diabetes

Crazycatladytracey

i was diagnosed with diabetes in 2006. until recently i have managed to keep my sugar levels ok and ive been in good health.
halfway through january i went off chocolate. god knows why, but everytime i tasted it i got a weird taste in my mouth. i was happy with this as i thought my health was getting better until i was struck down with acute pnuemonia and my sugar levels started going really high (27/30mmol). my dr couldnt see what was happening and just put it down to me being ill. i was given yet more tablets to help bring it down. with the pnuemonia came my depressive stage and i started feeling really low.
on thursday 7th february, i got up and immediately felt a sharp pain when i sat up in bed. i shouted my partner who had a look and said it was just a lump. i decided to leave it but the next day the pain was worse so i went to see my dr who said it was a boil. on sunday 10th i went to the emergency dept as it was hard to sit down and the boil was leaking. i was sent away with antibiotics. the day after i decided to go see a different dr and he gave me stronger antibiotics and some dressings. by the wednesday i had a fever, i couldnt walk properly, never mind sit down or lie down. the fluid leaking from the boil was smelling really bad. my partner phoned the dr's and i went and saw a different dr who told me to go home and pack a few things. half an hour later an ambulance arrived to take me to hospital.
on valentines day, i was rushed down for emergency surgery. it wasnt a boil, it was an abcsess i had, so they had to cut into my thigh.
after i was takenback to the ward, the surgeon came to see me and told me that they had to cut 4 inches into my thigh and a wound that was 7 inches long. he also told me that if i had left it just one more day i would have died. he was angry at my dr's who he says should have sent me to the hospital sooner and he was angry at the emergency dept for sending me home. with the surgeon telling me all this, it sent my bipolar all over the place and i was in that dark place. for days i wouldnt talk to anyone. all i could think of was being at my son's and him coming to wake me up but finding me dead.
you see, when i was rushed into hospital, i should have been going to stay with my son to spend by birthday and the week after with him and friends, instead of doing that i spent my birthday and the week after in hospital.
now, 3 weeks after my operation, i still have the drain and vacuum pack attached to the open wound in my thigh. i cant really go any where as i get so tired and my leg aches a lot. yesterday i was told that i might have to have another operation as the skin around my open wound was getting hard and the surgeon said he might have to cut even more into my thigh.
on top of all this he said it will be a long time before it heals with me having diabetes and he said it was the diabetes what started it all off in the first place.

SO IF YOU HAVE DIABETES AND EVER GET A LUMP, KEEP ON AT YOUR DOCTOR TO HAVE IT PROPERLY CHECKED OUT. IF NEEDS BE KEEP NAGGING PEOPLE TO GET IT SORTED. PLEASE DONT END UP LIKE ME WITH AN OPEN WOUND WITH A DRAIN, AND IN CONSTANT PAIN. IF IT DOESNT HEAL PROPERLY I MAY LOOSE MY LEG, AND ALL THIS HAS HAPPENED BECAUSE MY DR TOLD ME I DIDNT NEED TO GO TO HOSPITAL

Lizzy622

My best wishes and prayers are with you. My mom was diagnosed a few years back and is on shots twice a day. My doctor has warned me that I need to be careful with my family history.

lioness803

My heart goes out to you...hoping you recover as quickly and with as little pain as possible!

retiree2006

Bless you and I hope you have a full recovery soon. And thank you for taking the time to let others know about something that can seem "minor" but could be life threatening. Wishing you well.

marathonmom72

I'm so sorry to hear this...how very scary! Thanks for sharing your experience. It's a good reminder to diabetics, like me, who can so easily assume that things are fine and take our health for granted. I wish you a speedy recovery and years of good health ahead!

mooglysmom

I'm so sorry! My Dad is a lifelong diabetic, and I've always tried to be careful and watchful about my own health.

Those vacuum packs are amazing. They saved his life after he had a transplant and the wound wouldn't close. I hope your wound heals very soon! His took 6 months, but it was much larger than yours. Be very diligent with your care, and soon this will all be passed.

ruperthumphrey

Wow, thank you for sharing your story, as I was reading it, I knew what you were going to say, I know millions of people live with diabetes, but there can be so many complications from it and it is important that people with diabetes be vigilant about their health. My Mom went through a very similar experience. I hope that you continue to recover...

JUDDDing

I used to get those about every 2 to 3 months until I got my blood sugar under control - HUGE - ping-pong sized up to baseball sized - and they would NOT drain on their own - they would just get bigger and develop chambers. These are what actually led to my diagnosis.

I have a very high pain threshold for pain - but these were the worst pain imaginable (thinking about how bad those were is making my stomach clench even now years later). They would just get bigger and bigger and the pressure would build.

And I'd get them on the upper insides and back of my thighs - so they were pretty embarrassing to get opened up (and the smell!) - so I'd wait until I could no longer bear it before getting them cut out - hoping that it would finally drain on it's own.

I can almost guarantee that this will re-occur if you do not get your blood sugar under control.

So, PLEASE, for your sake - get control and keep control of your blood sugar - that totally stopped these for me - I have not had one in several years, but I am still left with lots of large craters on my thighs from where these were cut out of me. And the memory of this level of pain.

sallyaj

Bless you! I hope that you heal quickly.

Can I just say that it really angers me that docs are not being real with patients when they diagnose them.

My brother was recently diagnosed with T2 and he has brought it under control without meds but it took a very very strict diet -- a total elimination of sugar, even the so called "healthy grains". (Hah, healthy grains! Not for diabetics they're not.)

He had to do the research himself. His doc at first tired to "sugar-coat" the message by saying he could gradually eliminate and substitute blah blah blah. That's not the message. The message is, save your life!

I'm glad that you gave up the chocolate. That's a really difficult thing to do. So Bravo! And wish you the best.

Crazycatladytracey

I used to get those about every 2 to 3 months until I got my blood sugar under control - HUGE - ping-pong sized up to baseball sized - and they would NOT drain on their own - they would just get bigger and develop chambers. These are what actually led to my diagnosis.

I have a very high pain threshold for pain - but these were the worst pain imaginable (thinking about how bad those were is making my stomach clench even now years later). They would just get bigger and bigger and the pressure would build.

And I'd get them on the upper insides and back of my thighs - so they were pretty embarrassing to get opened up (and the smell!) - so I'd wait until I could no longer bear it before getting them cut out - hoping that it would finally drain on it's own.

I can almost guarantee that this will re-occur if you do not get your blood sugar under control.

So, PLEASE, for your sake - get control and keep control of your blood sugar - that totally stopped these for me - I have not had one in several years, but I am still left with lots of large craters on my thighs from where these were cut out of me. And the memory of this level of pain.

this was my first ever abcsess so i was so scared at what it was. my sugar levels are staying close to normal at the moment. i thought the pain was worse than childbirth and the gallstones i had 18 years ago. i dont want that pain again.

oldandhealthier

THANK YOU. i was diagnosed about 8 months ago. i have got it under control but the other day i noticed a boil on my left leg. thanks to you i now know to get it checked out.

JUDDDing

My brother was recently diagnosed with T2 and he has brought it under control without meds but it took a very very strict diet -- a total elimination of sugar, even the so called "healthy grains". (Hah, healthy grains! Not for diabetics they're not.)

He had to do the research himself. His doc at first tired to "sugar-coat" the message by saying he could gradually eliminate and substitute blah blah blah. That's not the message. The message is, save your life!

I'm disappointed that this is still the message. It's been about 13 years since I met with any CDE's, but their message was very much sugar-coated (literally). It was, "Diabetes is incurable, but don't worry, you can still have cake. And if pills don't work for you we can put you on insulin - which is very easy to manage now."

This is possibly an OK message to be given to a young type I patient - and maybe even a really old type II patient. But I'm convinced that the message that they should be giving to middle aged type II patients (a hugely growing sector unfortunately) should be much different, much more firm and ultimately more hopeful.

I initially got control of my blood sugars with a VERY low-carb diet. The ADA diet seemed designed to feed me the most carbs possible and keep my blood sugars in the 200 range.

Now (since the first of the year) I manage mine through kind of an odd diet (alternate day fasting) - but my blood sugars (fasting, average and now post-meal peak) are well into the normal range.

And I'll leave this here - your brother might find it quite interesting: http://www.diabetologia-journal.org/Lim.pdf

sallyaj

My brother was recently diagnosed with T2 and he has brought it under control without meds but it took a very very strict diet -- a total elimination of sugar, even the so called "healthy grains". (Hah, healthy grains! Not for diabetics they're not.)

He had to do the research himself. His doc at first tired to "sugar-coat" the message by saying he could gradually eliminate and substitute blah blah blah. That's not the message. The message is, save your life!

I'm disappointed that this is still the message. It's been about 13 years since I met with any CDE's, but their message was very much sugar-coated (literally). It was, "Diabetes is incurable, but don't worry, you can still have cake. And if pills don't work for you we can put you on insulin - which is very easy to manage now."

This is possibly an OK message to be given to a young type I patient - and maybe even a really old type II patient. But I'm convinced that the message that they should be giving to middle aged type II patients (a hugely growing sector unfortunately) should be much different, much more firm and ultimately more hopeful.

I initially got control of my blood sugars with a VERY low-carb diet. The ADA diet seemed designed to feed me the most carbs possible and keep my blood sugars in the 200 range.

Now (since the first of the year) I manage mine through kind of an odd diet (alternate day fasting) - but my blood sugars (fasting, average and now post-meal peak) are well into the normal range.

And I'll leave this here - your brother might find it quite interesting: http://www.diabetologia-journal.org/Lim.pdf

Thank you for the link. I'll share it with my brother -- and I'll read it myself. As I said to him, this is not just your diagnosis. We have a family health history. This is my wake up call!