Help with job interview for educator diabetes

[Northerner]

I remember several DSNs suggesting that it might be more difficult to inject into the abdomen and it was quite a while before I tried it. I think there was a general feeling that patients would be scared off by starting there. Perhaps your nurse saw that you were made of sterner stuff!

I think she noticed that my legs were pure muscle, although she probably had similar concerns about my six-pack abdomen... 😉

 

[Radders]

I think she noticed that my legs were pure muscle, although she probably had similar concerns about my six-pack abdomen... 😉

That explains it then!

 

[mikeyB]

Proof that a Northie lives in a world of his own, if you ask me Radders

 

[trophywench]

I think thigh injecting for ladies was popular since there was always a bare bit of leg there twixt stocking top and panty leg - and it was only one or at the most two, jabs a day after all!

 

[zuludog]

When I started with injecting insulin it was with a Novo 'dial up' pen and cartridges of Novorapid, which is the system I still use

The nurse showed me how to assemble the stuff; we had a general chat about injecting, and I had a couple of squirts into the sink; then I injected myself, under her supervision.
I was surprised how simple and pain free it all was, and I've never had any problems or hesitation in about 20 years

I came home from the clinic with a bagful of pens, needles, insulin, leaflets and so on, and I was telling my wife all about it, explaining that I could inject onto any fatty tissue, meaning my stomach or my bum.
' Oh', she said. 'Does that mean all over?'

When people ask me how I could bring myself to inject, my explanation is simple - given the choice of injecting or going blind, I tend to inject

 

[trophywench]

Hee hee - on Day 3 in hospital after I did my jab my mate in the next bed commented, Oh Jenny - I'd die if I had to do that! and I laughed and said without thinking Well, I'd die if I didn't so looks like I'm stuck with it, doesn't it! - and she was appalled at what I'd just come out with. Can't say it bothered me that much really, either then or now - it's a small price compared to the alternative as far as I'm concerned.

 

[HOBIE]

It was Glass syringes & Oranges for me in the sixties 😉. Good luck with things Cath

 

[PhoebeC]

I was given a two-minute 'theory' lesson on how to use the pen, then the DSN watched me do my first injection (of insulin).

Back in the 'old days' apparently people were taught by injecting into an orange... 😱

Or back in 2006!

The old orange. Poor thing! Then into me. I was also told about leg and belly. But not arms, I first saw another T1 doing it and she helped me with that. When I was pregnant they told me about in the butt as i didn't like doing it in my tummy, even though it is sage, it doesn't feel right with a baby in there.

 

[Jonathan_15Jan1969]

I was just over two and a half years old so my mum injected me. She practiced on an orange using a syringe filled with water. My mum didn't have the heart to tell my uncle this after he helped himself to the orange and mentioned it being the juciest orange he'd ever had. As it probably had 50% more water in it than the average orange it's not surprising.
When I got injection independence I started with an injector gun similar to this



which helped with angle and depth. Still hurt like a beeatch but it worked till I got more confident.

 

[Northerner]

I was just over two and a half years old so my mum injected me. She practiced on an orange using a syringe filled with water. My mum didn't have the heart to tell my uncle this after he helped himself to the orange and mentioned it being the juciest orange he'd ever had. As it probably had 50% more water in it than the average orange it's not surprising.
When I got injection independence I started with an injector gun similar to this

View attachment 8240

which helped with angle and depth. Still hurt like a beeatch but it worked till I got more confident.

Scary device! 😱 Along with this scary finger pricker, no wonder muggles were saying 'I could never do that'! 😱

 

[mikeyB]

I rather liked that finger pricker. Needless to say, I didn’t change the lancet very often. When it bounced back after making no impression, I stuck a new one on. The newer ones are so demure, don’t you think?

 

[trophywench]

I was just over two and a half years old so my mum injected me. She practiced on an orange using a syringe filled with water. My mum didn't have the heart to tell my uncle this after he helped himself to the orange and mentioned it being the juciest orange he'd ever had. As it probably had 50% more water in it than the average orange it's not surprising.
When I got injection independence I started with an injector gun similar to this

View attachment 8240

which helped with angle and depth. Still hurt like a beeatch but it worked till I got more confident.

Aha! - the Palmer Injection Gun.

I had one of them but it was made to fit a glass syringe but by then then I was using disposable syringes (not available to the public from the NHS then, only for hospital use) and they were too narrow. Hence this bit of kit would swiftly project the syringe at my arm - I wanted it so I could inject there for a change - and as soon as needle tip met skin, it would bounce off and out of the gun across the room about 10 feet away, usually hitting the TV in the far corner, complete with insulin.

Not the best plan, it went in the bin cos it was useless!

 

[Northerner]

Another poem on the topic...


Diabetic Days of Yore


I was only diagnosed a couple of years ago and have been able to take advantage of all the wonderful advances that have been made in diabetes management, with the pace increasing all the time. Insulin pumps are becoming more widespread, often these days linked to continuous monitoring systems to establish even better blood sugar control than was possible before. Many people on the forum, diagnosed decades ago, remember how things used to be. I have even read the story of one person, Richard, who has been living with diabetes for over six decades and he recalls the early days of boiling syringes and chemical urine tests to determine sugar levels. Now the talk is of stem cell and islet transplantation, smart insulin and artificial pancreases – a long way from those difficult early days…!

I won’t forget those wise old words my Daddy said to me
As he sat down in his chair one night and perched me on his knee.
He said, ‘Son, diabetes wasn’t always so much fun,
So let me tell you how it was in 1931!’

Twice a day we’d drive to town, down to the abattoir,
Pick out a bovine pancreas and stow it in the car,
And when we got home Mum and Dad would mash that organ up,
And strain it through a muslin bag into a paper cup…

Then Dad would get some chemicals and boil them in a pan,
Adding bits of this and that with flourish and élan!
And meanwhile I would drink and drink until I had to pee,
And Mum would take a jar away, as swiftly as could be!

She’d add it to the chemicals, and if it turned bright red
Then I would have no supper and be sent off straight to bed.
But if it just turned yellowish, I’d have something to eat
Like carrots mashed in gravy, with sweet pickles for a treat!

I didn’t like the needles though, at least six inches long!
So Mum would jig around the room, distracting me with song!
And when he’d scraped the rust off, Dad would stick it in my butt,
I’d bite down on a leather strap to keep my mouth tight shut!

So, should you whinge and moan about how finger pricking’s bad,
Then pause to contemplate about the progress we have had.
We’ve gone from times when prospects for our future might seem poor,
To looking forward to the day that they announce the cure! 😱 🙂

 

[PhoebeC]

This reminds me of the boy who had to walk an hour home and back to school each lunchtime. His mum would boil his wee and they would test it and that equalled what he could have for lunch.
We are lucky in ways we dont realise.