Shortly after the previous post, I received a phonecall from the Diabetes department at the hospital. They said that I needed to be there within half an hour as they had only just seen my referral letter and were concerned for my health. When I got there, they expected me to be much worse than I was and even had admission papers ready. Luckily I appeared to be OK, although my level was still 25 mmol/l. This began what was a very traumatic afternoon, not physically but mentally. Even though (being a scientist) I understand the mechanisms of Insulin action, I knew little about the condition. The reality I was told was that I had type I diabetes, and therefore would need to inject insulin for the rest of my life. This didn't hit me immediately as my needle phobia had well and truly taken hold. However, through the excellent support of the entire team (or so it seemed) at the diabetes clinic and my wonderful wife, I was able by the end of the afternoon to self-administer the first of probably 75,000 insulin injections I would need in my lifetime.
This is my first post on a blog. Not sure whether it will be the last, but we'll see. I'm not sure I'm keen on sharing too much via a blog. I think work is out of bounds and not sure I want to share too much family stuff, but maybe I'll use it to record certain events. Most probably I will use it to record my experiences with diabetes. I was diagnosed yesterday with Type 1 (insulin dependent) diabetes. I am terrified (probably phobic, although I think it is an overused term) of needles, and know little about diabetes. Evidently my blood glucose was 37mmol/l when a normal reading is less than 10mmol/l. I guess the writing was on the wall. I have lost weight and had great thirst even though I ate lots of stuff and drank almost throughout the day. It is going to be an interesting few weeks finding out about the condition and dealing with the inevitable hardships that may follow. I even managed to eat Weetabix this morning without sugar for the first time in my life! I'...
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