Hi All
So as the subject states I am on a new adventure with T1D. This is my story.
I am a South African living in the Netherlands for the last couple of years and at the age of 42 I have been diagnosed with T1D in January of 2021.
I can honestly say it has been a ride since learning and soaking up all the information.
Personally I took the news ok, what can you do... you need to adapt to survive. I am easy going and usually quickly to adapt to new situations which was good in this scenario. My wife on the other hand took the news not that good. Hopefully with all the information and support given to her she understands it is not a death sentence. With all the advancements in medicine and technology today (I am very lucky in a sense we have direct access to sensors etc. via our medical aid and she can also directly monitor with the available apps etc.) you still can have a very good life ahead.
So stepping back and looking where this all started with me. Couple of years ago I got some trouble with my thyroid (hyperthyroidism) which was treated (Graves disease) and via chronic medication is handled on a daily basis which is quite "normal" these days.
Fast forward few years to 2020 when lockdown and WFH situations was and is the norm, I started to lose weight. I also got more hungry, more thirsty and all of the associated warning signs (hindsight is a *****) but took for granted my thyroid was the issue. We started monitoring on a 6-8 week basis adjust thyroid treatment. I only got worse, started losing muscle and weight (15kg in total), energy etc.
6 months later I could not take it anymore, I felt if I was about to have a heart attack. My work did not help as it was a stressful time. Went to the doctor and got some more blood tests done.
Sitting in the car the same afternoon on our merry way to do grocery shopping I get a call from doctor office: "We think you should come directly to the office, you have been diagnosed " ......... boooom, life altering moment.
Get to the office and things are rushing at 100 miles per hour. Prick finger and result ...27.8mmol (500mg/dl) At the time this meant absolutely nothing to me, again looking back..... what in the actual ......
If I think about it now I was probably very close to DKA or even coma on multiple occasions.
Fast forward to present, I am currently sitting here thinking about my next injection (fast and long), trying to manage my levels on a daily basis to my best efforts. I know I will have up's and down's but we will tackle it when we get to those situations.
So for anyone new to this, you are not alone... there is a great community waiting to support you.
(small mod edit for language)
So as the subject states I am on a new adventure with T1D. This is my story.
I am a South African living in the Netherlands for the last couple of years and at the age of 42 I have been diagnosed with T1D in January of 2021.
I can honestly say it has been a ride since learning and soaking up all the information.
Personally I took the news ok, what can you do... you need to adapt to survive. I am easy going and usually quickly to adapt to new situations which was good in this scenario. My wife on the other hand took the news not that good. Hopefully with all the information and support given to her she understands it is not a death sentence. With all the advancements in medicine and technology today (I am very lucky in a sense we have direct access to sensors etc. via our medical aid and she can also directly monitor with the available apps etc.) you still can have a very good life ahead.
So stepping back and looking where this all started with me. Couple of years ago I got some trouble with my thyroid (hyperthyroidism) which was treated (Graves disease) and via chronic medication is handled on a daily basis which is quite "normal" these days.
Fast forward few years to 2020 when lockdown and WFH situations was and is the norm, I started to lose weight. I also got more hungry, more thirsty and all of the associated warning signs (hindsight is a *****) but took for granted my thyroid was the issue. We started monitoring on a 6-8 week basis adjust thyroid treatment. I only got worse, started losing muscle and weight (15kg in total), energy etc.
6 months later I could not take it anymore, I felt if I was about to have a heart attack. My work did not help as it was a stressful time. Went to the doctor and got some more blood tests done.
Sitting in the car the same afternoon on our merry way to do grocery shopping I get a call from doctor office: "We think you should come directly to the office, you have been diagnosed " ......... boooom, life altering moment.
Get to the office and things are rushing at 100 miles per hour. Prick finger and result ...27.8mmol (500mg/dl) At the time this meant absolutely nothing to me, again looking back..... what in the actual ......
If I think about it now I was probably very close to DKA or even coma on multiple occasions.
Fast forward to present, I am currently sitting here thinking about my next injection (fast and long), trying to manage my levels on a daily basis to my best efforts. I know I will have up's and down's but we will tackle it when we get to those situations.
So for anyone new to this, you are not alone... there is a great community waiting to support you.
(small mod edit for language)
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