Diagnosed as an Adult

by Vicki

My first days after being diagnosed with Type 1 were very up and down. On the one hand I felt that it could have been a lot worse - I could have been sitting in the doctor's rooms being told I had 6 months to live. On the other hand I couldn't believe what a hideous disease it was. The more I read, the more it hit home that if I didn't look after myself, there wasn't much I couldn't get - heart disease, blindness, leg amputations, kidney disease - you name it! Eight years on and I'm still finding out about more horrible complications.

The other thing that kept going through my mind was how I didn't appreciate my health before as much as I should have. All those sayings about health being the most important thing never seemed more true. I find myself telling people that all the time now. Had someone sat me down 10 years ago and told me that before I do anything at all, I have to consider my blood sugar levels, have sugar with me at all times, not be able to have a piece of cake without feeling bad, not be able to go shopping all day without having to stop for food etc etc I wouldn't have believed I could cope. There are so many things that change! There's also the guilt that I feel if I have a higher than usual HBA1c - sometimes it can be a real struggle.

Having said that, on a good day I feel just the same as anyone else. The diet of a person with diabetes is really no different from the diet everyone should be following anyway. Sometimes I think it's even been good for me - kept me in line. Maybe I might have middle-age spread by now if it wasn't for my diabetes! I find stories about old people who have had diabetes for 50 years and are still relatively health very inspiring. There's always a bright side.