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Theresa May and her "shocking disease"

Janiept said:
RRB makes a good point and being judgmental about Theresa May and her fortunate financial situation is pointless.
What this does is to give each articulate forum member the opportunity to write to Ms May and their local MP and point out the inadequacies of the current system and how we are affected by it.

We are all in this together and enough voices speaking loudly enough may bring positive change.
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A very good post janiept, thank you :thumbup:

Best wishes RRB
 
Re: Theresa May and her "shocking disease"

RRB, I was simply highlighting a potential problem, obviously I wish Ms May no ill. However, we've already seen the meeja mis-interpret her words and start with a misleading headline. I fear that those in a priviliged position can make conditions appear somewhat easy and affect public perception.

I remember after diagnosis my dad helpfully telling me "Gary Mabbut had diabetes" to which I replied "I'm not sure its likely to improve my football"...


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
The Home Secretary's email address is:

[email protected]

I have written a polite note to her asking her to get involved and raise the profile of Diabetes care (good and bad) and that joining this forum would be a fine start.

One or two of you might consider doing something similar.
 
Neil Walters said:
The Home Secretary's email address is:

[email protected]

I have written a polite note to her asking her to get involved and raise the profile of Diabetes care (good and bad) and that joining this forum would be a fine start.

One or two of you might consider doing something similar.
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Home Secretary

I was interested to hear that you have recently been diagnosed with Diabetes.

There is a forum for fellow diabetes sufferers, their friends and families which provides a great support network to those who are recently diagnosed and those who have suffered from the condition for many years. You will find that there are a broad variety of experiences of the level of quality in diabetes care within in the UK, much of it very good, but sadly like with many things, lots of it very poor too.

The forum can be found at www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes-forum/

The diabetic community very much need a voice and to have a prominent and well respected politician such as yourself a fellow sufferer presents an opportunity to improve that voice to fight for better diabetes care for all, but particularly for those who do not have the means to fund their care themselves.

A simple example is the availability of test strips on prescription - these strips are vital in maintaining close control of blood sugar levels but are no longer freely available. I am one of the lucky ones and I receive about half of the number that I need on prescription and fund the remainder myself which costs me in the order of £100pcm - I am fortunate that I am well paid so I am able to fund this and am entirely happy that I should do so.

However, many many fellow sufferers are not as fortunate as myself or you and they are unable to afford such expense. This leads to reduced monitoring and the consequence of poorer blood sugar control. In turn this will almost certainly lead to diabetic related complications for some of these patients in due course.

The policy being followed to make test strips unavailable should be changed as it is short sighted and above all else is prejudicial to their rights as equal citizens - why should I because I am well paid, be able to have access to test strips when others who are less fortunate are not? - it is simply inequitable and needs to be changed.

Please join our forum and engage with people who need your help to raise the profile of their condition in a more positive way than has been the case hitherto.

Yours sincerely
 
Sounds like a good idea to invite the lady in, but I was pretty disgusted by the sensationalism of the headline. There's no need to describe diabetes as a shocking disease. We've all lived with it for too long to believe that.
 
etmsreec said:
Sounds like a good idea to invite the lady in, but I was pretty disgusted by the sensationalism of the headline. There's no need to describe diabetes as a shocking disease. We've all lived with it for too long to believe that.
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I could not agree more but that was more the Daily Mail than the phrase she was quoted as giving...
 
but the emotional worries and stress cannot be shrugged off so easy
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Yes, I thoroughly agree. I was about the same age as Theresa May when I was diagnosed and I was absolutely shell shocked. It was a huge change. Like her I was motivated not to let it stop me, and it hasn't but it was a big learning curve.
 
My thoughts are she was just setting the record straight rather than looking for sympathy or trying to sensationalise her condition, if you read the story in the Mail and elsewhere you will see that the talk was she was losing weight to challenge Cameron for the leadership of the Conservative Party, by saying what she did she has silenced those who thought that was her ultimate aim.

To succeed in a male-dominated world such as Politics you have to have courage and determination........so I'm sure she'll manage just fine with coping with diabetes, how she is treated is nobody's business IMHO.
 
Neil Walters said:
The Home Secretary's email address is:

[email protected]

I have written a polite note to her asking her to get involved and raise the profile of Diabetes care (good and bad) and that joining this forum would be a fine start.

One or two of you might consider doing something similar.
Click to expand...
That's a good idea Neil, but I will leave it for a week or two as she is newly diagnosed and probably needs a bit of peace from the bombardment of the media regarding her condition, I think I would.

Best wishes RRB
 
Re: Theresa May and her "shocking disease"

I actually already posted in a different thread the other week saying how I had already written to Theresa May and to Jeremy Hunt regarding issues that could and should be changed in the UK to help diabetes sufferers...something I have really struggled with since diagnosis.

viewtopic.php?p=409389#p409389

I think that's it there


Diagnosed with GD in 2010, Completely disappeared postpartum. Re-diagnosed December 2012 with type 1.5 diabetes, age 26, BMI 23 currently controlled by only Metformin, 500mg twice a day.
 
well well, hope Theresa May and her shocking disease. dont jump the que, with better treatment than all of us,just wonder how many modifications and carers, have been recruted. JUST FOR HER !
 
wiflib said:
T1 at her age? Is that even possible? Wouldn't she be a T2, MODY or LADA?
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Reading the report my interpretation was that it sounded more like T1.5 (LADA). But the reporters were unaware of anything other than T1 & T2. Never mind that diabetes is better described as a "syndrome" rather than a "disease".
 
the_anticarb said:
wiflib said:
T1 at her age? Is that even possible? Wouldn't she be a T2, MODY or LADA?
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MODY stands for maturity onset diabetes of the young. IUsually strikes in adolescence. Rare after 25.
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Because it was originally thought to be T2 in young people. Something which can happen. e.g. women with PCOS.
Now it's more understood to be due to certain types of mDNA. Thus can only be inherited from the mother.
Whereas the genetic factors for T2 (and T1) are nDNA. Thus can be inherited from either parent.
 
Sorry: the misquote 'disease' came originally from me: it actually said 'illness'. A stupid mistake written in the heat of the moment at the beginning of the thread. Anyway, I've been interested to hear all the ensuing discussions!
 
My management of my type 1 is down to me and me alone. If I was at top level in gvmt or not.

I have to take charge of my diet, lifestyle and dose. With or without a large salary.

So to say she has an advantage over some of us in the position she is in I would have to disagree with.

We all have to take responsability to learn our own bodys, learn about our medication and diet.

There is no one that can manage my diabeties better than I can myself.
 
Re: Theresa May and her "shocking disease"

I'm suggesting money helps, she is unlikely to be treated poorly at work etc. unlikely to not receive adequate test strips et al.

She may turn out to represent us well, not at all or badly!

Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
Re: Theresa May and her "shocking disease"

I agree with Mr. happy I think money would make a huge difference! Private healthcare, endless test strips...she cud even have a chef/cook make her meals with certain numbers of carbs in or do the carb counting for her! Money always makes a difference unfortunately! I also agree that she will have an easier time with her "employer" too as she is a public figure.


Diagnosed with GD in 2010, Completely disappeared postpartum. Re-diagnosed December 2012 with type 1.5 diabetes, age 26, BMI 23 currently controlled by only Metformin, 500mg twice a day.
 
Hi all

Sorry to respond to such an old discussion. I was diagnosed with T1 about six weeks ago.

Interestingly I remembered this story from 2013. I totally get that we all respond very differently to these kinds of stories and understand some people's anger etc. However, I just want to say that I found it a huge comfort. Bizarrely as it sounds, one of the first things I said to my nurse was 'ah that's okay - I think the Home Secretary has type 1 diabetes.' (I'm a geek, I know :-))

I'm not saying that she doesn't have some advantages but I think she equally has disadvantages. I can't imagine you can easily prick your finger at the dispatch box the way I can at my desk at work :-).

The reason I found it a comfort is that (whatever you think about the WAY she is doing her job - and I suspect that political views on this forum are as varied as they would be in society in general) it is a VERY demanding job. As far as I know, most of her critics disagree with her on decision and policies but I've never heard her criticised for a lack of hard work and energy. I was instantly comforted that this high profile example meant that my new condition didn't have to limit my horizons necessarily.

I do realise however that this is not universally true for everyone. People like Theresa May (and me) are lucky that despite the T1 we are so far otherwise healthy. Her story certainly shouldn't be used as a stick to beat others with.

Thanks

Gareth x
 
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