Type 2 Diabetic - how did that happen?

I rarely see anyone about my health, as I feel fine most of the time. I view myself as relatively fit for my age, but it was to become clear that my sweet tooth has finally caught up with me.

Quite unexpectedly, I was called in for a routine Blood Pressure (BP) monitoring check, (which I haven’t had for years). An appointment was arranged and I went to the surgery for the test, oblivious as to what was going to happen in the next few weeks. My blood pressure readings were a little high, so I was asked to do the 2x daily BP recording and a chart was provided to record this on. When this had been done the chart was to be returned to the surgery for checking by a Doctor. Whilst I was with her, the nurse took other lifestyle information from me. As the reading was a little high, and because I hadn’t seen anyone for quite some time, she felt it appropriate to arrange some blood tests and an ECG on my heart. The surgery arranged my blood tests as a priority with the local phlebotomy clinic and an ECG appointment was made at the surgery. I attended both of these as planned and my ECG result was given immediately. This was fine. My BP readings were also completed soon after and passed on to the surgery, who deemed them to be within the expected readings. But, my blood test results had also arrived. I had seen these on my NHS app and a number of these read to my alarm read, ’abnormal’. A day or two later, I received a phone call from the surgery to say, my Doctor needed to have a telephone appointment with me, to discuss my results. This happened and a date was set for the phone call, which takes us to where I left the last blog - news of my diagnosis as a type 2 diabetic.

Whilst this came as a surprise, as I’ve already acknowledged, I had seen the test results and gathered from them, that I probably had been diagnosed diabetic. My blood test was quite low on the scale but sufficient for me to be diagnosed ‘type 2 diabetic’ for the remainder of my life - no second chances here.

Due to my initial high blood pressure readings, I had already decided to take some action to reduce my weight. So I took some immediate steps to hopefully change things. These were:-

• Take and record weight - Margaret and I have been doing this regularly for years, but we set a regular date and time each week. My weight was considerably higher than it should be.

• Diet - I dropped the well-loved sweet things from my diet. I tried to cut out food that is high in carbohydrates like bread and potatoes. We changed our rice and pasta to wholemeal, instead of white rice and pasta and bread was replaced by wholemeal wraps.

• Larder and fridge - these were emptied of the stuff which we should no longer be eating. And replaced them with the more healthy foods required for my diet. The fridge became fuller of fresh salad and vegetables and the fruit bowls were filled with fresh fruit, (which is not something that I particularly enjoy).

• Calorie counter - I downloaded the NHS ‘Weight Loss’ app which records your basic information - weight, height and stomach measurement (is that girth in horses?) lol. This confirmed that I needed to lose a considerable amount of weight - surprise, surprise. It set me a daily number of calories. To ensure I am under the permissible daily calories, I am required to record my food and drink intake each day, which then tells me the calories consumed. I was given 2200 calories per day and a 12-week target weight was set. As I maintain the diet, badges are awarded for good progress, which provides some motivation.

• Exercise - I also downloaded another app. ‘Active 10’  which encourages participants to walk briskly in 10-minute spells. I took the opportunity to join a local gym, which is something I’d been considering for some time. At first, this was an intimidating experience as an old fella, amongst many young, fit and muscular bodies. But, my age and size don’t matter, as in reality, everyone is so involved in their fitness, that they’re not remotely interested in how others look or what they are doing.

When the GP called me, he suggested the things I should do. He was pleased to hear that I had already started them. He also wanted me to have a follow-up test on my cholesterol and my ‘King Charles’ Prostate. The results came in the other day and I’m pleased to say that I have been given a clean bill of health for both of these.

Whilst, I cannot say I have felt any health benefits yet, I must admit that my clothes are fitting better and in the 6 weeks I’ve been dieting my weight has reduced by 12lbs. This is good news and means I’m on track to meet the target set for me by the ‘Weight Loss’ app.

It’s been a difficult few weeks, but despite this, I feel accepting of the situation. I’m grateful that my life up until now has been healthy and I am determined to work through this ‘blip’ and restore myself to good health, albeit with the permanent diagnosis of Type 2 Diabetic.