Newly diagnosed

[allison_keith]

Hi All,
here is my tale of woe.
It all started with a heart attack in November 2012. Unfortunately I worked as a HGV driver and was just under a year into a new employer.
Well 3 stents fitted and 6 weeks later I returned to work, but not driving as my doctor would not sign me fit until I had a test.
To cut a long story short had 6 weeks on ssp ?71 per week then 6 months on reduced pay as performing light duties losing 1/2 to 1/3 of my previous salary.
Failed the "stress echo test" as a minor blockage still remains in an artery near my heart. Lost my licence and job. Still managed to find another but not what I wanted (office bound).
Then started to feel ill,the usual no energy, excessive thirst, frequent visits to the toilet, short attention span, tiredness, and blurred vision, no interest in anything at all, and asleep 10 minutes after coming home. I put it down to heart drugs and getting older, but I must admit it was extreme. After 4 hours at work I could not concentrate at all it was an effort just to get up and walk to the toilet. I have never felt so utterly shattered.
Didn't recognise the symptoms even though my father had been diabetic.
Anyway once again lost my job as I failed the trial period, and booked an appointment with GP. He thought I was depressed. But will just do a blood test to check. Lo and behold a fasting test resulted in a reading of over 20 mmol.
Diagnosis - type 2 diabetic,but treatment is insulin injections twice a day, and monitor 5 times.
Currently on sickness benefit as the Jobcentre said I am not entitled to unemployment benefit as I was self employed 2010 and didn't pay the correct NI contributions that one year.
So it's sell the house to pay the debts, take my pension early and downsize to live cheaper.
The good news is I am starting to feel better, but DVLA now want to restrict my licence to 3 years and remove my 7.5 tonne entitlement, which I can only get back if I can pass the HGV medical, which I can't.
I really should be depressed but it's not in my nature. LOL
Now where's that freestyle blood tester gone!!!!!!!!!
I will sort this eating and injecting thing, and see what life brings.🙂🙂

 

[Northerner]

Hi Allison, welcome to the forum 🙂 I'm truly sorry to hear all that you have been through, it must be such a difficult time for you How are things now with your blood sugar levels? It sounds like things are starting to come under control if you are beginning to feel better. Which insulin are you on?

I don't know how much you have been told, but knowledge is power as far as diabetes is concerned - the more you understand, the easier it becomes to feel in control and get those levels into a decent range. I would highly recommend reading Jennifer's Advice and Maggie Davey's letter and getting hold of a copy of the invaluable Type 2 Diabetes: The First Year by Gretchen Becker. These will all give you a good grounding in what to expect and how to tackle it. Please ask any questions you may have - there are lots of very friendly and knowledgeable people here who will be happy to help out - no question is considered silly!

I look forward to hearing more from you, and hope that your fortunes are now changing for the better 🙂

 

[allison_keith]

Hi Northerner,
Thanks for the support and I will read the books. It is still early days for me. I am using humalog mix 25. and injecting 2 times a day. Started early july on 10 units and monitered as necessary. Now finding circa 26/24 units to work a bit better giving me 7.3, 5.7 ,7.0 ,8.8 a couple of days ago, but often see 8.1, 6.0, 13.6,14.7 yesterday, however 6.9 was this mornings reading.
Still need to sort the diet out. When I eat regularly and sensibly don,t get the spikes, but a little lapse rockets the readings into the mid teens.
Only had a couple of chats with my diabetic specialist nurse so far and am waiting to see the dietary adviser.
Reading all I can and learning little by little. "One day at a time" is the motto.
My partner does think I have had a personality transplant though. LOL

 

[Northerner]

Hi Northerner,
Thanks for the support and I will read the books. It is still early days for me. I am using humalog mix 25. and injecting 2 times a day. Started early july on 10 units and monitered as necessary. Now finding circa 26/24 units to work a bit better giving me 7.3, 5.7 ,7.0 ,8.8 a couple of days ago, but often see 8.1, 6.0, 13.6,14.7 yesterday, however 6.9 was this mornings reading.
Still need to sort the diet out. When I eat regularly and sensibly don,t get the spikes, but a little lapse rockets the readings into the mid teens.
Only had a couple of chats with my diabetic specialist nurse so far and am waiting to see the dietary adviser.
Reading all I can and learning little by little. "One day at a time" is the motto.
My partner does think I have had a personality transplant though. LOL

Diabetes can throw in the odd 'eh?' once in a while and it's difficult to keep on top of it all the time, especially with the demands of a mix, but it sounds like you are doing pretty well overall 🙂 Something I would recommend, if you are not already familiar with it, is the GI/GL diet. It's not a weight loss diet, but a way of selecting and combining foods so that they release their energy slowly and steadily - The GL Diet for Dummies is a good introduction 🙂

As you say, one day at a time - there is a lot to learn and consider, so try not to become overwhelmed by it all and allow yourself the occasional indulgence, you're only human! 🙂 Have you had any diabetes education courses recommended?

 

[cherrycake]

Hi Allison and welcome! I'm so sorry to hear about all the difficulties that you're going through.
I'm new to forums too and only joined this site yesterday and I'm pretty sure we'll get lots of support and advice from these good folks.

 

[trophywench]

Hiya - are you actually Allison, or Keith ? LOL

What about going for a C1 to enable you to drive 3.5 to 7.5 tonnes? I'm not 100% sure but is the medical quite as stringent as the HGV? If you could get that, at least you could big-van-drive.

And don't worry about the 3 years licence, it's nothing personal - everyone on insulin. If it's 'personal' (like you've had diabetes related problems) they can restrict it to 1 or 2 years - the rest of us get max 3 yr ones and that's that.

The only good thing about it is, when your 10 year photo licence is up and needs renewing, all it costs us is the new photos.

 

[pav]

It seams that DVLA take the C1 category licence off a few people when they report a medical condition.

They took my C1 off me a good few years ago, and put me on an annual licence renewal. Depending on the illness / medical condition DVLA will in conjunction with the DVLA medical panel will decide on what to restrict your licence renewal to.

For diabetics on insulin as already stated its a maximum of 3 years.

 

[allison_keith]

Dvla

Hi again,
It is Keith by the way, but I do answer to lots of other names, not all repeatable here.
I suppose I did take it personally the 3 years and loss of the C1 licence. The main problem is now that the C1 is seen as a vocational licence I need to not only pass the diabetes criteria but will not be able to regain it as I cannot pass the "treadmill test" needed after the heart problems.
I had hoped to find a nice little job driving 7.5 tonne lorries with not much money but not much stress either. Don't know what I will do now. Vans are usually multi drop and stressful for a 55 year old.
Still I will cross that bridge when I come to it.
Thanks for the kind words and support. Keith

 

[trophywench]

Well really Keith, you would have had to rethink your career anyway cos of the heart thing wouldn't you? The D hasn't made any difference !

What are your transferable skills? Are you good with children? Animals? Old people? Books? Adding up?

If you rummage round the internet for 'Psychometric Testing for employment' you'll find various free questionnaires you can complete, submit and they tell you what the results show you'd be good at.

I'm not saying they'd be 100% right about it, but if it came up with a few things you'd never thought of doing and might think, Oh, I could do that ! and give you a few new ideas.