Hi
@gemma_T1 I thought the following excerpt taken from the book I'm holding, slightly adapted, might interest you:
Throughout my life I have had my own thoughts about why my immune system attacked my pancreas fifty years ago [written in 2009], since diabetes appears nowhere in the last three generations of my family tree, and to ascertain all the causes of death before that would be problematic. However, up until 2nd September 2009, the prevailing opinion was that I had inherited diabetes. On that date I received a letter from [a] Locum Consultant in Medical Genetics, Addenbrooke's Hospital, stating “...I am pleased to report that no gene fault has been identified. Therefore, all the tests to date do not support a diagnosis of a genetic form of permanent neonatal diabetes mellitus in you.”
It is currently agreed that diabetes may be initiated by a virus or trauma, especially in a patient with a genetic predisposition. I have always leaned to the latter category of trauma. Two events occurred only days before my diagnosis. My mother used to tell me that she had left me in the pram outside Shoreham-by-Sea post office while she popped in to buy some stamps. When she came out, there was a large Alsatian barking into the hood of the pram. The other event has taken on more significance in my mind. My mother had taken Giles and me down to the beach, where I was stung in quick succession, seven times, by wasps. She picked me up and dunked me in the sea in order to calm the swellings and alleviate the pain. Clearly I have no memory of either event, but my subconscious has blamed the wasps. Although many doctors have disagreed with me, I think it is possible that wasp stings could easily have caused my immune system to go into overdrive, whether it be the result of shock or of a sudden rush of histamines. My suspicions have been strengthened over the years.
Until recently I used to have recurrent nightmares which would take on a common theme in maybe different surroundings. A typical example would be as follows: I would be locked in, alone, in one of the cavernous state rooms of The Brighton Pavilion, or similar building, with no item of furniture nor potential weaponry in the room. Suddenly a wasp flies in through the keyhole and as it flies towards me it dramatically increases in size until its face is as large as mine, whereupon it says “You won't get away!” Helen's [my wife] stepmother Veronika, who is interested in dreams, suggested that the wasp represents my fear of the needle and that its message conveys that I have diabetes for life. Interesting thought. In addition, I have had an extreme phobia of wasps all my life. This has resulted in some amusing incidents at times. In 1980, Helen, Johanna and I went Interrailing around Europe and found ourselves with the superb mountain framed bay at Kephalonia completely ours. As so often happened on these trips, food and drink was on a minimal budget. We sat on the beach with a large Greek loaf, some margeriney spread, honey and sardines. I had made myself an open fish sandwich and as a result attracted two marauding wasps. The girls were highly amused to witness a trunk- bedecked “man” sprint down into the sea with his hand, complete with sandwich, visible above the water like a submarine periscope. Gingerly I resurfaced and completed my lunch in the water.
My daughter Steph, who is now 33 and has a six-year old daughter, was diagnosed coeliac in her late teens, having had an anaphylactic shock on arrival at Sydney. some years later a female doctor in Canada suggested that Type 1 diabetics could cause Coeliac disease in their offspring. Steph's response was "Now I know who to blame!", all said in good humour. I can say that my maternal grandmother suffered from acute rheumatoid arthritis for at least 20 years, my father had bad asthma and hayfever, my sister has succumbed to rheumatoid arthritis in the last 10 years, Steph's maternal grandfather's side are asthmatic and so the poor girl didn't stand much chance when it came to auto-immune problems. I was the only one to be dealt with Type 1 (1959-2013). I thoroughly agree with your great and encouragingly positive post. The best of luck with your eyesight especially, let alone any other wolves at the door.