On Saturday, I had a routine eye check at the Eye hospital. As a type 1 diabetic having regular eye tests and making sure your eyes are in tip top shape is the best way to avoid any complications which might occur.

Side note: I never miss an appointment I usually have my eyes checked every 6 months to a year with the optician. Then every year since I had my son I usually attend the eye hospital for a routine check-up.

So I made my way to my appointment, the doctor checked my eyes thoroughly and proceeded to tell me that I have “*small changes” in my eyes.

WHAT?? was my initial response ( in my head ) I wanted to shout it at the top of my voice, but me being me I remained calm and maintained my compose. I mean how could this even be happening? My HbA1c is good, well 7.5 is good right? I suppose I can definitely get it tighter and I’m all over my blood sugars day and night. What more could I be doing?

He then proceeded to tell me that it was nothing to worry about and that the changes were too small to be a concern.

“Oh is that supposed to make me feel better!” Well it didn’t!

For me any change is a bad one, especially when those changes are occurring in my eyes. Well this shocking news pretty much set the tone for the rest of the day. I felt disappointed in myself that this was the result I was hearing.

Side note: I’ve had small changes before just after I had my son, but they corrected themselves plus my HbA1c was at 6.4, so I’m hoping and praying that this time they will correct themselves one again.

Being able to connect and talk to others type 1 diabetics (T1D) is something I feel that has been lacking throughout my 19 years with diabetes. I can only say I know less than a handful of other T1D’s in my town, which is really sad.

My family have always been great with trying to understand my diabetes and make me feel better when I’m having a bad D moment. However I sometimes feel that they could never really fully understand it.  I love them very much and will always appreciate all the advice and the help they can give me.

Recently twitter has become a place where I can go to and vent about D related issues and non D issues too. It has helped me immensely and I’ve been able to connect with so many other T1D who are going through similar things to me. They just get it and can relate to the highs and lows that diabetes brings.

Yes I’m worried, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t, but  I have to stay positive. I’ve had some great advice from my family and other T1D which I’m planning to implement. I know that these changes aren’t my fault and that I’ve been diabetic now for a very long time. The most important thing is that I continue to try my best and maintain as good a BGL as possible.

My Plan of action

• Keep on checking my BGL throughout the day. I recently started using an app called mySugr (https://twitter.com/mysugr) and it has really helped me keep a closer eye on my blood glucose levels. It has some great features and I can take it with me wherever I go. Also I had the opportunity to use a CGM sensor recently and I’m hoping to get one on a more permanent basis. I believe it will help me a great deal.
• Hopefully getting a tighter grip on my BGL will also reduce my HbA1c. I’m aiming to get it down to 7 and then after that I’ll try to get it back in the 6’s again.
• Some great advice I got from https://twitter.com/nrycroft was when I count the carbs I eat, I should try to calculate how much insulin I need based on my experience with that carb rather than depending solely on what the text books might say. If I’m able to generate almost like a map of the portions of carbs I eat, using the trial and error method I will hopefully be able to figure out how much insulin I’ll need to take every time I eat that carb.
• Continue to work out. Working out definitely helps my BGL.
• Try to connect with more T1D in my town.
• Stay positive

If anyone else has any other advice I would really appreciate it.

Thanks for stopping by Amina xx

 

*Please refer to my previous post: https://sugarhighsugarlow.com/2013/04/24/diabetic-complications/

*Small changes or background – This is the most common type of diabetic retinopathy and many people who have had diabetes for some time will have this early type. The blood vessels in the retina are only very mildly affected, they may bulge slightly (microaneurysm) and may leak blood (haemorrhages) or fluid (exudates). As long as the macula is not affected, vision is normal and you will not be aware that anything is wrong. Your retinal screening test will keep a close check on these early changes and ensure that any signs of progression to more serious stages of retinopathy are detected early.