LIVINGLIVING
A
drian Long was
diagnosed with Type I
diabetes in December
1997, shortly after his
40th birthday. Here he
tells us his story.
"During November of that year I
remember there were times I found
myself to be incredibly thirsty. I attended
a meeting in Manchester, headed back to
the train station to commence my journey
home, and ran to catch the next train.
After getting onboard I noticed that I was
really, really thirsty. I'd been in a hot room,
had some crisps and a sandwich, and
had a bit of a sprint to get to the train.
I rationalised that I was thirsty because
of those circumstances. Plus, I do drink
a lot of water. My wife had always been
amazed at how much tea and coffee I
managed to drink.
"However, I then had a bout of 'flu
and had to take some time off work. This
was 20 years into my teaching career,
and I'd had never had a day off sick, nor
even during my own school days. I was
never ill, but now I was bedridden, the
last working week before the Christmas
break. My wife - also a teacher - came
home, took one look at me, and took me
off to the GP surgery. I mentioned the
thirst to the doctor, who then asked for
a urine specimen and did a dipstick test,
commenting, 'that suggests you may
have diabetes.'
"I ended up seeing another GP at the
practice, the diabetes specialist, who told
MY DIABETES KIT
ADRIAN LONG
Adrian Long
me to 'stop eating sugary things' and to
come back in three days time. That was
a bit odd too, as I am famous for my unsweet tooth. Three
days later I was no
better, but at this point we were right up
against Christmas Day and Boxing Day,
and looking back I now know I spent
those days with undiagnosed Type I
diabetes. In the New Year I went back to
the doctor who said it 'might be Type I',
and I was referred to the local hospital as
an outpatient.
"It had already taken two weeks to
get that far. It was confirmed that I had
Type I diabetes. They told me it was
virtually unheard of to be diagnosed with
Type I diabetes at my age. I had been so
shocked to have been ill at all, I was even
more shocked to get that diagnosis."
Miracle of insulin
"Like most people with no personal
experience of the condition, I didn't even
know there were two types of diabetes:
we had one or two kids in the school
when, if they had a funny turn, we knew
we needed to give them some sugar. But
other than that, I was ignorant.
I started on insulin the next day. I had
a series of 8am hospital appointments,
which I had to attend before I'd had
breakfast. I brought along a small packet
of cereal with me then did an injection
under supervision, then had my food. I
had two injections a day at the start, and
the insulin really was a miracle. I started
to feel better almost immediately. I was