My Diagnosis

I’ve had type 1 diabetes for over 40 years. When I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes back in 1978, I was devastated and angry. I wondered why this had happened to me.

 When I was diagnosed people thought I got type 1 diabetes because I ate too many sweet things!! In fact it was actually due to a shock to my system although I’m not 100% sure what shock. Maybe it was because I had to do 24 months of compulsory military service in South Africa and I hated every minute of it. I may never know for sure as we have no family history of diabetes in the family but this became my new normal.

Just before I finished my army stint, I started to eat less and drink more liquid as I was very thirsty. Once I got home my food consumption decreased and my thirst increased. Doctors initially diagnosed me incorrectly with a deficiency in Vitamin B. I was told to take a glucose supplement and lost 25 pounds which changed my 6’3” frame considerably. Friends said they couldn’t recognise me. I couldn’t keep food down and finally, after getting a second opinion I was admitted into hospital and was only a few hours away from going into a diabetic coma. In those days this was something that you probably wouldn’t come out of!

I clearly remember the nursing staff telling me that the last patient in the same bed had recently died and when I arrived, they thought I was going to go the same way. After 12 hours and many drips to get fluids into my system, I was up eating and got my hunger back.

After 10 days I left the hospital and I had to tackle the new world of diabetes and managing my new condition on my own. This was very traumatic for me. I eventually learned to deal with the daily challenges but not without many highs and lows. In those days diabetics were given one huge shot of insulin each day and you can imagine how inefficient this was. Dealing with diabetes was difficult, frustrating, made me angry and I hated having to deal with it.

Remembering how I had to administer insulin using big chunky insulin pens and seeing how much it has evolved to my current Medronic insulin pump that pretty much self-administers insulin is mind blowing.

Checking my blood glucose levels (BGLs) regularly via a pin prick to get a blood sample was another thing I remember well. There were different colours on the stick to help gauge where my levels were which resulted in permanent sore bruised fingertips after testing 4-6 times a day. Now we have the flash glucose monitoring FreeStyle Libre which is a sensor patch stuck on your arm to be able to read your BGLs for 14 days using your iPhone – now that’s life changing and real progress!!

Diabetics now have no idea how much easier it is to manage the condition compared to years ago. I’m excited to see where we’ll go in the future and I know it can only get better!