My Life With Diabetes.

I was diagnosed as a type 1 diabetic at the age of 2. I am now 33 at the time of print. Life has been a challenge and I wanted to give all you readers an insight into my life. It's also good to vent sometimes.

Growing up with type 1 diabetes was a challenge. I remember learning to inject myself at the age of 5 practising on my teddy bear (hope he didn't mind!) before taking the plunge with my own leg. At school break time I would sit in the classroom eating my 2 digestives before I was allowed out to play. This may be why I can't stand them now. As I got older, secondary school was much easier. I only told my friends and teachers about my diabetes. i wasn't embarrassed but saw no reason to share with the rest of the school. If you are reading this and are a diabetic, you will probably agree that having type 1 or type 2 diabetes really doesn't have to affect your normal everyday living.

As I got older and discovered adult things i.e. drinking, woman and parties, I found that I would often have very high blood sugar levels and my control went a little wayward. I do believe that this may have helped towards my problems.

Approximately 6 years ago I had huge problems with extra sensitive legs and my back was always in agony. I was seeing a chiropractor, who, despite charging me a fortune and telling me my back was full of knots made no difference at all. After a trip to my diabetic doctor, I discovered that I had nerve damage due to my previous lack of control. I have since got my levels back to a fantastic average and have not had any problems since.

That sadly is not the end of my story. About 2 years ago I woke up one morning with a black line across my vision in 1 eye. After a trip to the emergency eye doctor I discovered that I had damaged my eyes. They believe that the main cause was a biking accident when I was 18. This was not a motorbike but a push bike accident after a pub crawl (we thought we could get round them quicker!) I have since had 5 lots of laser treatment and also eye surgery. I am registered partially sighted and am just hoping that I won't lose all my sight.

Diabetes survival is key and with the amazing progress that is happening, you never know but there may be a cure!