diabetes actually is.

3. blood sugars high? automatically means you are a bad diabetic

I cant talk for anyone else but I know that sometimes diabetes throws me a high BL and for no reason at all. If someone asks, Ill tell them. I instantly get "oh you must have done something wrong" "your a bad diabetic". One high BL in a long time doesnt NOT mean Im not looking after myself. I could have an underlying infection, or some insulin hasnt been absorbed properly.

4. biscuit? biscuit? biscuit? oh sorry your diabetic, you cant have one!

The worst of the bunch. Someone else making the decision for you. If this happens I normally grab one anyway, whether I was going to have it or not, just to prove a point. It links with the first point. Don't presume. Im diabetic, I eat, I eat things I like, just like you do :).

5. can you catch diabetes?
Yes, I have been asked this. More than once. And it frustrates me every time! Sometimes, I say yes, just to see the reaction. Stupid question requires stupid answer. How can they even ask if it contagious? The amount of people that have type 1 or type 2 diabetes in the world, wouldnt everyone be contaminated? Clearly there minds don't think that way.

2 weeks in ...

Cant believe its been two weeks since I got the pump now! Time has flown by and it has been a lot easier than I thought that it would be. Ive done 4 set changes and changed the insulin twice now and everything seemed to go fine. I was really suprised as how much I remembered and how it seemed to be kind of second nature already.

I had a little problem with one set change. As soon as I had inserted it i knew that there was something the matter; the pain was unreal when ever I bent over or pulled the tubing. I left it for a couple of hours to make sure that it wasnt just hurting because I had just inserted it but the pain was unbearable so I took it out and started again. I realised that I had inserted it the first time whilst I was sat down which your not suppose to do. I know for next time.

I had a appointment at the hospital with my DSN. I woke up in the morning with a blood sugar of 22.1; alram bells ringing! Got the clinic and it was higher still. Turns out I had a kink in the tubing that I hadnt realised so no insulin (or very little) was getting in! Changed the set and within an hour my level had dropped to 7.9; i felt terrible for it dropping so fast.

Overall my bloods have been so better than they were before so Im hoping that my HBA1C will be a lot lower when I get it tested in the new year!

Pump Time!

Sat here writing this with my new insulin pump! Also have a really bad headache, there was way too much infomation to take in, and a 3 hour appointment with no break was hard going! I've only got it with saline at the moment but im still so paranoid about doing something wrong!

The pump I have is a (purple) Medtronic MiniMed and so far, is pretty straight forward to use. I think that I picked up things pretty quickly and my DSN and Pump Rep seemed impressed. Saying this, Ive just got home and have been practising inputting blood sugars and grams of carbs and was a bit unsure! Guess this gets easier with time and practise!

Got some cool skins for my pump if I want to put them on; picked one with a jelly bean pattern on it, mainly to amuse my little cousin who is so so so interested in all of this!

I was a wreck this moring; I didnt sleep at all last night and my mum must of thought that she had done something wrong the amount of times I snapped at her. It didnt help that she was nervous as well so was talking a load of rubbish all morning.

So overall verdict; so far so good. Nowhere near as bad as I thought that it was going to be and the pump isnt as comlicated as I expected.

On another note, my cousin has just been diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at the age of 17. He's taking it all in his stride it seems and doesnt seem to phased by it. I'd love to be able to do something with the hospital that helps families when their child is diagnosed? If anyone knows how I can go about this then let me know!