Thanks for creating this group!
I was diagnosed almost four years ago, at the age of 49. I knew I likely had a genetic predisposition to it given my family history (my father, his father and and three out of four of his siblings, several of my mother's siblings, and (at the time) two of my three sisters (the third has since been diagnosed as a borderline case, or 'pre-diabetic.' I had pretty classic symptoms when I was diagnosed. I had noticed that my thirst had increased exponentially -- like nothing I have ever experienced -- and of course, because I was taking in such large quantities of liquid, I was getting up four or five times a night. I was familiar enough with the symptoms to have a pretty good idea what was going on, but I guess I went into a kind of denial. The thing is, despite the genetics, I guess I figured I could dodge this particular bullet because I have never been overweight and have always been fairly physically active. But sometimes, the luck of the genetic draw trumps everything else!
After this had been going on, and increasing, for a while, I ran into a friend whom I hadn't seen in about a month. The first thing he said to me was, "Mark, you look skinny, and not in a good way. You need to see a doctor!" At that point, my little denial scheme fell away. I went the following day, a Friday, to my internist. He did a quick check of my blood/glucose, and said it was in the 400s, and also drew blood for a variety of other tests. The following morning, Saturday morning, I got phone call from my internist's office. He wasn't in the office, but it was another doctor in the practice. She said they had just received my lab results, and that everything was so far out of whack they wanted me to report immediately to an emergency room. She said my blood/glucose was actually 692, and my potassium level was dangerously low, placing me at serious risk of a heart attack or stroke. I went to the emergency room at Lenox Hill Hospital here in NY (where, I must say, I received superb and amazingly prompt treatment -- I was triaged and seen by a doctor within 15 minutes of my arrival. I spent the better part of the day there as they tried to bring down my blood/glucose, and bring up my potassium.
The doctors at Lenox Hill really wanted me to remain in the hospital for a few days. But here was the thing: I am single, and have no other means of support other than myself. And I hadn't had time to check out all the ins and outs of my insurance coverage concerning hospital admissions, and didn't want to accidentally get myself into a situation I couldn't handle financially, and insisted upon going home in order to get things in order. The doctor -- a wonderful woman -- practically begged me not to leave, so concerned was she that I was at imminent risk of something like a heart attack or stroke. Although it was probably foolish of me, I insisted on leaving, but she made me PROMISE I would see my doctor first thing Monday morning. Fortunately, there were no negative consequences, and my doctor got me in to see an endocrinologist by midday Monday. He put me immediately on insulin (Lantus, a long-acting, basal insuline). As it happens, the endocrinologist's wife is a dietician specializing in diabetes, and I met several times with her as well, to help get me on the right track.
Things are more or less under control now, although it is, as Nadine says, a constant battle, and if I allow my attention to slip, can very easily (and has on a few occasions) spin out of control again.
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