Why I'm Proud To Be A Diabetic

[Northerner]

Provocative article from the Express. Some good points, but he probably needs to read this forum to learn about how care can vary up and down the country, how some people get conflicting or even wrong advice, how many Type 2s are denied the means to manage their diabetes well by adequate privision of education and test strips. As a Type1 and now a pump used he is in a very privileged position at the top of the pyramid of diabetic care - he needs to appreciate that, whilst it is true that people need to take responsibility for their own health, they also need adequate levels of care from those charged with delivering it. He should also be aware that many people develop complications because Type 2 can develop slowly and damage may already be done by the time a diagnosis is made.

And did he really spend 'weeks in hospital' after developing DKA from one missed long acting injection? Seems unlikely to me, and possibly an exaggeration for dramatic effect.

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/300527/Why-I-m-proud-to-be-a-diabetic

 

[Copepod]

Could just be a typo - eg he (or journalist who wrote article / editor who checked it) meant to type "days" but typed "weeks". But not good from a person who works in news broadcasting!

 

[novorapidboi26]

Not a very realistic visualization of how it really is. I agree that we all should take responsibility for our own health, but the problem is, a large number of patients are unaware of how exactly to do it, through lack of education/care............

He cant be that well controlled, I have been diabetic for 13 years and never been in hospital since diagnosis..............so there..............

No offence to anyone who has...........😱

 

[Northerner]

Could just be a typo - eg he (or journalist who wrote article / editor who checked it) meant to type "days" but typed "weeks". But not good from a person who works in news broadcasting!

Doubt if it is a typo, as he also shows a tendency to exaggerate by saying that his 'body had digested all of his body fat and started to digest muscle as well' - from one missed injection? I also dislike it when he talks about people with diabetes being a 'burden' on the NHS. Should people really be made to feel a burden for developing a deeply insidious disease? Does it help them to manage their diabetes better by being made to feel guilty?

 

[Pumper_Sue]

Sounds like Mr Perfect to me 🙄
Does he not know that many diabetics do not have stable basal patterns or have other health issues that cause glucose control problems.

Does he not know that no matter how well controlled you are there is no guarantee that you will not get complications? (obviously if you can keep as good a control as pos this cuts the risk no end)

Perhaps he gets better care than many people due to who he is? (Cynical me, nah never)
Obviously his last eye test revealed he's need for rose tinted specs. 🙄

 

[Pumper_Sue]

He cant be that well controlled, I have been diabetic for 13 years and never been in hospital since diagnosis..............so there..............

No offence to anyone who has...........😱

Not once since diagnoses 47 years ago for anything diabetes related. 😛

 

[Ellie Jones]

It was a pretty fair article and I personally can't see how it was over sensationalised at all..

It's a pretty personal view of diabetes, seen from his side that of the diabetic, and yes he's right not only do the HCP have to listen to us but we also have a responsibility to listen to them, along side help ourselves otherwise we become burdens to the NHS, suffering from complications that may not have happened..

As to his missed injection, it's possible and if you read the whole paragraph, he may not give what his actual control is like at the time, but does say new job, first time working nights under stress all factors that upsets control, so missing the background jab could have been the straw that broke the camels back..

As to spending weeks in hospital, of cause you can I once spent the best part of a month lounging in an anti-natal ward, admitted with DKA even though my actual BG was around the 8mmol/l/. Spent over a week on a sliding scale, then spent over 2 weeks waiting for ketones to flush out.. wasn't allowed home until I at least been clear of ketones for 24 hours..

 

[Copepod]

Awaiting any input to this thread from someone with type 2 diabetes....

 

[trophywench]

If he was that worried about being a burden, how come he accepted a pump? Or was stupid enough to send himself into DKA when he could have easily prevented it? How much did keeping him in hosp for weeks cost the flaming NHS? So he's totally irresponsible then - according to his own lights!

I've never done that in 40 years, therefore in his book that makes me exceptionally virtuous - so I obviously deserve my pump as my reward.

Like a lot of people, maybe he needs to walk a mile in someone else's shoes?

 

[Northerner]

I think my own personal uneasiness about the article is that he is putting himself as an authority on diabetes - 'an ambassador for Diabetes UK' - but makes no acknowledgement of the disparity in care that people may encounter and he is relating his own very personal experience to lambast the majority of people with diabetes which has entirely different origins to his own, different treatments and demands, and widely differing medical opinion which is often coloured by misinformation and prejudice. I totally accept that there are many people who don't look after themselves, even after diagnosis, but from the many thousands of stories I have read here there are also those who, try as they might, get little in return for their efforts, except box-ticking 10-minute appointments and once-a-year blood tests. If only these articles could be a little more balanced and accept this (and maybe start to get something done about it!) then more people would be willing to talk about their diabetes and tackle it rather than sink into resignation and depression.

 

[Brendan]

Awaiting any input to this thread from someone with type 2 diabetes....

Here is my twopence worth..........

I did not like the article and found it quite condescending in areas. I am one of the ones who has developed a complication (Neuropathy) prior to diagnosis and do not like being called a burden. It was not my choice and it is just something I have to live with but hopefully if can keep my sugar levels low it will not get any worse.
Apparently I have "the more common type which is linked to age and being overweight" I am 43 and have a BMI of 25.7. Neither too old or very overweight. In fact I have put on weight since being diagnosed.
With regards to care I do not have a DSN but do see the practice nurse. Each time I have had a test I have had to chase the doctors surgery for results and getting appointments. I also seem to have the best informed and qualified receptionists at the surgery So far they have told me that I have Sensory Neuropathy (yes by the receptionist!!) and that my last blood test was "fine" 😱
I do not get strips on prescription so have to fund regular tests myself, which is not really an issue but is all part of the equation.
I know the article was writen by a T1 so the bias would always be that way as that is his only reference point, but I was dissappointed that ill informed people could read it and get the wrong impression.

 

[Andy HB]

Awaiting any input to this thread from someone with type 2 diabetes....

I think it's difficult to comment on what is essentially a Type 1 article.

Some of what the chap says is reasonable. But he does rather make some broad stroke assessments! I think Northerner has expressed my concerns already quite eloquently.

Some people with Type 2 do seem to take the view that the medication will do everything for them and hang a healthy diet and exercise approach (plus weight loss where appropriate). But it is hardly the case for everyone .... especially the good people on this forum who, by simply being a member, indicates that they take their condition seriously.

Andy 🙂

 

[Andy HB]

Here is my twopence worth..........

... I am one of the ones who has developed a complication (Neuropathy) prior to diagnosis and do not like being called a burden. It was not my choice and it is just something I have to live with but hopefully if can keep my sugar levels low it will not get any worse. ....

Ditto! But my symptoms are pretty minor with just a cotton wool feeling in my right foot most of the time. However, I continue to heal well whenever I get any cuts/scrapes.

Andy 🙂

 

[AlisonF]

It was a pretty fair article and I personally can't see how it was over sensationalised at all..

It's a pretty personal view of diabetes, seen from his side that of the diabetic, and yes he's right not only do the HCP have to listen to us but we also have a responsibility to listen to them, along side help ourselves otherwise we become burdens to the NHS, suffering from complications that may not have happened..

Completely agree.

 

[Lauren]

It is a nice and quite positive article and I can see what he is saying but I don't like the way he says everyone can get perfect control, and he doesn't see why people 'whinge' about it. While it's good to be optimistic about Diabetes I hope he can understand that sometimes people do get upset about it, Diabetes can affect people badly at times.

I will never have 'perfect' control because of problems with my metabolism. And some quite horrific things have happened to me because of Diabetes in the past, things that probably could have been helped if I had had a better care team at the time, but things that I honestly did not know what to do about even though I was trying my hardest to control my levels.

Basically, I understand his point but he has to accept that not everyone has had the experiences with Diabetes he has had.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Pride comes before a fall. Even the best controlled most optimistic complication-free T1 will have days/weeks/months of struggle, burnout, frustration and all that comes with that.

Though I can understand some of his frustrations in those who take no care of their own conditions and then cry 'Poor me, poor me!' when complications arise I really didn't like the tone of it and found it sneery and negative in what should have been a positive 'living with D can be done' story.

 

[Pumper_Sue]

Pride comes before a fall. Even the best controlled most optimistic complication-free T1 will have days/weeks/months of struggle, burnout, frustration and all that comes with that.

Though I can understand some of his frustrations in those who take no care of their own conditions and then cry 'Poor me, poor me!' when complications arise I really didn't like the tone of it and found it sneery and negative in what should have been a positive 'living with D can be done' story.

100% agree

 

[Andy HB]

Pride comes before a fall. Even the best controlled most optimistic complication-free T1 will have days/weeks/months of struggle, burnout, frustration and all that comes with that.

Though I can understand some of his frustrations in those who take no care of their own conditions and then cry 'Poor me, poor me!' when complications arise I really didn't like the tone of it and found it sneery and negative in what should have been a positive 'living with D can be done' story.

Agreed.

I also find it a little strange to combine Pride with Diabetes. One can feel pride with how one deals with it, especially when things are not easy, but in the condition itself? I think not.

 

[Northerner]

Agreed.

I also find it a little strange to combine Pride with Diabetes. One can feel pride with how one deals with it, especially when things are not easy, but in the condition itself? I think not.

Funnily enough I was reading a blog the other day that touched on this idea, and I have to agree that I'm one of those people that is (on the whole) content with the way I have managed my diabetes, but I'm also one of those people who doesn't like being defined by it, just as I wouldn't be 'proud' of being an asthmatic or arthritic or any other number of chronic conditions.

 

[AlisonF]

I'm not proud of being diabetic because I didn?t do anything to achieve my diabetes status so why would I be proud of it? But I?m not embarrassed or ashamed by it. I am proud of having played at being a pancreas for so long without messing it up completely or going mad.