Hello from British Forces Germany

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helenamc72

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Hello from Fallingbostel in Germany. My name is Helena and I am a mum to 5 kids aged between 13 and 3 as well as an army wife to my lovely DBH John who has served the crown for 22yrs. Our youngest daughter Gracie is 3yrs old and was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes on 9th March 2009 just 2wks after her 2nd birthday. That date will be forever burned into my brain as it was the day our family life was turned upside down and I got on a rollercoaster that I cant get off! Grace is a remarkable little girl who has been brave throughout the past 17 months and everyday she reminds me why I am so proud to say that she is my daughter. Grace is lucky that the army has funded a pump for grace and she copes with it brilliantly apart from the canular insertion which is a battle of tears and refusals every couple of days but she is fine once its over with🙂 I hope to make some new friends and learn more about diabetes from others on the forum. Hope to talk soon, Helena xxxx
 
Hello Helena, welcome to the forum 🙂 Goodness, you have your hands full! Sorry to hear of little Gracie's diagnosis, but she sounds like a very brave girl which must help enormously. It's not surprising that she is a little scared of the canulas though!

We have a very active and supportive parents section, although you are free to post in whichever section you want, of course! I look forward to hearing more from you. 🙂
 
Hi Helen,

Welcome to the madhouse. Then again as an army wife I suppose you're used to being in a kind of madhouse! I'm glad to see that you've got a pump for Grace. I got one four months ago. I was diagnosed when I was five years old. I'm nineteen now. If there's anything you think I could answer please ask. Just one thing, please don't get me going on the forces as diabetes has taken that away from me and that is what I would most like to do with my life.

Tom
 
Thanks for the warm welcome Northerner (by the way so am I, from Lancashire) and TomH. I'm still feeling my way with diabetes as being in Germany we are under a german clinic and the language barrier sometimes makes things difficult along with the army med center who are not well equipped to deal diabetics of any age let alone a toddler! Put it this way I've been waiting almost 2 weeks for Grace's humalog and it's running low! So TomH I"d better not get started either lol. I hope to get to talk to other people now that I've found you although I'm lucky as I have met other BFG parents with diabetic kids so I'm not entirely on my own. Nice to meet you both. Helena
 
A very big welcome from me.

I hope that you find this forum informative. I'm sure that you'll find the people here friendly! 🙂

Andy
 
Hi A HUGE welcome and hello to the forum.x
 
Hello & welcome Helen 🙂
 
Hi Helena,

A big welcome from me too! 🙂 Really sorry to hear about your daughter's diagnosis, but she sounds like a little star - I'm due to start on a pump soon, so if I get nervous about the canula I'll remind myself that if a little kid can do it, so can I!

I've had type 1 since I was 11 months old so 31 yrs now, I've a 3yr old & a 5 month old baby - just letting you know because one thing my dad assumed when I was diagnosed was that I wouldn't be able to have kids - but if you're well controlled there's no reason not to live a full life! 🙂 This is a lovely supportive forum, which has been a real help to me - I hope it is for you too. 🙂

Twitchy x
 
Thank you all for the welcome! I will go and check out the links any help is always welcome! I used live t'other side of t'Pennines in Catterick nr Richmond, of course I was tagged and carried my passport with me at all times hee hee. It's bad enough being English married to a Jock soldier who is based with over 500 other jock soldiers! OUT NUMBERED!!!! Once again thank you all I really appreciate it. Helena
 
Long before my diagnosis, I was a TA Nursing Officer, and spent 2 weeks over New Year working at BMH Iserlohn - although not a midwife, I was sent to post natal ward, as the powers that be seemed not to have noticed (despite doing ante natal care) that, 9 months after soldiers returned from the first Gulf War, there was three times the normal birth rate, so many midwives were away on leave. I have been inside the clinic at Mount Pleasant Airfield in the Falklands - and they were bemused by my request to leave spare insulin there while we headed to South Georgia for a few weeks (I had lots of spares, as hadn't lost any in 2 months in South America).
I know there are no British Military Hospitals in Germany (or UK) now, but there is still a lack of understanding about many aspects of healthcare in forces, not least because there are no children serving, and diabetes is a bar to joining and a limiting factor if it appears during service.
So, sorry, I can't offer solutions or ideas, but understanding at least.
 
Hi Helena, welcome to the forum.
 
Hi there....a big warm welcome to joining us all 🙂

You sound like you have lots to cope with as well as being an army wife. As a side one, my hubby was based in Germany many years ago, he was a Class 1 combat medic (was in the first Gulf War when he was a lad 🙄 ) and will often talk about those days. Where are you based? I think hubby was based in Senelager(?) and talks about the Hertz mountains, Nijmegen(?) etc etc...

We are here...any questions just ask or rant also if necessary..we all have just 'one of those days' from time to time.

Take care

Bernie xx 🙂
 
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Thank you all for the lovely welcome x I might not always post but I read through many posts which is so helpful to read other people's experiences, thoughts & advice. Bernie we're stationed in Bad Fallingbostel nr Hanover with 4Scots (The Highlanders). Sennelager is about 2hrs down the road from us, I've got friends posted there! Grace has been diagnosed for 18mths now and still I'm swimming in the dark with her diabetes. I lay awake at night worrying about her levels, her HbA1c, which is 8.1 by the way, and all the issues that having a diabetic toddler brings. Thank you all for providing me with a place to come and find help and friendship xxxxx
 
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