Red Pumper
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Hi, wasn't sure whether to post this here or not as I've already introuced myself, but it seems as good a place as any.
Since I joined the forum, I've read most of the new posts and a few of the older ones and see people going through most of what I've been through over the years. So I thought it may be a good idea to let everyone know a bit more about me in case they recognise anything that I've been through and want to ask me anything. So here goes, I hope it isn't too long:
I was diagnosed and having Type 1 diabetes when I was 9 years old back in 1979. I went into hospital for two or three days while they sorted out my insulin dose and wasn't allowed home until I could inject myself and my parents had also done an injection.
Initially I was on one injection a day which soon moved to two.
I went through my last year at primary school and my time at secondary school really just getting on with it, testing my BG with the old BM sticks and old style lancets (which really hurt). The diabetes never really stopped me from doing anything as a child but I recognise the issues with testing and hypos that Parents have been posting about. My control was generally good but I did have a couple of debilitating hypos at school when the staff didn't really know how to treat it.
I left school and discovered alcohol and nights out. I just carried on with the same routine of two injections a day, testing now and again but nowhere near as often as I should have. Through my late teens and twenties, I neglected control of my diabetes, probably ran my BG too high most of the time. My health didn't seem to suffer (or so I thought) and apart from a couple of hypos at work (where I actually passed out and needed the attendance of an ambulance) the diabetes didn't really cause any problems.
Then I hit my thirties and this is when my bad control through my teens and twenties caught up with me.
The HbA1C test had just been introduced and my first result was above 9. I was called to see the diabetes consultant, was given an insulin pen and moved onto four injections a day, I also had to see the DSN every month or so to try to improve my control. I managed to get my HbA1C down to around 7.5 but no lower.
In around 2003 I had a small bleed in one of my eyes but the opthalmologist couldn't see anything wrong. About a year later I had another, much larger bleed. This time the opthalmologist said that I had developed proliferative retinopathy and they started laser treatment. Over the next three or four years, I had numerous bleeds, some of them quite bad but luckily never in both eyes at the same time. I've had approximately 4000 lasers to each eye to try to control the growth of the new blood vessels. Since the latter half of 2007, I have had no bleeds and things seem to have settled down. To the extent that I now go the see the opthalmologist every six months instead of every three months. I can no longer drive as the laser treatment has affected my field of vision to the extent that I failed the DVLA test, mys vision is also quite poor in low light.
In the meantime I have really struggled to get my diabetes under control. I tried various insulins, including the new Lantus and Levemir, Until very recently I was on five injections per day - four humalog and two lantus.
The last three weeks have been the best three weeks of my diabetes life since my schooldays. I started using an insluin pump on 10 February. I spent three days visting the DSN to set up the pump and check my initial dosage etc. and I've also been back for two further follow up visits.
Although I'm still in the stage of getting the basal and boluses worked out, it has been a brilliant three weeks. I can count the number of BG readings of above 10 on the fingers of one hand and the vast majority of my readings have been in the 4-7 range. I've had to treat quite a few hypos as my basal rate is still a little high but so far it's been great.
I now have lots more energy and I've lost about 6 lbs.
My apologies if I've gone on a bit but thought it may be worth sharing what I've been through in case anyone else is going through the same things and needs to talk.
It's a long time ago now but if any parents out there want to know what it's like from a child's perspective, just give me a shout.
Thanks for reading,
Keith.
Since I joined the forum, I've read most of the new posts and a few of the older ones and see people going through most of what I've been through over the years. So I thought it may be a good idea to let everyone know a bit more about me in case they recognise anything that I've been through and want to ask me anything. So here goes, I hope it isn't too long:
I was diagnosed and having Type 1 diabetes when I was 9 years old back in 1979. I went into hospital for two or three days while they sorted out my insulin dose and wasn't allowed home until I could inject myself and my parents had also done an injection.
Initially I was on one injection a day which soon moved to two.
I went through my last year at primary school and my time at secondary school really just getting on with it, testing my BG with the old BM sticks and old style lancets (which really hurt). The diabetes never really stopped me from doing anything as a child but I recognise the issues with testing and hypos that Parents have been posting about. My control was generally good but I did have a couple of debilitating hypos at school when the staff didn't really know how to treat it.
I left school and discovered alcohol and nights out. I just carried on with the same routine of two injections a day, testing now and again but nowhere near as often as I should have. Through my late teens and twenties, I neglected control of my diabetes, probably ran my BG too high most of the time. My health didn't seem to suffer (or so I thought) and apart from a couple of hypos at work (where I actually passed out and needed the attendance of an ambulance) the diabetes didn't really cause any problems.
Then I hit my thirties and this is when my bad control through my teens and twenties caught up with me.
The HbA1C test had just been introduced and my first result was above 9. I was called to see the diabetes consultant, was given an insulin pen and moved onto four injections a day, I also had to see the DSN every month or so to try to improve my control. I managed to get my HbA1C down to around 7.5 but no lower.
In around 2003 I had a small bleed in one of my eyes but the opthalmologist couldn't see anything wrong. About a year later I had another, much larger bleed. This time the opthalmologist said that I had developed proliferative retinopathy and they started laser treatment. Over the next three or four years, I had numerous bleeds, some of them quite bad but luckily never in both eyes at the same time. I've had approximately 4000 lasers to each eye to try to control the growth of the new blood vessels. Since the latter half of 2007, I have had no bleeds and things seem to have settled down. To the extent that I now go the see the opthalmologist every six months instead of every three months. I can no longer drive as the laser treatment has affected my field of vision to the extent that I failed the DVLA test, mys vision is also quite poor in low light.
In the meantime I have really struggled to get my diabetes under control. I tried various insulins, including the new Lantus and Levemir, Until very recently I was on five injections per day - four humalog and two lantus.
The last three weeks have been the best three weeks of my diabetes life since my schooldays. I started using an insluin pump on 10 February. I spent three days visting the DSN to set up the pump and check my initial dosage etc. and I've also been back for two further follow up visits.
Although I'm still in the stage of getting the basal and boluses worked out, it has been a brilliant three weeks. I can count the number of BG readings of above 10 on the fingers of one hand and the vast majority of my readings have been in the 4-7 range. I've had to treat quite a few hypos as my basal rate is still a little high but so far it's been great.
I now have lots more energy and I've lost about 6 lbs.
My apologies if I've gone on a bit but thought it may be worth sharing what I've been through in case anyone else is going through the same things and needs to talk.
It's a long time ago now but if any parents out there want to know what it's like from a child's perspective, just give me a shout.
Thanks for reading,
Keith.
