I just got a letter for dafne course!

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Anthony Neve

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Type 1
woohoo! is it a week long thing? my letter doesnt actually say!

starts on the 11th may 🙂
 
good for you! :D

i have been asked to go on dafne on 27th april, someone dropped out, work have been great and given me the time off. really looking forward to doing it
 
tracey w said:
good for you! :D

i have been asked to go on dafne on 27th april, someone dropped out, work have been great and given me the time off. really looking forward to doing it
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(Perhaps you already have...but I will mention it anyway....) Try to get your time off as special leave rather than annual leave. The same kind of leave you can take for medical appointments. I booked mine as annual leave, was suprised when the administrator for the DAFNE course wrote and provided a form for me to send to my employer and write to him directly as well to ensure I didnt lose valueable AL. Great service! It was all very smooth.
 
Sugarbum said:
(Perhaps you already have...but I will mention it anyway....) Try to get your time off as special leave rather than annual leave. The same kind of leave you can take for medical appointments. I booked mine as annual leave, was suprised when the administrator for the DAFNE course wrote and provided a form for me to send to my employer and write to him directly as well to ensure I didnt lose valueable AL. Great service! It was all very smooth.
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thanks, dont think mine will be doing that somehow. They have asked for forms to prove im going on it and are making me take al. Even though i told them that the hospital told me that usually employers will give you the time off. And i go to all my appointments on my days off, i know i dont need to, however i dont want them to think that my diabetes interferes with my work. I know that sounds wrong but i dont want to be treated differently and i think that may happen if they think im always away at the docs/hosp etc.

they are really good and let me swap days off for appointments etc. am so pleased to have got on the course though!!
 
tracey w said:
thanks, dont think mine will be doing that somehow. They have asked for forms to prove im going on it and are making me take al. Even though i told them that the hospital told me that usually employers will give you the time off. And i go to all my appointments on my days off, i know i dont need to, however i dont want them to think that my diabetes interferes with my work. I know that sounds wrong but i dont want to be treated differently and i think that may happen if they think im always away at the docs/hosp etc.

they are really good and let me swap days off for appointments etc. am so pleased to have got on the course though!!
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Tracey its completely your choice, and whatever makes you feel most comfortable in your workplace is right for you, but the admin on mine was suprisingly discreet and worded it in such a way my boss was really forthcoming because he was convined the benfit was all his afterwards and I would have less time off of work becuase I can manage my hypos! I didnt do much. I also do my appointments in my own time, purely because I shift work, but in this instance I thought I would try my luck. And also its not much to do with luck.....we are protected for these reasons by the disability discrimination act.

interestingly enough for me, I did DAFNE in august last year and I havent missed one sick day since due to diabetes......I manage hypos so much better post dafne!

Enjoy the course x
 
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Sugarbum said:
Tracey its completely your choice, and whatever makes you feel most comfortable in your workplace is right for you, but the admin on mine was suprisingly discreet and worded it in such a way my boss was really forthcoming because he was convined the benfit was all his afterwards and I would have less time off of work becuase I can manage my hypos! I didnt do much. I also do my appointments in my own time, purely because I shift work, but in this instance I thought I would try my luck. And also its not much to do with luck.....we are protected for these reasons by the disability discrimination act.

interestingly enough for me, I did DAFNE in august last year and I havent missed one sick day since due to diabetes......I manage hyos so much better post dafne!

Enjoy the course x
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yes absolutely, i havent had any sickness through diabetes though so that point wouldnt work for my employers. so glad you are managing better since the course.
 
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Anthony Neve said:
woohoo! is it a week long thing? my letter doesnt actually say!

starts on the 11th may 🙂
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Yay! Good for you! It was Monday- Friday (although Friday only up to and including lunch out) when I did it, I assume you'll be doing it with the same instructors as you're also with the NNUH. I found it to be incredible so hope you do too! Where are you doing it?
 
I am pleased for you too! Let us know how you get on. Bev
 
i hate to be ignorant but what is a dafne course?? ive never heard of it???
 
beanz20 said:
i hate to be ignorant but what is a dafne course?? ive never heard of it???
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Nice to meet you Beanz20!

How long have you had diabetes? The course stands for Dose Adjustment For Normal Eating and is bascally a 5 day course with your diabetes team, your DSN and Dietician, using a standard format. Teaches you about your ratios and diet, we were a group of ten.

This is the website www.dafneonline.co.uk but your DSN is the most informative person to approach about it.

x
 
beanz20 said:
i hate to be ignorant but what is a dafne course?? ive never heard of it???
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it stands for dose adjustment for normal eating. It's a diabetes education course that a lot of pcts run (there are similar ones in some areas called different things, such as bertie) It's focussed around carb counting but there's a lot more to it then that, I'd recommend it for anyone.
 
aymes said:
it stands for dose adjustment for normal eating. It's a diabetes education course that a lot of pcts run (there are similar ones in some areas called different things, such as bertie) It's focussed around carb counting but there's a lot more to it then that, I'd recommend it for anyone.
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I didn't do a DAFNE course - my diabetes team ran their own little course that took place over three half days. I found it very useful, and it came at just the right time for me, about three months after diagnosis. It was great also to meet other diabetics. I do feel though, from what everyone says about DAFNE, that I must have missed out on a lot since that is 3 times longer than my course was. I was taught carb-counting and ratios, but I'm guessing not in as much depth as on DAFNE. I'm not complaining - my control has been very good, and it gave me the confidence to adjust my insulin requirements intelligently, without having to wait on doctors and nurses to advise me, but I do wonder what I missed and it's obviously something that I'll not experience having already been 'educated'!
 
wow ive had diabetes for nearly 6 years and never been offered that....will have to enquire as my levels are all over the place at the moment
 
beanz20 said:
wow ive had diabetes for nearly 6 years and never been offered that....will have to enquire as my levels are all over the place at the moment
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You should definitely enquire beanz. There was a guy on the course I did who had been diagnosed 5 years and he really learned a lot! The rest of us who were newly diagnosed thought he would know everything, but it turned out he'd been getting a lot of things wrong, and he came away feeling much better about things.

I see you are in Hampshire - the course I did was at the Royal South Hants hospital in Southampton.
 
Northerner said:
You should definitely enquire beanz. There was a guy on the course I did who had been diagnosed 5 years and he really learned a lot! The rest of us who were newly diagnosed thought he would know everything, but it turned out he'd been getting a lot of things wrong, and he came away feeling much better about things.

I see you are in Hampshire - the course I did was at the Royal South Hants hospital in Southampton.
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That is really interesting northerner that you had a short course about 3 months after diagnosis, I feel alittle bitter and twisted about the fact I was diagnosed and left to get on with it, then didnt cope and then got abit ill. My DSN wants to start something up like what you have described, to help people shortly after diagnosis as we currently dont have that in our area. You say that you didnt do the dafne, but in our location you dont get offered it until at least 1 year post diagnosis because they need you to be through the honeymoon phase to help you work out your ratios better. I hope that your short course isnt in substitute for the dafne at a later stage? Because that would be a real shame.

I am wondering beanz if you attend a diabetes clinic, or wehter you are under the care of your GP services for your diabetes and perhaps havent been offered it because of that? Dafne was my saviour, like aymes- definately worth considering because if it works for you it can be a really useful and positive experience.
 
hey sugarbum...i must say im a bit annoyed that i have never heard of it, i am under the care of my local hospital and i was also left to get on with it after i was diagnosed with not much help and support!! I have since ended up in ITU with ketoacidosis as i had absolutely no idea about ketones....ive pretty much taught myself and learned from my own mistakes!
 
beanz20 said:
hey sugarbum...i must say im a bit annoyed that i have never heard of it, i am under the care of my local hospital and i was also left to get on with it after i was diagnosed with not much help and support!! I have since ended up in ITU with ketoacidosis as i had absolutely no idea about ketones....ive pretty much taught myself and learned from my own mistakes!
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I am abit annoyed on your behalf actually! The dafne revolution seems to have bypassed you in some strange way....you have lived with diabetes for a long time now and without sounding too damning, it seems 'neglectful' of your team to have never even have mentioned it to you, let alone offered you a place on it.

When you read some older threads on this website you notice there are regional differences on the availability of dafne courses, the referral process and the wait to get on them. I attend a large london hospital and luckily didnt wait to long or have a struggle to get on one. I knew I was well off there, but I find the comparison to you as a person with type 1 diabetes for 9 years who didnt know of the course, ridiculous, if not worrying. It seems absurd :confused:

Anyhoo.......! I am sure you are now armed with all the vital facts (remember to check out the dafne online website) to go forth and enquire! All the best in luck! xx
 
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