Lesley Ross
The whole process left me feeling small and insignificant. I found myself in a really dark place. I was ready to give up. Meanwhile, other parts of the country are handing out pumps and people are getting CGMs and you're left feeling like a drain on society.
My journey to accessing diabetes technology hasn’t been the easiest.
Back in the early 2000s, there was a tick box exercise asking ‘Have you ever thought about a pump?’. I had one conversation at the clinic and then it was never brought up again. It was through the online diabetes community that I learned about the true benefits of the insulin pump.
I was due to go on a pump but then we went into lockdown. I emailed my diabetes nurse, who then said that they would still get me on the pump, but the Medtronic might be withdrawn due to it being too expensive.
The whole process left me feeling small and insignificant. I found myself in a really dark place. I was ready to give up. Meanwhile, other parts of the country are handing out pumps and people are getting CGMs and you're left feeling like a drain on society.
I’m currently using the Flash (Libre sensor 2) and insulin pump (YpsoMed Pump) and using software that turns my Flash into a proper CGM. Hybrid closed loop has always been my ultimate goal.
The problem with doing that is, it’s not regulated. Although you trust in the people who are providing this option for people who can’t get CGM though the NHS, it does come with a lot of disclaimers. We really shouldn’t have do go down that route.
When I try to explain my experience to people without diabetes, I say it’s a bit like investing in a new phone, like the newest model of iPhone. You go to buy it and you put in your postcode and they say no, you can get a Nokia 3310. It does the calls, it does the texts, but it has no WhatsApp, no new apps that other people have access to.
It really is a postcode lottery for a lot of people, and it has to change.
