Is it worth attending a DAFNE course

16 posts, 7 contributors

January 22, 2016 18:40 annis54 6 posts	Popey81 said: I have just completed the DAFNE course this afternoon. Monday morning i was quite sceptical about why i needed a week of education but after the first morning i could see why. DAFNE and its principals are great. Yeah its been my first week but i already feel that the control i have on my BG levels are 100 times better than the last year and im using a 3rd of the insulin (scared me at first but the prrof is in my diary). It is a big ask i know to travel 9 miles there and back each day and take a week out of your time but its so worth it i promise you. In some ways you could teach yourself out of a text book but the hands on support and attention you get off the nurses for the week is amazing. They learn off of you aswell as everyone is different. Also the other diabetics on the course you meet all have different stories and experiences to share and you learn from them also and vice versa. So answer to you question is YES the course if worth going on. Happiest and the most confident i have felt with my diabetes in a long time. Matthew Lots of people have said that they found the DAFNE course helpful which is promising. I shall have to go otherwise the diabetic staff will give up on me. I'm starting to think that if I do go and it isn't all it's cracked up to be I'll at least be able to say I gave it a go. Trouble is I live 2 miles due south of Dunkery and at February half term we often have bad weather. Last year I was ill and couldn't go. The diabetic nurses were very annoyed that I didn't turn up and were not at all sympathetic. I had a bug and was being sick and an ambulance came at 2 am to sort me out. Still didn't apologise and said that if I had attended the DAFNE course I would have known what to do if I got a bug. At that point I told them that it was the first chance I had got to attend the course and I hadn't expected to catch a tummy bug. I was so cross I just put the phone down. Surprisingly I got a phone call from the practice nurse who was very kind and I went to have a chat with her. She knows how far it is to Taunton and Wellington and there isn't a bus from Wheddon Cross. I do have a car but since I had DKA (wretched GP thought I had type 2 not type 1 so I got an appointment a week after the blood results arrived. Then I spent 3 days in hospital being rescued which cost far more to the NHS than an immediate trip to the hospital which is what he should have told me to do) my sight is poorer and my confidence has taken a knock. Anyway I'm going to do the course and see what happens. It sounds a terrible waste of time but at least it is free! Does one bring a packed lunch?
January 22, 2016 18:50 annis54 6 posts	Sh3ri3 said: Hi, I agree with everything Matthew said. I wish I had been offered the course earlier. I have been almost 24yrs with diabetes and only after this wk (graduated today) do I feel I have an understanding and control of the condition. In the grand scheme of things, 1week is nothing when living with diabetes day to day. The group environment and experience shared I think would make so much difference than the handbook alone. Hope that helps Sherie I've not had it for that long. I was diagnosed on 5th March 2014 when I was taken straight from the surgery to Musgrove Park MAU. I thought I had flu but it was DKA which is much worse. It was beastly and I went blind. The food in the hospital wasn't very good either so I was very glad to get taken home for the weekend. My family did the insulin stuff and I just sat there rather bewildered. My grandson's godfather is type 1 and he came over the next day. He was marvelous and really cheered me up. He went on the DAFNE course and said it was rubbish. He knew how to cook for himself and they kept going on about ready made food which he doesn't eat. This put me off. Plus the getting there when I'm not driving. However lots of people have found the course helpful so I might as well give it a go. The nearest is Minehead and with planning I ought to be able to get there. I usually babysit everyday so that'll be awkward. I don't expect that Max (age 3) will be welcome. I've written to ask when the course is which is a start. My endo is very keen on the course so she'll be pleased that I've caved in!!! Does one bring a packed lunch?
January 22, 2016 18:53 Popey81 DAFNE Graduate Royal Glamorgan Hospital Diabetes Centre 5 posts	I suppose we all have different experiences with different nurses. There is not one bad word i can say about my week at the DAFNE course. I have come off this course with a whole new outlook on my diabetes. Its definitely not a waste of time but can also understand your situation in getting to your local centre. Reading up on your daily intake of foods dafne will near enough pin point how much insulin for everytime you eat. weather it be a meal, snack etc. they will monitor your levels over the week and would work out your QA ratios BI intake to suit your needs. 1 week of travel to and from and prob a family member/friend to help out sounds a potch but its nothing compared to getting the training and advice on how to live comfortably and confidentally with your condition. Im sounding like the nag now haha Packed lunch is optional
January 22, 2016 18:56 Sh3ri3 DAFNE Graduate Cardiff and Vale University Health Board 3 posts	You can take a packed lunch or purchase from canteen (they gave staff rate as on course) we also went out for lunch to pub to test eating out / carb counting . I'm sometimes still bewildered, good luck whatever you decide
January 22, 2016 19:02 annis54 6 posts	HelenP said: Hi, I would say if you can do a DAFNE course then you ought to as it brings you back to first principles. Although I am confused about the 89. What unit is this in? We are using mmol/L (here) and I have some knowledge of mg/dL. On the grandparent level I have found that the tighter I keep the BGs the better I feel and the more I can do with the kids so I encourage you to do what you can to achieve good HbA1cs. About the finger pricks...I find that if my hands are dry the finger pricks hurt more so I use a non perfumed basic sorbolene hand cream, routinely, as if you do a test immediately after putting on the cream you do not get a clean drop.. I think the massage to rub in the cream also helps. Good luck. Helen The 89 is the figure I got after having a blood test to see how my blood glucose had been the last 12 weeks. It should be less than 60. I find that the finger pricks hurt more if my hands are cold and since I live on Exmoor it is cold here. I use E45 hand cream when my hands get dry but I try to use washing up gloves to keep my hands soft. I think that the DKA has made it much more difficult for me. Most of what the nurses told me in hospital didn't sink in. I just thought F..K I'm in big trouble now but at least it isn't dialysis or cancer. Then they said it might be cancer so that was bad. It wasn't so they let me go home. Everyone else on the ward had heart failure and were very fat which was depressing. The loos were horrible too. So I was thrilled to get home to my family and home cooked food. I couldn't see much - all blurry - but I felt lots better. A visit from the vet was ultra helpful far more than the GP who had misdiagnosed me in the first place. He gave me lots of tips. Also he pointed out that I could still ride so not much was wrong then!!!! I'm going to find out when the course is on in MInehead and try to get there. I'll let you know how I get on!!!
January 26, 2016 11:51 novorapidboi26 DAFNE Graduate NHS Lanarkshire 1,819 posts	DAFNE is great and the time spent with others like you is invaluable........ if its and issue to get to the clinic ask for help with transport..........is it far away? can you stay in a hotel? all questions to be asked..... you can also go through an online course provided by the Bournemouth Diabetes and Endocrine Centre, link below; BDEC Diabetes Learning Programme