Year Abroad: Debrief Part 3 - What The Numbers Say.

Finally, I bring you the third and final part of my year abroad diabetes debrief. Part one is about my time in Toulouse, part two my time in Alcalá de Henares and this final instalment: the post-year abroad clinic appointment.

My hba1c back in December (after France) was 70 (8.6% in old numbers), which was expected. I'd had problems adjusting whilst in France and things were more up than down.

I'd had a lot of hypos whilst in Spain, and a fair few since being back whilst trying to re-adjust things so I had a feeling my post-year abroad hba1c was going to be lower. And it was. 60 or 7.6%. But is that a result of what I've been doing or the low blood sugars I've had? So I've requested another hba1c in October. At that point, I'll have moved back up to Norwich permanently and have started classes. I'm hoping that I'll be able to really see what's what.

Whilst at clinic today, I had everything done. Retinal photos - and it doesn't look like there are any issues - foot checks - again, no issues - and got to see a consultant. The consultant I saw was a new endo. Well, new to me, anyway. She seemed nice enough, but I've asked to be put under my previous consultant's service for my next appointment. As scary as she can be, I like her as my doctor. And when you've got to see someone on a regular basis, you have to get on with them as your health care professional. 

I also saw my DSN. I love my DSN. Throughout year abroad she's been my go-to when I've had problems. She responds to emails quickly, made sure I could see her when I was back in the UK, and even saw me today even though she technically wasn't meant to be seeing patients today. She's just bloody brilliant! We debriefed the last year, where I've had issues, what we can do to fine-tune control for final year and everything else. We also talked about an insulin pump, but we'll see how far that actually goes!

All in all, it was a good appointment. My hba1c has come down, and I want to keep it coming down, if possible! Well...at least steady! Maybe steady is what I should aim for entering into final year! Either way, I'm happy with the outcome.