Hi Kerry,
Sorry to hear about your Mum. My Dad passed away when I was 14 and that triggered me into not looking after myself for years. I'm 23 now, I have a good job, a good boyfriend, good friends and my diabetes is improving.
With driving, the DVLA do ask that you bloodtest before driving and you need to have regular checks for diabetes and for your eyesight, best thing you can do is arrange an appointment with your GP or diabetic clinic and have a check up, for most people it's a once a year appointment and for most people it really helps and you can keep track of your progress (hba1c, lipads etc). I have a licence from the DVLA for 3 years at a time, I started learning to drive last year and passed my test in about 6 months, all I need to do now is every 3 years fill out the medical form from the DVLA regarding hypos and when I last saw a doctor / DSN regarding my diabetes.
Best of luck!