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anyone else read this on the BBC - very brave and sobering



**** i feel for her and it kinda scares the hell of me,while reading this i had alot of emotions running through my body.
 
I think I am going to print that off and pin it up above my monitor to give me a kick in the butt when ever I wonder what's the point.
 
That's frightened me. I have good control and take it seriously, but I'm about to make an appt with an Optician just to make sure I'm ok. My last annual retinopathy check was good, so hopefully I won't get any nasty surprises.
 
I found this very emotional reading, what a brutal but honest story. I had my party days when I was younger too but wasn't a type 1 then, this certainly makes you realise the peer pressure faced in our younger years and the desire to fit in and not stand out 'medically'. I know some of us struggle massively with managing type 1 but maybe just maybe more sincere accounts like this will inspire all to take it seriously and live long healthy lives. My 2 last eye checks showed background retinopathy, it remains unchanged and not sure if it will go in time with better control, but losing my sight and not being able to watch my daughter grow up is my biggest fear with type 1.
 
Awful thing to happen and cannot imagine how it must feel losing your sight, wishing Leonie all the best for the future.
 
I think she has done a very important thing there. It's all very well folks saying, anecdotally, that sight loss is a potential impact of uncontrolled diabetes, but the message is so much stronger when it comes to someone who is living with that impact every day. She was so young when it all happened too.

I think we can sometimes all think "those things happen to old people, or those who have been diagnosed many decades.

Well done to Leonie for telling her story. I take my hat off to her.
 
I'm constantly petrified of losing my sight, even at my 'more advanced age'. I'm glad Leonie wrote this as it's an unforgettable reminder of potential consequences of this condition, but also she finds stuff to be glad about, which is encouraging for all of us.
 
Sometimes I think I was lucky, this could describe me in the mid nineties when I was in my twenties. Basically paying only cursory attention to my control and more interested in having fun. I knew about the consequences but they didn't really happen did they? I didn't know any other diabetics so it couldn't really happen? I also went through periods of self harm with deliberately withholding insulin during depressive episodes.

I feel quite emotional writing this at the way that my T1 has affected my life but I am now in a much better place and try and deal with it well. I hope though I haven't got anything like this waiting for me in the future and if I do will it have been my fault? Very sobering indeed and my heart goes out to her. Thanks for posting the link @ElyDave
 
What a sad story and poor lady. Thanks for posting; it's very sobering.

Although I've only been diagnosed a year (and have had really good control since then) I often worry about how long before I was diagnosed my levels were through the roof and what affect that may have on me in the future and in terms of complications. I was something like 28mmol when diagnosed (and didn't even feel that bad), god knows how long I'd been that high .... I'd felt a little off for months beforehand.
 
That was very unsettling for me as I am just coming out of a long burn out period. Thankfully I do not have any complications, but to risk never seeing my loved ones faces again is enough to bring me to tears and motivate me to stay on track

Thank you for posting
 
Poor lady, sounds ,as tho her vision failed quite fast, for me it was over a longer period of time.
I also had a couple of burnout periods like many, never been a drinker tho so my periods of disinterest in my diabetes sound a bit tamer.
My dad was also a type 1 for most of his life, but unlike me had basically no complications. I once asked the specialist why I had all the issues, and he said it was because of 5 pregnancies.
It as interesting to read her description of what she can see, I also see sparkles, and outlines of people but no detail, my computer is modified so I can use it, night blindness, lack of depth perception, glaring bright lights, and sometimes if I close my eyes I see things like a projector on my eyelids, that's memory I think. It was distressing to read shes forgotten what she looks like
 

That's the same for me I had gestational diabetes which went away after the birth and then was diagnosed 3 years later, and feel that alot of damage was caused in the time that I was undiagnosed which is the motivation for me to stay on track with this.
 
I've recently had two sessions of laser on my right eye. It's scared the absolute bejesus out of me if I'm honest. For the last 4 weeks I've been a model diabetic - completely turned over a new leaf. You read and hear about all these complications, but don't think (even with a more relaxed approach to diabetes management) that they'll affect you - I'm only 31.
You only get one shot, so don't waste it!
 
Such a sad story to read and what an absolute brave lady to tell it as it is
 

I tell you what something rang true when i saw my GP as a young teenager, i came out of the surgery depressed after seeing him. I had the run down on a few ocassions of the damage it would do to all of my organs. I think it was his kind of hard approach that has made me in the long run keep relatively good control, and no complications to date after 27 years.

She's not unsual in terms of drinking, partying, smoking. Been there, done that, but i still respected my condition. I might of had a few hypos and thrown up when drinking 10 pints of beer and liquor shots, but that is far preferrable to blindness and kidney disease. I mean you still gotta be careful of hypos as they'll give you a heart attack during the night if not carefully gauging things.

Your doctors have a certain responsibility to you, but from my experience it is very hard to thoroughly educate people with diabetes in a 15 minute meeting with the doc. I'm 99% responsible for my health not the doc.

So we must respect our body because that is our temple.
 
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