Meet my favourite diabetes team!

Everyone has their diabetes team at the hospital, but what about at home? It can feel quite overwhelming to deal with diabetes on your own, all day every day. Of course, if you are struggling you can reach out to your team. I know from my own experience, I tend to try and deal with it on my own. Not because I feel I am better at it, but because I sometimes feel like I cannot reach out, outside of my allotted time if that makes sense. 

Last summer, I heard about Quin Diabetes App and was honestly blown away by it. I was still relatively new to diagnosis. Only just over 1 year in and I still did not fully understand how insulin worked. It had not been explained to me that insulin had different phases and that I could even track it! Because of this, I couldn’t work out why I would go high or low at certain times during a walk or going shopping. The reality was that I had absolutely no idea what was going on inside my body.

That changed very quickly once I downloaded Quin. I felt more in control and my confidence started to grow. Dosing also felt a little easier because I was starting to grasp how each dose would likely affect my blood sugar levels. On top of that though, I struggle with food at times and being able to set up reminders within Quin helped me stay on top of my meals and dosing, because it gave me no room to forget or avoid it. 

Shortly after my 2 year diaversary, my partner and I adopted a 4 month old puppy, Indy. I ended up in the hospital with DKA the next day. Once I came back home, my puppy started nudging the back of my legs with his nose any time my blood sugars were high. Equally whenever they dropped low, he would nudge the front of my legs. Indy is not a trained diabetes service dog. He just started doing it on his own from the day after we brought him home. 

To say he has transformed my mental state towards diabetes is an understatement. He does not leave my side when my blood sugars are low, and he is a great source of comfort. Often he alerts me quicker than my CGM, which is great as I have very little hypo awareness and they can catch me off guard!

Together, Quin and Indy are like my very own home-based diabetes team. The Quin Diabetes App keeps me on track so I know where I’m at with my insulin. While Indy is like a fluffy CGM, an emotional support animal and unofficial service dog all rolled into one. I feel over the last year that my approach and mental state towards diabetes has changed significantly and it is because I feel supported in my own home, outside of the hospital. 

Do you have a support network at home? Feel free to join Quin’s community on Twitter or Instagram and let’s start the conversation.