Diabetes does kill

orangeballoon · Nov 24, 2010

Hi Ellen,

I am so sorry to hear of your lost. It is very brave to share the tale of your loss here and I hope that many will read and learn from it. My thoughts go out to you and your children.

x x

Gavinr01 · Jan 25, 2011

Hi Ellen,

I have nothing but heartfelt condolences for you and your family.

I am reading this forum for the first time after being diagnosed at the age of 26 with Type 1 last Thursday i have been prescribed with Levemir and Novo Rapid

If it is any consolation your post has done some good to me it has opened my eyes! I suppose you could say that 10 days after being diagnosed I am still very much in denial and up to reading your post intended to carry on as normal, a major factor in being normal for me is drinking at weekends sometimes for prolonged periods i am going to find it really hard to change this.

I’m still really confused as to what I can/cant do but i can tell you is that your post has really hit home if it is a tiny bit of consolation

Kindest Regards

Gavin

daisy1 · Jan 25, 2011

Hi Gavin and welcome to the forum Have a good read around and ask any questions you want. Here is some basic information for newly diagnosed diabetics which should be useful to you:

Here is the advice we usually give to newly diagnosed diabetics. We hope that these few ideas gained through experience help you to gain control and give you some understanding of Diabetes. This forum doesn't always follow the recommended dietary advice, you have to work out what works for you as we are all different.

It's not just 'sugars' you need to avoid, diabetes is an inability to process glucose properly. Carbohydrate converts, in the body, to glucose. So it makes sense to reduce the amount of carbohydrate that you eat which includes sugars.

This is NOT a low carb diet suggestion, just a reduction in your intake of carbohydrate. You have to decide yourself how much of a reduction will keep your blood glucose levels in control.

The main carbs to avoid OR reduce are the complex or starchy carbohydrates such as bread, potatoes, pasta, rice, starchy root veg and also any flour based products. The starchy carbs all convert 100% to glucose in the body and raise the blood sugar levels significantly.

If you are on Insulin you may find that reducing the carb intake also means that you can reduce your dose of insulin. This can help you to keep weight gain down as Insulin tends to make you put on weight and eventually cause insulin resistance. This should be done slowly so as not to cause hypos.

The way to find out how different foods affect you is to do regular daily testing and keep a food diary for a couple of weeks. If you test just before eating, then two hours after eating, you will see the effect of certain foods on your blood glucose levels. Some foods, which are slow acting carbohydrates, are absorbed more slowly so you may need to test three or even four hours later to see the effect that these have on your blood glucose levels.

Buy yourself a carb counter book (you can get these on-line) and you will be able to work out how much carbs you are eating, when you test, the reading two hours after should be roughly the same as the before eating reading, if it is then that meal was fine, if it isn’t then you need to check what you have eaten and think about reducing the portion size of carbs.

When you are buying products check the total carbohydrate content, this includes the sugar content. Do not just go by the amount of sugar on the packaging as this is misleading to a diabetic.

As for a tester, try asking the nurse/doctor and explain that you want to be proactive in managing your own diabetes and therefore need to test so that you can see just how foods affect your blood sugar levels. Hopefully this will work ! Sometimes they are not keen to give Type 2’s the strips on prescription, (in the UK) but you can but try!!

If you are an Insulin user in theory you should have no problem getting test strips.

The latest 2010 NICE guidelines for Bg levels are as follows:
Fasting (waking).......between 4 - 7 mmol/l........(Type 1 & 2)
2 hrs after meals......no more than 8.5 mmol/l.....( Type 2)

2hrs after meals....... no more than 9 mmol/l ......(Type 1)

If you are able to keep the post meal numbers lower, so much the better.

It also helps if you can do 30 minutes moderate exercise a day. It doesn't have to be strenuous.

The above is just general advice and it is recommended that you discuss with your HCP before making any changes. You can also ask questions on the forum on anything that is not clear.

Sue/Ken.

Bertie · Jan 28, 2011

At such a difficult time it must have been hard to share your thoughts with us all, and I hope you have been able to take comfort in the comments.

I have found that true friends don't judge any situation and are there for you, as I'm sure you will have been there for them. If people are not supportive and sympathetic to you or your family, they are not the people you need to be spending time with.

Grief affects people in different ways, you will always have your memories and know that you did all that you could. No matter how much we love someone, we are all ultimately responsibility for our own actions and decisions in life.

Sending my sincere condolences to you and your family.

SHESCOOBY · Feb 1, 2011

Hi Ellen

I cried when I read this, brought back so many memories, I am so sorry for your loss please be strong and you know you done your best.

I lost my brother in 2009 age 39 he had been a TP1 since he was 2yrs old it was very tough for him, I then found out age 12 that I was too a TP1.
However to cut along story short my Brother became a father for the 2nd time however when she was 2 she also became TP1 and my brother never really got over that and blamed himself and became very denile in himself, never looked after himself even tho me and my parents stressed to him the damage he was doing. There's only so much a family can do for a member of the family thats struggling to come to terms with what they have.
My brother died of a massive Brain Heamorage (sp) which the docs said that it was due to him not looking after himself. blood pressure, sugars up and down, all sorts of other things.
he has 6 children now youngest being 4 and the eldest being 16 :-(

I wish you and your family all my sympathy and that you will look back at the happy memories you have of your husband. He is in a better place now like my Brother is.

Take good care
Kaz
xx

Elc1112 · Mar 16, 2011

Ellen, I am so sorry to hear about your loss. Thanks for sharing your story and I really hope that it helps other people to understand just how serious this disease can be. All the beat to you and the rest of your family.

nicolelord2 · May 18, 2011

Can we treat diabetes permantely. . I heard that diabetes is never curable.

daisy1 · May 18, 2011

Hi Nicole Diaabetes is not yet curable - one day maybe? However you can keep it well under control by making sure you have the best BG levels possible. I see you are new to the forum and haven't yet seen the basic instructions from the Forum Monitors for new members. I saw also that you are already controlling how many carbs you eat. That's a very good start. If you want, you can reduce them a bit more, gradually, to a level you feel comfortable with so that you get the best levels possible. The advice in here will help you to gain good control of your diabetes.

viewtopic.php?f=20&t=17088#p155405

benedict · Jun 1, 2011

We've had a question raised about this thread.

Are people with type 1 diabetes happy for this thread to stay pinned up here?

Let me know if you have any thoughts on this one.

With many thanks
Benedict

RussG · Jun 1, 2011

I read this thread not that long after joining the forum and it makes for sad and depressing reading; I feel for Ellen's loss. But IMHO I think it's essential for this sort of story to be told. This thread shares someone's personal experiences of a tragic loss through poor diabetes care. People might not like it, but I think they should read it.

Pneu · Jun 1, 2011

benedict said:
We've had a question raised about this thread.

Are people with type 1 diabetes happy for this thread to stay pinned up here?

Let me know if you have any thoughts on this one.

With many thanks
Benedict

Yes this thread is very important...

One of the biggest issues we face is communicating to newly diagnosed type 1's (and 2's) is the long term damage that diabetes can cause especially if not well controlled.

Being a type 1 diabetic who buried their head in the sand as a teenager and then suffered some of the consequences of poor control before I go my act together all I can say is this thread outlines exactly what can happen if you don't... It is really important that people read REAL peoples accounts of this diseases so that they can understand the full consequences of the choices they make.

I can see how this thread could be upsetting or provoke some emotion.. but getting rid of the thread is just ignoring the TRUTH and that is exactly what this forum is trying to prevent.. this thread forms a vital part of peoples education.

phoenix · Jun 1, 2011

No, I've given my reasons in a pm.

iHs · Jun 1, 2011

I am the same as Phoenix on this

jopar · Jun 1, 2011

imalittlefishy · Jun 1, 2011

I think that this thread, whilst upsetting, does hit home in a way that nothing I've read does...as a young person with diabetes, it's very easy to think about complications being something that might happen in the future and not something to think about now, but the fact is that diabetes <b> can </b> kill, and that it can happen in a very short period of time. I think this is important to understand, so for what it's worth, I think the thread should stay.
xx

jopar · Jun 1, 2011

imalittlefishy said:
I think that this thread, whilst upsetting, does hit home in a way that nothing I've read does...as a young person with diabetes, it's very easy to think about complications being something that might happen in the future and not something to think about now, but the fact is that diabetes <b> can </b> kill, and that it can happen in a very short period of time. I think this is important to understand, so for what it's worth, I think the thread should stay.
xx

Yes it's a sad story but..

We know that it can kill our health care professionals do make us aware!

Here should be a place of finding solice, information and support not a place of constant doom and gloom of what our future might or might not hold..

cugila · Jun 1, 2011

People join this forum for many reasons, information, solace and support being just a few reasons. There are many posters who tell us about the successes they have had after following advice they have been given here.

I haven't noticed all that many posts of doom and gloom and in any case the few that there are such as this one from ellenvdk adds balance to those success stories. It does people no harm to know that there is a dark side to Diabetes if you don't take control of things and remain in denial.

Life isn't all sweetness and light. Its full of ups and downs. To hide that from people would be doing them a great disservice in my opinion, whether they be type 1 or 2 or any other category.

I don't want to be protected - I want the facts, however unpalatable that may be to some .......

franki · Jun 5, 2011

first post here, hi all. in answer to the question of should this still be stickied, i have to say no. my worry is that for those in denial, something like this pinned to the top of the forum will be more likely to drive people away. i opened the thread deeply annoyed that this thread was pinned. once i read the OP, i realised why it was there & have great sympathy for Ellen & her family but my point about the thread is not about the tragedy, it's about those in denial (i count myself among them to some degree, not as bad as Gerald but not 100% in control all the time) who won't even read the thread, they'll look at a forum with this at the top and leave. these are the very people who shouldn't be leaving, they should be talking to others here and getting good advice.

years ago, i unsubscribed from the BDA because of an article they published that told a story of a diabetic & contained the line "then one night they died in their sleep". that article got a stack of angry letters because the cause of death was not even explored, let alone explained. the OP isn't like that, it's a good story that we all should hear. but it probably shouldn't be the first story we hear. everyone here will link to it if they feel that someone in denial needs a wakeup call. it'll float to the top on its own often enough. i think as a sticky though, it's excessively negative to sit at the top of a forum that should be giving us hope.

just my 10ps worth as a new member. hope it's constructive to the discussion.

nigel jol · Jun 9, 2011

hi i am sorry to hear it nigel

wsmum · Jun 12, 2011

Perhaps this thread could be moved to the complications discussion board? Right now it's the first thing visitors see, whether they're newly diagnosed coming to the board for help when they're finding things tough.

Diabetes does kill

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