Diabetes

My name is Bill and I have Type 2 diabetes.

A very dramatic opening that makes it sound as if I am likening having diabetes to being an alcoholic at an AA meeting. Is that the way I feel? At the moment I am not sure how I feel about it.

You can probably guess from the tone of his article that I have only just discovered that I have type 2 diabetes. My journey has only just begun so I know virtually nothing about the condition and ongoing treatment. That is why I have decided to start writing this blog now in the hope that I can pass on my experiences and knowledge gained as it happens.

Let me make it clear from the start that I have absolutely no medical training or background and anything you read here is my own understanding of the subject or that of any future guest writers. I am just like you, anything I read I will digest with interest but the advice of my doctor and medical professional is what is important to take action on.

The place to begin has to be how I discovered that I am diabetic.

For quite a long time I have had an intermittent chest problem. I like walking and found that sometimes at the start of a walk, maybe ten minutes into it, my chest began to hurt. Sometimes this was just uncomfortable and other times it really hurt. If I stopped for five minutes and then carried on I could walk for miles. Each time I saw my GP he would take blood and send it to the hospital for analysis and a couple of times even sent me to be put on a treadmill while being monitored with an ECG machine.

The ECG never showed any abnormality and the bloods were OK. Yes, my bad cholesterol was higher than recommended but my good cholesterol was also higher than normal so nothing to worry about.

Recently there was a new twist. When walking up a steep hill early one morning it felt as if someone had just thumped me in the centre of my chest. My usual GP was on holiday so I had an appointment with a new member of the team. My blood pressure was too high so he again asked for bloods to be done and referred me once again to the hospital for tests but this time recommending that my heart be artificially stimulated and monitored rather than use the treadmill. I have since found out that this procedure costs more than the treadmill and so is used as the next stage if the treadmill is inconclusive.

Before attending my hospital appointment I was surprised to get a phone call from the surgery requesting me to visit the nurse to have blood taken again. When I subsequently saw the Nursing Sister at the hospital I mentioned that and made the comment that perhaps my cholesterol was a bit high. She looked up the results and said no, that was OK but my glucose was a little high.

The next thing was that I received a letter saying that I needed to attend the hospital for a glucose intolerance test at 8.30am and the appointment would last for over two hours. At 8.30 my blood was taken and 45 minutes later the results came back and I was asked to drink three cups of a well known glucose drink. Believe me, that was not pleasant at that time of the day on an empty stomach! I then had to sit quietly for two hours while it percolated though my system and then blood was taken yet again.

Results of blood tests normally take a week to reach my GP, even in these computerised days of electronically transferred data. So you can imagine my surprise when I received a call the following morning asking me to see my GP. Alarm bells started to ring in my brain.

It seems that the first blood test recored glucose at just over 7 but two  hours after the glucose it was nearly 11.5. He then uttered the words Type 2 Diabetes and said I would have to go on medication for the rest of my life and that my diet would have to change. He was very good and allocated as much of his busy time for me to ask questions as I felt I needed. The first question was why me and the second was it likely that my daughters may have the problem in the future and is there anything they could do to perhaps avoid it.

It appears it that with me it is age related. I don’t smoke, do not drink alcohol to excess (I am only human and have had my moments when young) and am not overweight.

I am now waiting for an appointment with the diabetes nurse and dietician and in the meantime I am not sure what I can safely eat and what I definitely must cut out from my foods. Ninety five percent of what I eat is home prepared and the majority of my diet these days is vegetarian. I love chocolate and have always enjoyed puddings. I suspect those days are now behind me.

If anyone wishes to share their experiences with diabetes, please email your article to me and I will publish it once vetted. Sorry that I have to vet but anyone who has created a web site or blog will know just how necessary a procedure this is.