HEALTHCARE SYSTEMS – WHAT NEEDS TO BE IMPROVED PATIEN’S PERSPECTIVE Mag. sc. Sandra Bršec Rolih IDE Europe Symposium Lisbon,Portugal, 10.09.2017. First of all, I would like wish all of you good morning and tell you how happy I am to be here and talk to you. I would like to thank the organizer for inviting me to this internal meeting, allowing me to talk about my experience and giving you a first-hand insight in life with diabetes. But, before I start, I would like to tell you few words about International Diabetes Federation, our European chapter.

In a meanwhile, with my diabetes, I became a mother of two wonderful boys. One is 10 and one is 5. Both of my pregnancies went well and I’m extremely proud of it. I was lucky that throughout my life with diabetes I always had unconditional support of my family. My parents were wonderful and helpful, my husband was with me from the very beginning, going through all of my fazes, accepting my activities, my hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia... It wasn’t always easy for him to eat my healthy recipes, sometimes they were, let’s say, too healthy! At the beginning I had to remind my friends to serve me sugar free coffee or drink, that I won’t take cake after lunch. However, very soon, all of my family and friends learned how to prepare healthy cakes, we share recipes and this kind of acceptance means a world to me. Yes, I’ve learned to live with it, to be a person living with diabetes, rather than a patient with diabetes complications. But to be able to do that, I needed the support of my family, my community, HCPs, government and institutions. I need best possible medicine treatment and I will tell you why. For many years I was taking insulin therapy 6 times a day – 3x basal and 3x fast acting. I had to measure my glucose at least 6 times a day and I’ve learned to live with it since this effort kept my blood glucose stabile. My last daily dose was around 23.00. Recently, I switched to a basal new insulin that I take only once a day. This means two shots less than before. I didn’t think too much of it, until one evening. I was putting my two boys to bed and started reading them their bed time story. All of a sudden I realized that I don’t have to be afraid of falling asleep and missing my night dose. I don’t have to set the alarm or make someone wake me up for it. Now, I can cuddle in with my kids and can fall asleep if I want to. Do you know how much this means to me – it’s priceless!