Exams

Being in year 11 (last year of college) at school can be really stressful. All the exams, controlled assessments, homework, revision....the list goes on and on. Its like the school think you don't have a life outside school with the amount of revision and homework they want you to do (one of the reasons why I haven't posted in a long time). You are put under so much pressure to do well in all your subjects and it really doesn't help when they cram like 3 mock exams in each day over 3 weeks, it would make so much more sense to spread the exams out more so that you actually have enough time to revise and remember all of it. Anyway luckily the real GCSE's are spread out more so that you can make sure you have enough time to revise, learn everything and do the best that you can in the exams.

I remember when I had my year 10 exams which decided if you were ready to move up into year 11. I panicked so much about them, I was silly though as I left my revision to the last moment as every time I tried to revise I would stress out which made my levels go really high. This made it really hard for me to concentrate so I ended up giving up with revision. This obviously wasn't the best thing to do as it meant I panicked while in the exams as I hadn't revised anything and I ended up doing really
rubbish.

 

I went through this cycle every time I had an exam. I am sure many other people go through something like this too so don't worry if you do, you aren't alone.  

I needed to find away of stopping this cycle happening though as with my year 11 exams I need to get good grades to be able to get into the 6th forms I want to go to so that I am able to do the courses I want. So I spoke to my psychologist about it and we came up with a few ways how to stop this cycle from happening.

Here is a list of things you should try to stop the cycle from happening:

• Start revising early, don't leave it to the last moment 
• Make a revision table so that you know what you are going to revise every day
• Revise for like an hour and then have a break as if you revise for too long it will stop going in
• Make sure you are organised and know when your exams are
• If you know your levels go high when you revise, put a temp basal on your pump while you revise or if you are on injects check your levels regularly so you can correct them    
• Try some relaxation techniques to help yourself relax

I used the stuff listed above and it really helped me, I hardly panicked in my mock exams and I feel like i have done well in most of them. If you had asked me at first before I did all of those things to help me stop the cycle I used to go through, I would have said they would have never worked and there was no point in even trying them. I am so glad I tried that list of things as it has helped me so much and now I am not working about doing me GCSE's next year as I know I can control my emotions and not panic in the exams and mess my grades up.

If you are struggling with your emotions and levels while doing revision and exams please use the list of things to help stop that from happening, it will really help. If you plan enough in advance you will do fine in your exams. Just remember to revise and follow the tips in this post. I wish everyone good luck in their mock exams if you haven't already done them :)  
 

Holiday aboard

Sorry I haven't posted on my blog in a while, it's because I have been on holiday for 2 weeks in Portugal. The weather was so nice there, it was always sunny and hot throughout the day and in the evening there was a lovely cool breeze. The holiday was so relaxing and I loved it, the only bad thing was the only Internet that I was able to connect to was in a restaurant, which was quiet a long walk from our apartment. So I wasn't able to talk to people or write any blog posts or go on Facebook :( 

Whenever I go on holiday abroad I always worry that they won't let my through security because of all of my insulin and my pump and pump supplies that I will need.. Every time I have been on holiday it has been fine when i was going through security it always been fine so I don't really know why I worry about it. The only thing we got told we had to do this time was put my glucoJels in a separate bags to my insulin. 

If you go on holiday abroad I know it can make you worry a bit about getting through security with all your diabetic supplies but try and not worry as it will be fine. All you have to remember to do is get a letter off your diabetic team to say that you can bring liquids on to the plane and put all your liquids and diabetic supplies on clear plastic bags so that the security people can see what it is. Make sure your gluco gels and your insulin are in separate clear bags as one is a liquid and the other is a gel (as we found out when we went through security). Always pack more stuff then you will actually need so that if something went wrong with your pump supplies or your levels were higher so you injected more and used more insulin.  Make sure your insulin is in a cold bag or something so that it keeps cool and doesn't go off because it's too hot. If you are on a pump make sure you bring injections and needles just encase anything happens to your pump.

 

When we got through security we went in to a shop to buy some drinks and food for the plane. While we were in the shop looking at the sweets and chocolate one of the members of staff was stacking the shelf's right next to us. I looked over at her and noticed that she had the OmniPod pump in her arm. As the woman walked away I whispered to my mum that the woman was diabetic and that she had the wireless pump in her arm. The woman then came back and carried on stacking the self, my mum asked her if it was a pump in her arm and the woman said yeah. So I said how I was diabetic and was on a pump. 

 

Me and my mum had a conversation with the woman about the OmniPod as I didn't really know how it worked and had never met someone on it before. The woman said how it had helped her so much and that she preferred it to her old pump that had a wire. She said it made everyday life so much easier as there was no wire which meant she didn't catch the wire on anything and it also meant her line didn't get blocked as much as it used to. Also it made it a lot easier for her to have baths, showers and do exercise as she doesn't have to disconnect her pump as there is no wire. Overall she said she wouldn't know what she would do now if she didn't have the OmniPod pump.    

After thinking for a while about the OmniPod pump for a while I think I would really like to trial the pump as I don't know whether I would like it or not. The thought of not having to have a pump attached to you while you are sleeping and following you around whether you go, is amazing. The thought of not having to worry about catching your line on anything and it ripping out or having to disconnect then having a bath, shower or exercise. The only thing that worries me is because the cannula is a lot bigger then my cannula now I am scared I wouldn't like it because its bigger and I might knock it off or something while I was getting used to it. The OmniPod is so much more advanced for the other insulin pumps and it just shows how much technology has improve over the last couple of years.

Overall I had an amazing holiday but I think it went way too fast but maybe that was because I was staying in bed asleep until 10 or 11am haha. I will soon be starting school and it will be my last year at collage. I hope everyone else has had a good holiday as well and that your levels have been good.

Hot weather

I am really sorry I haven't posted on my blog in ages, I have been so busy with school, homework, revision, applying to be a prefect, concert and other thing like that. The time has just gone so quickly and so much has happened that I think I should blog about as I now have the some free time :)

The weather can affect your levels a lot however it can effect everyone's levels differently. Some people find that when the weather gets warmer and a lot hotter it makes there levels lower and some people find that the hot weather makes their levels higher then usual. It can be really annoying if your levels tend to run lower in the hot weather as that is the time that people normal do more exercise. For example when people go on holiday the weather is normally hotter which will mean your levels will probably run higher or lower then usual which can be really annoying as when your levels are running high it can make you feel rubbish which will mean you wont be able to enjoy your holiday as much. Also if your levels are running low while you are on holiday it come also be annoying as people normal go swimming a lot and that will make your levels drop even more. It can be so annoying, I know!

Recently the weather has got a lot warm and more humid in Cambridgeshire and this has effected my levels quiet a lot. When I was younger the hot weather always used to make my levels run higher which was really annoying as it used to make my feel so ill and rubbish however over the last couple of days the weather has gotten warmer my levels have been running really low and I keep have quiet a few lows. My mum said she doesn't think it is the hot weather that is affecting my levels however I cant think of any other reason why they would be running low just when the weather got hotter. As I have notice that my levels maybe running low because of the hot weather I have been checking my levels more regularly and I have been taking more things like cans of coke, more glucose tabs to get my levels up just encase I have more lows then usual. I have also adjusted my insulin so that I am less likely to keep having all the lows I have been having recently.

Here are some of the things I found on the internet which will help managing your diabetes in the hot weather:

• Drink plenty of water to avoid dehydration. Carry a bottle of water with you
• Exercise and do more strenuous activities in the early or later hours of the day when the temperatures are cooler and the sun is not at its peak.
• Check blood sugar levels frequently, since they may fluctuate more.
• Remember, extreme temperature changes can have an effect on your diabetes supplies; insulin can break down, blood glucose meters and test strips can be damaged, and altitude can affect blood glucose meter performance. Use insulated bags protected by a cool pack to safely store your supplies, but avoid freezing.
• Make sure you have more supplies on you to up your levels encase you go low
• Adjust your insulin if you think its needs adjusting 
• Wear light colored clothing

If you are going on holiday soon make sure you remember the above points as it will really help and make managing your diabetes a bit easier. Also please don't get annoyed or upset because your levels aren't perfect while the weather is hotter or while you are on holiday as no ones levels will be and I don't want you to ruin your holiday just because your levels aren't where you want them.
Hope everyone is enjoying the hot weather and has a lovely time on holiday if you are going on holiday!  

What diabetes means in one word!

Every person that has diabetes has different experiences. Some people are lucky to have good control and find dealing with diabetes relatively easy while others struggle with the emotional side of diabetes finding it hard to except their situation and others work really hard and still are unable to achieve good control. Our bodies all work differently and we all have different lifestyles, which makes diabetes is a very complex and unpredictable condition!

 

I thought by asking different people (including adults and teenagers) what diabetes means to them in one word I could give a better perspective of diabetes as a whole.  Rather than just making a list of words I decided to make it into a poster, Hope you like it!

 

 

No different

Having diabetes doesn't make you any different to anyone else. Even though we have to test our levels before we eat and when we don't feel well, inject or put information in your pump before you eat, have a pump attached to 24/7, go to hospital appointments every 3 months.... we are still the same as everyone else.

When I was 6 years old , in year one at primary school, I found it really hard and upsetting because some people at my primary school decided they didn't like me because I have diabetes. One day when I was in year 1 I was lining up outside with my class waiting for the teacher to let us inside. While I was waiting three people in my class came up to me and said "I don't want to be friends with you because you're diabetic" then they just walked off. I had no idea what to do, it wasn't my fault I was diabetic and now no wants to be my friend. They upset me so much. I didn't tell the teacher what they had said to me because she wouldn't have been able to do anything about it. When I got home I went to room and cried about what they had said to me, I wished I wasn't diabetic. I told my mum about what had happened and she wasn't happy, so she rang the school and told them what had happened. The next day at school my teacher spoke to the three people who said they didn't want to be friends with me. They came up to me and said they were really sorry. After that they were really nice to me and never said they didn't want to be friends with me again.

Ever since that happened at Primary school I don't  really tell anyone at school that I have diabetes, only the people that need to know at school know. All my teachers at collage know that I have diabetes just in case I start to feel unwell in class and need to check my levels or things like that and my friends know I have diabetes too because I test my levels a lot while I am round them and so that they can help me if I don't feel well because of my levels. At first I didn't really want anyone at collage to know I had diabetes because I didn't want them to treat me differently or not like me because of my diabetes.

I was thinking about doing a fundraising event to raise money for JDRF and I thought it would be a really fun thing to do. One of my friends at school said that it would be a great idea however it would mean everyone in the school would find out I had type one diabetes. I said to her that it wouldn't matter because most people in the school already know I am diabetic. When I got home I thought about what my friend had said to me and realised most of my year probably knows I have diabetes but the other people in the other years in collage probably don't know. It mad me worry a bit that what happened in primary school wound happen again but I really wanted to raise money for JDRF. So I talked to one of my friends who doesn't have diabetes and doesn't go to the collage about it. They said  to me 'You are no different to me at all, always remember that'  It made me feel so much better after what they said to me and made me realise that I am actually no different to anyone else.

Even though we have diabetes we are no different to everyone else and we shouldn't be treated differently. Diabetes is only one part of us, we are so much more then diabetes so don't let people treat you differently just because you are diabetic. Always remember you are stronger than you think!

More than Diabetes

I realised I haven't told you a lot about me so I thought I would write down some things about me that you probably don't know.

My full name is Laura Elizabeth Archer
I am 15 years old
I was born on 1st December 1998
I am in year 10 at school
I have dark blonde hair
I have green/brown eyes
I am right handed
I have one brother and two stepbrother
I live with my mum, stepdad, brother and my two step brothers every other weekend
I have two dogs
I have a paper round
I help out at football training for 5-6 year olds
I did the Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award
I have been abroad on holiday to Portugal and America
I don't like eggs
I don't like spiders
I have a phobia to needles
My favourite book is 'Is it just me?' By Miranda Hart
My favourite colour is blue and teal
My favourite meal is pasta
My favourite food is meringue with cream
My favourite lesson at school is English
My least favourite lesson at school in French and PE
My favourite film is pitch perfect
My favourite tv series Miranda, Greys Anatomy
My favourite boy band are The Vamps
My favourite girl band are Little Mix
My favourite animal is a Panda
Oh yeah...
I am allergic to Penicillin
I have Type One Diabetes
I have been Diabetic for 11 years
I am on an insulin pump

Being diabetic is only one part of me, I am so much more then diabetes. You should never let your diabetes stop you from doing anything and you are so much more than just diabetes!
Remember you are stronger than you think