Originally Posted by xMenace  <rant warning>
My initial teachings are so long ago ... I got a workbook thingy and hands on instructions for urine testing (get your minds outa there!). Back then we used test tubes. It was a big process.
My latest adventure was when I received training for my pump. It was rather like starting over. At least I treated it as such.
There was definately a gap in my pump training. I see that gap just about everywhere whether it's pumpers or mdiers, and IMO it really needs addressing. The #1 thing they fail to teach us is how to match our dosages to our needs.
What they teach us is how to select foods, how to count carbs, how to test, how to identify and treat hypos, how to operate the equipment, etc, etc, etc. It's all necessary stuff, but it is not the guts of the matter. Typically they tell us to contact them for adjustments until it's all settled. Then every three months when we see our doctors or DE's they tell us to bring in our records so they can make more fine tunings. What they don't us is how to make these fine tunings ourselves. It's like that infamous saying "Give a man to fish, he eats for a day
Teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime." They are feeding us, not teaching us. In order to successfully treat ourselves we have to resort to books and the web and forums such as this. Worst of all we have to do it by trial and error. Too many times I'm looking up at a white-coat saying "oops, I guess I ****ed that up royally!"
Their matching programs consist of testing several times a day, looking for patterns, and adjusting to those patterns. That works for some, even many, but for lots of us, good control requires finer detail. The vital thing, the point of failure, is not separating basal and bolus needs. These are the two general sources of blood sugar and the two general insulin treatments, yet most educators lump them into a single manageable pot. They demand to be separated. IMO there needs to be up front education and insistance on separate basal testing and treatments. Only once this has been accomplished can you successfully set proper I:C ratios. When you have everything settled, not only can you drop your A1C to near normal levels, but you can minimize hypoglycemic incidences and you can actually adapt your routine as needed to social and lyfestyle demands. You can party all night, you can run a marathon, you can play competetive sports, you can do whatever you want except for what they won't let you do.
Too many of us come away with no idea how to manage ourselves. |
