HI im sandy and im diabetic, got a bit of a ring to it hasn't it, it all started 12 yrs ago i was on holiday in the Dom rep and felt unwell, rather than seeking medical advice i carried on till on the last day of the holiday by that i was feeling absolutely ill.
I made it with my wife to the airport lounge where i took up the prone supported position on the floor and had a nap (passed out) ,a fellow passenger a nursing sister and a type 1 diabetic took a blood test from me its first reading was 33 the next was simpler it was just HI.
I awoke and struggled onto the plane ,thinking UK in 10 hrs no problems, and settled down for a nap(passed out again)i awoke about an hour later and decided that the seat wasn't the best place for me and thought the floor of the plane was best for my needs,so i got down on the floor and the last thing i could remember was a tannoy for a doctor nurse or para medic.
i awoke some three days later in east surrey hospital, where i had been given outstanding medical treatment by the receiving diabetic specialist team. i was given a diagnosis of keto acidosis put on insulin and returned back to Scotland unsure and totally confused as to what happened to me.
despite having being diagnosed type1, i had the appearance of a type 2 ie 17 stone beer monster who could eat a small cow at one sitting plus a kebab shop for dessert. thus began 12 yrs of weight gain and ever larger doses of insulin till i was on a basal of 86 units of hypurin isophane x 2 daily and 15 units of novo rapid per meal approx .
my weight went to 177 kg , my body was as they say a temple,yup a ruined one in a terrible state ,i had skin cancer ,cataracts ,my joints were shot , autonomic and peripheral neuropathy ,no bowel or bladder control lack of feeling in the feet ,tinnitus and deafness, and no sense of smell, but thankfully no depression and still a sense of humour.
Over the years my faith in the specialist diabetic consultant dwindled till i got to the stage i would seek medical advice from some one who read a chickens entrails rather than speak to him. IN august i met with a new consultant who was young and enthusiastic about this disease and in order to reduce the night time hypos he asked me to cut the basal by 6 units and see what happened, the short answer was nothing ,but i began to look for the original discharge papers from east surrey hospital and found i was on 30 units of basal, so i began to cut back on it and at present im on 20 units x2 daily hoping to get down to about 28, i also met a wee dietitian sister who is dafne trained who has introduced me to carb counting and my weight is slowly coming down (12 lbs since august) with no external diet or exercise, i now believe there is light at the end of the tunnel.
I made it with my wife to the airport lounge where i took up the prone supported position on the floor and had a nap (passed out) ,a fellow passenger a nursing sister and a type 1 diabetic took a blood test from me its first reading was 33 the next was simpler it was just HI.
I awoke and struggled onto the plane ,thinking UK in 10 hrs no problems, and settled down for a nap(passed out again)i awoke about an hour later and decided that the seat wasn't the best place for me and thought the floor of the plane was best for my needs,so i got down on the floor and the last thing i could remember was a tannoy for a doctor nurse or para medic.
i awoke some three days later in east surrey hospital, where i had been given outstanding medical treatment by the receiving diabetic specialist team. i was given a diagnosis of keto acidosis put on insulin and returned back to Scotland unsure and totally confused as to what happened to me.
despite having being diagnosed type1, i had the appearance of a type 2 ie 17 stone beer monster who could eat a small cow at one sitting plus a kebab shop for dessert. thus began 12 yrs of weight gain and ever larger doses of insulin till i was on a basal of 86 units of hypurin isophane x 2 daily and 15 units of novo rapid per meal approx .
my weight went to 177 kg , my body was as they say a temple,yup a ruined one in a terrible state ,i had skin cancer ,cataracts ,my joints were shot , autonomic and peripheral neuropathy ,no bowel or bladder control lack of feeling in the feet ,tinnitus and deafness, and no sense of smell, but thankfully no depression and still a sense of humour.
Over the years my faith in the specialist diabetic consultant dwindled till i got to the stage i would seek medical advice from some one who read a chickens entrails rather than speak to him. IN august i met with a new consultant who was young and enthusiastic about this disease and in order to reduce the night time hypos he asked me to cut the basal by 6 units and see what happened, the short answer was nothing ,but i began to look for the original discharge papers from east surrey hospital and found i was on 30 units of basal, so i began to cut back on it and at present im on 20 units x2 daily hoping to get down to about 28, i also met a wee dietitian sister who is dafne trained who has introduced me to carb counting and my weight is slowly coming down (12 lbs since august) with no external diet or exercise, i now believe there is light at the end of the tunnel.
