LIVINGLIVING
three decades of living with diabetes,
made my diabetes a much smaller, more
manageable part of my life, rather than the
thing I wake up and go to bed thinking
about. It has given me my life back. I wish
I'd asked to go on one sooner."
In February this year, Weddell also
tried out a FreeStyle Libre sensor, "just out
of interest", she says, "I'm rather addicted
to it now. I feel like I couldn't do without
it, although I'm not sure I can afford to
use it all the time. I love taking a reading,
even the sound it makes - the little 'bip'
means that a line is coming… It shows
me a line on a graph on the screen and
I find that very useful - I like looking at
my line frequently! It's so easy to use; the
reader can scan through several layers of
clothing, which is incredible. It's a great
addition to my diabetes kit, and with the
pump, if the graph shows that my levels
are rising I might tackle that trend by
upping my basal rate a little, or if I'm on a
downward trend I might temporarily lower
it to avoid having a hypo."
Fully kitted out, Weddell now feels that
using the pump and the sensor combo
has helped her to make some other
changes, "They've given me the freedom
to try some new things. With the pump,
I don't have to eat if I don't want to,
whereas before I felt I had to. When I was
diagnosed, we were taught that a specific
amount of carbs in grammes had to be
taken at a certain time. You had to feed
the insulin that had already been injected
in. Now I'm trying to eat fewer carbs. The
other night I made lasagne with beetroot
slices instead of the pasta sheets - it
was delicious and low-carb. I only have
boiled eggs for breakfast, no toast. A lot
of control isn't just about the insulin, it's
about the food itself. In the context of my
diabetes, in many ways food is the enemy,
but it's also the medicine. That is the
paradox. Diabetes is a weird condition,
but it is getting easier to live with!"
www.rebeccaweddell.co.uk
Saying she loves a good
gadget, Weddell's diabetes
kit includes the FreeStyle
Libre sensor and reader
(above) as well as the AccuChek
Insight insulin pump
(below, the upright item is
the handheld device, the
other item is the pump itself).