How diabetes is my superpower, too!
I WAs interested to read Grantchester actor James Norton’s account of living with diabetes (Good Heath), describing it as his superpower. I have been a type 1 diabetic for 39 years and have found this condition to be unpredictable: some days, my sugars are high and I need to increase my dose of insulin, and on other days they will be low and I have to stuff my face. I have found it doesn’t help to get excited about your blood test results. I don’t think the long-term blood glucose level tests tell you much, unless you spend your life sitting on a chair worrying about how long you’ll live! like James, I lost a lot of weight before my diagnosis — five stone. I was cycling seven miles to work each day and working long hours. When I eventually collapsed, putting my head through the bathroom window in the process, I certainly needed recovery time. All those years ago there were no home blood tests: only a chemical process to test urine with test tubes and colour-changing tablets. The blood testing machine in hospital was a huge thing requiring two technicians to operate. It was some years before blood test strips became available so you could do it at home. I have had two hypos in the night, awakening surrounded by paramedics and not knowing what had happened. I can see how easy it would be to die in this situation as I felt so peaceful. I walk everywhere: my daily step count rarely goes below 10,000 and is sometimes three times that. When I go for my yearly check-up at the hospital, the expressions on the faces of many people in the waiting room say: ‘This is the end.’ We must change the attitude toward type 1 diabetes, not least because there are destined to be so many of us with it.
DAVE TUTT, Chatham, Kent. JUST before Christmas, I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, borderline type 1, as my glucose levels were so high. like James Norton, I had started losing weight after gaining quite a bit earlier last year. By the time I was diagnosed, I had lost almost a stone and a half. I was always thirsty, tired and visiting the loo. It has been a shock and I haven’t always found the situation easy to deal with. It is easy to lose confidence, wondering if my blood glucose might get too high or low. I have had negative reactions from people, such as commiserating or seeming surprised. Diabetes is in my family, but I never thought I would get it, even though I think I had minor symptoms going back decades. The year before last was traumatic, which could have triggered the condition. James’s down-to-earth and positive outlook was uplifting. I like the way he refers to diabetes as making someone a little bit different. It was interesting to read about the glucose monitors that Theresa may and James use. It remains to be seen if these more sophisticated monitoring systems will be freely available on the NHs. If Theresa may can be prime minister and James Norton an accomplished and sought-after actor, they are proof that diabetics can do anything!
SUSAN EGGLETON, Harlow, essex.