FORUM "How We Deal With My Diabetes" 
"Gary has done very well, however I do worry all the time, but it was some years ago when he was having problems with nocturnal hypos that it was really bad, thanks to a new insulin regime he doesn't have the same problem, but I still worry"
"The secret is regular exercise and regular food i.e. low fat and healthy the same as everyone else. When he was younger, before he was diagnosed, I would take him swimming and got him into other sports like karate, which I also did"
"I can't be there all the time, he's old enough to look after himself"
"I knew what to do when he had a fit, having watched my mother on a previous occasion, I was the only one home when it happened, I managed to get 8 lucozade tablets into his mouth and that was enough"
"I get worried when I'm the only one home, it took a while but he's much better at controlling his diabetes now thanks to experience and finding something that works for him"
:)
“It all started a few weeks before we went skiing in Denver nine years ago when Gary was twelve. He had been losing weight over these weeks. During the flight across and when we arrived Gary kept falling asleep all the time and drinking lots of water.
My wife, an ex-nurse had noticed this especially and after he fell asleep one night on the floor of the restaurant toilet we decided to get some test strips at a local pharmacy and test his urine for sugar. It was off the ‘Richter scale’ and the next stop was the local hospital.
They confirmed what we suspected and Gary was admitted. Within a short time after being given some insulin he was fine.”
“It is both shocking and upsetting to discover your Son has an incurable illness, type one diabetes, but the hospital and consultants were marvelous. How could this happen, why him , why us etc ?
We learnt that Gary’s own immune system had probably been the culprit when it reacted to some other infection and unfortunately produced antibodies that attacked the insulin producing cells in his pancreas.
It just so happens that Denver is the centre for research for diabetes in USA and we had first class help and support. Within two days we were skiing but with the challenge of learning about this disease as fast as we could and managing the new regime. Fortunately Gary took quite well to the new challenge and was injecting himself almost immediately with the help of a little spring loaded device. At this point we were very conscious of what and how much he ate as we had no experience of managing such a routine.
Probably our biggest worry was the effect of exercise, i.e. skiing, and how to manage this. Fortunately we were able to contact his consultant as often as we needed to learn how to adjust his dosage between slow and fast acting insulin.”
“We didn't’t seem to have any serious issues for some time and managed quite well. Unfortunately Gary has a tendency to be either a little absent minded or moody (aka Kevin from Harry Enfield) and so it was and indeed still is difficult to tell if he is just being him or is starting to have a Hypo.
It is a difficult one to win as if he is fine but looks wrong and you ask him to test his blood sugar he looks at you as if you are stupid. If on the other hand he doesn't’t look right and you don’t say anything you risk the downside of him having a hypo with all the effects that induces. My wife and I can tell at a glance usually if he is not ‘right’.
This brings me to his first hypo I had witnessed first hand on holiday in Barbados. Fortunately he was in the same bedroom as his brother and sister when it happened. He was experiencing a severe hypo during the night and was in a diabetic fit, completely unconscious, frothing and bleeding at the mouth etc. It is again both a shocking and upsetting sight.
We had a Glucogon with us which we mixed and administered. This is an injection which when given releases sugar from reserves in the liver when he can't eat or drink and within a couple of minutes he was back in the land of the living though somewhat confused.
It is quite difficult for us to get across to him that we don’t ever want to see this as it’s not good for him and it is very, very upsetting for all around him. But it did and does although to be fair the incidences have been getting more and more spread out.”
“At that time Gary did probably more exercise than most kids with swimming, cycling, football, fit club etc but nothing really extreme. Probably around the age of sixteen I started to take him out on longer bike rides and runs.
We did notice however that on really long sessions it was very difficult to keep his blood sugar levels normal no matter almost what he ate, including my supplies. In addition we found that he was very susceptible to hypos during the night after a long exercise session. Eventually he learnt to reduce his insulin dose before long exercise to alleviate this and he changed his insulin.
Gary seemed to take more extreme exercise with some gusto. His uncle had started a triathlon club which I had joined and starting competing in and Gary followed suit. Over the next couple of years he progressively lost a few pounds (about 25 in fact) and got himself very fit. We are able to train together but I must admit that age is now beating experience and he has long since achieved his goal of beating his Dad.
He did his first half Ironman at the age of seventeen, not even ‘normal’ seventeen year olds do that. That is a 1900m swim in a lake, 56 mile bike then 13 mile/half marathon run. We did it together even to the point of wearing luminous arm bands in the swim so we could easily stay in touch just in case he had a problem in the water. Since then we have done many events together and often train together which breaks up the monotony of the long sessions. Often we are in the same races and I’m sure we are both still driven, just ever so slightly, to beat the other.
Now I have no chance on short/medium distance, maybe still a chance at really long distance? Recently we both managed to get into the Great Britain team for the world triathlon championships in Honolulu which I guess is fairly unusual and a great accolade for a diabetic.”
“Over the recent year or so Gary has really developed his experience of exercise and diabetes to the point he has it to a fine art. We found that there was very little actually written down to cover the amount of exercise he does and yet maintain normal blood sugar levels.
To his credit he does presentations to Parents/Doctors/Nurses, in association with the pharmaceutical company whose insulin he uses, on how he manages to virtually do anything he wants despite this chronic illness.
He has found that some insulin’s are better than others for his regime and is very willing to share his knowledge. He seems to have made the switch from being self conscious of being different to almost flouting the fact he is diabetic.
His view is that by example if he can help one diabetic lead a ‘normal’ life and see past the frustration he will have succeeded. He even has his own web site -----Diabetic and loving it!”
“OK that is some of the up side –the downsides?------------YES we still worry about him. Any unusual noises in the night and maybe he’s having a hypo (my wife seems particularly sensitive to this one and jumps out of bed at the slightest noise), where is he when he is out late, does he have his tester/insulin with him, do the people he is with understand what to do in an emergency, he hasn't’t called home, is he in trouble etc.
The symptoms of a hypo are varying, from behaving silly, to almost drunk, to being surly, to being very aggressive with the strength of ten men. They can happen at any time. What happens if he is out on the town, quite sober, but having a hypo and somebody thinks he is drunk? All he needs is a sugary drink and he’ll be fine, otherwise he will get worse and probably pass out.
It does happen as indeed it did last year the first night we were away on holiday. Fortunately we were contactable and able to give advice over the phone to his friends who sorted him out. Of course after the ‘event’ of a hypo Gary himself often fails to see there was a problem and that of course he had it all under control and that you were having a ‘go’ at him just for the hell of it.”
“We have lived with this disease in our house now for nine years and are fairly comfortable in helping Gary manage it. His close friends understand the basics and look after him when needed.
To be fair he is really very good from what comparisons we can make in managing it himself and he seems determined to carry this on throughout his life. We get frustrated, as sometimes he is not very proactive, is untidy, is not organized and is forgetful. Maybe this is a by product of his diabetes.
Although bright, articulate and very charming at times you just want to scream—as unfortunately I have on several occasions. He did well at school, not so well at college but managed to graduate (just).We are convinced that his blood sugar levels fall during the night/early morning which reflects in his ability to concentrate in the morning especially, usually when exams take place too. He was based at home during his university tenure which we were pleased about but at some time he will not have his family so close to hand –that worries us ! .
He is now twenty one and an adult, capable of looking after himself ?—yes most of the time if not nearly all of the time, but Gary has to realize that as concerned and protective parents it will take a while before we fully let our guard down—and probably longer for my wife to fully let go of the ‘baby’ of the family—if ever !
We will still continue to ask him when he goes out if he has his tester and insulin, does he have some snacks and when he returns to ask if his sugar level is OK.”
“On balance it could well be that having diabetes has made him a better person, certainly a fitter one and that is a positive message for all diabetics. He has developed his own ways of dealing with it and manages incredibly well but perhaps has yet to fully realize how much his family and friends try to help him compensate for this unfortunate disease which he developed through no fault of his own. One day there will be a cure and no one will have deserved to benefit more from it than Gary!”
"Being diabetic and training etc tends to make people worry!!! so at first I found having someone with me puts everyone at ease, for example long training rides can be anything from 2 - 10 hours....
When I started I followed my dad, he was allot fitter so I was basically hanging on but it did allow me to do more than I would have been capable of by myself, so I quickly improved to the point where I started thinking, I can do this!"
"It wasn't until we decided to cycle from Sunderland to Centre Parks in the Lake District (seems like a good plan, training and traveling at the same time) that I got my opportunity to prove myself. We had planned to ride together as usual but my dad had to delay leaving, he said we could just go the next day but I'd already made up my mind.
We reckoned on 6 - 7 1/2 hours for the ride so I packed plenty of snacks etc and set off. It wasn't long before I realized that it wasn't going to be that easy (you couldn't have picked worse weather, wind, rain, hail) having reached Stanhope I rang home and was considering packing in, the following ride towards Alston was like cycling into the mountains of Mordor from the film Lord Of The Rings,
it took 9 hours to get too Centre Parks but it felt like a turning point, basically the conditions were horrific and I still got there and if I can do that I can do anything."
"What's more is I started to see that everyone has some type of problems etc, I've had hypos and I've seen lots of people without diabetes suffer from the same problem.
At the L' Ardechoise in France I was riding for 11 hours but felt great, I had to watch over my dad who was ready to collapse from the heat and lack of energy replacement. We reckon in this situation the fact that I test my sugar levels etc regularly is an advantage because I know exactly what is needed.
At the Helvellyn Triathlon 2004, on the run section (8 mile run up and down Helvellyn) I was handing out snack bars to people who hadn't taken any food with them and where suffering from dizziness etc (should have asked them to test there sugar:-))
It does bother me that people will always worry, even if there aren't any problems for months then a slight mistake and were back to square one again. It won't have been a serious mistake but the result is the same.
Therefore sometimes I prefer training by myself, because mistakes are easily corrected and do not require the mass panic and embarrassment other people generate, it also serves as a constant reminder to myself that I'm no different to anyone else
I' am fully aware of the help and support of my friends and family despite my fathers comments and in return, I feel becoming successful and continuing to compete and achieve new heights, although tough, is my method of saying thank you and having their help and support recognized in the best possible way"