[Caroline]

Hi there,
Have looked at various sites like this in the past but this is the first one I have joined. I have had type 1 diabetes for 14 years and went onto the UK Transplant waiting list yesterday for a kidney pancreas transplant. It is a relatively newish procedure in the UK and I was wondering if anyone has any experiences or useful information they can give me!

[Tsukia]

welcome to the forum
I personally haven't gone through any surgery for my diabetes but good luck with it. I hope you will let us all know how it goes for you

[Cyborg]

Good luck with the surgery and welcome aboard

[notme]

Hi Caroline, I have not had the transplant surgery myself, but have a good friend that did. She is three years out from surgery and so far she has done very well. She was hospitalized this summer for some type of blood infection and we were all sure she was having complications from the transplant. We were wrong. She got some type of blood infection from bird droppings in South America!!! How weird is that??? She is doing better, but has been hospitalized for over four months. The bright side is she is has a functioning pancreas, but her transplanted kidney failed due to the infection. Back on the list for that.

I hope your surgery goes well. She has had an amazing three years diabetes free. If not for the infection, I am sure she would still be doing great.

[gettingby]

Hi Caroline and Welcome. It's great to see our UK and Canadian membership growing.
Good luck with the transplant and let us know how you do with it.

[MJM]

Welcome to the Forum Caroline. I wish you well with your transplant when you go through with it. Hey, keep visiting this site, you'll get a lot of support here.

[am1977]

Hey Caroline

Just want to wish you luck with your transplant~ I'm sure it's very exciting and scary at the same time.

I think one of our member's here is also on the waiting list for that as well, Little Bit (Liz)... Hopefully, she'll pop in to say hello- I'm sure she is going through a lot of the same things you are right now.

Best of luck and I hope we'll see you around

[Caroline]

Thank you for all of your messages. It is good to have access to so many people who have diabetes. I have had diabetes for 14 years and haven't known anyone with diabetes until I went on a course at the beginning of the year. Unfortunatley the course was too late for me, as have proliferative o, kidney damage, autonomic neuropathy etc etc but I did learn alot and would recommend it to anyone who gets the chance to go on such a course (in the UK its called DAFNE - Dose Adjustment for Normal Eating).
It is interesting to see how many people here are on pumps too - do they give you better control or is it more the fact of not having to keep injecting?

[chachacha]

Hi Caroline,
I was diagnosed in 1994 and have been pumping since 1996. If you are questions about pumping maybe your team could tell you more about it if they are familiar with it themselves? Would you be a candidate for a pump before you get a transplant?
I chose my consultant in London because she had lots of patients on a pump. I met a group of lovely people on a DAFNE course and am still seeing them 3 years later. In the DAFNE course a person told me about another forum which I found very useful too. I am new to this one but really enjoy hearing about other people' s experience .

[Caroline]

Originally Posted by chachacha

Hi Caroline,
I was diagnosed in 1994 and have been pumping since 1996. If you are questions about pumping maybe your team could tell you more about it if they are familiar with it themselves? Would you be a candidate for a pump before you get a transplant?
I chose my consultant in London because she had lots of patients on a pump. I met a group of lovely people on a DAFNE course and am still seeing them 3 years later. In the DAFNE course a person told me about another forum which I found very useful too. I am new to this one but really enjoy hearing about other people' s experience .

Hi there,
They spoke to me about a pump before all the talk about transplants etc but I think that idea has gone out the window now! I am also under a hospital in London - the Royal Free, they have been brilliant. Previously I have been under a different hospital where I was only seen once a year from the age of 16 (im 26 now). I would go there once a year, get told off for not looking after myself properly and think 'o well don't have to face that for another year!' I have been referred to the John Radcliffe in Oxford for the transplant itself and they have been really good too. How have you found the pump - this sounds silly but I am really squeamish with needles and tubes and didn't think i would be able to insert the needle myself! I am such a wimp when i go into hospital I ask them to cover up any drip tubes etc with a bandage as it makes me feel sick looking at it!

[Caroline]

Originally Posted by chachacha

Hi Caroline,
I was diagnosed in 1994 and have been pumping since 1996. If you are questions about pumping maybe your team could tell you more about it if they are familiar with it themselves? Would you be a candidate for a pump before you get a transplant?
I chose my consultant in London because she had lots of patients on a pump. I met a group of lovely people on a DAFNE course and am still seeing them 3 years later. In the DAFNE course a person told me about another forum which I found very useful too. I am new to this one but really enjoy hearing about other people' s experience .

Hi there,
They spoke to me about a pump before all the talk about transplants etc but I think that idea has gone out the window now! I am also under a hospital in London - the Royal Free, they have been brilliant. Previously I have been under a different hospital where I was only seen once a year from the age of 16 (im 26 now). I would go there once a year, get told off for not looking after myself properly and think 'o well don't have to face that for another year!' I have been referred to the John Radcliffe in Oxford for the transplant itself and they have been really good too. How have you found the pump - this sounds silly but I am really squeamish with needles and tubes and didn't think i would be able to insert the needle myself! I am such a wimp when i go into hospital I ask them to cover up any drip tubes etc with a bandage as it makes me feel sick looking at it!

[Caroline]

Originally Posted by chachacha

Hi Caroline,
I was diagnosed in 1994 and have been pumping since 1996. If you are questions about pumping maybe your team could tell you more about it if they are familiar with it themselves? Would you be a candidate for a pump before you get a transplant?
I chose my consultant in London because she had lots of patients on a pump. I met a group of lovely people on a DAFNE course and am still seeing them 3 years later. In the DAFNE course a person told me about another forum which I found very useful too. I am new to this one but really enjoy hearing about other people' s experience .

Hi there,
They spoke to me about a pump before all the talk about transplants etc but I think that idea has gone out the window now! I am also under a hospital in London - the Royal Free, they have been brilliant. Previously I have been under a different hospital where I was only seen once a year from the age of 16 (im 26 now). I would go there once a year, get told off for not looking after myself properly and think 'o well don't have to face that for another year!' I have been referred to the John Radcliffe in Oxford for the transplant itself and they have been really good too. How have you found the pump - this sounds silly but I am really squeamish with needles and tubes and didn't think i would be able to insert the needle myself! I am such a wimp when i go into hospital I ask them to cover up any drip tubes etc with a bandage as it makes me feel sick looking at it!