Preface
‘I ain’t going to be just a face in the crowd.
You’re going to hear my voice when I shout out loud.
It’s my life.
It’s now or never.
I ain’t going to live forever.
I just want to live while I’m alive.’
Bon Jovi. (It’s my life)
We are all born to die; whatever way you wish to look at it, that is what will happen!
As you are reading this; it will certainly happen to you and the only difference will be the direction you take to that guaranteed endpoint. Whichever way you choose; navigation of that route will be determined by you according to any issues, conditions, or personal circumstances you may have to handle.
The best route is available; with most spending their lives seeking this and hoping for success. With the deepest sincerity I hope to guide you through how to tackle whatever gets in your way and hope you will discover elements that will assist you to be successful with your own search.
A message I sincerely hope will be delivered by this narrative is:
‘Never doubt yourself and make the most of your own treasured life!’ It is my intention to enable you to understand just how I have lived mine, some of what I have done and how I have done it.
Most importantly, this will be describing a life that has carried one of the most impactive known chronic conditions; together with a body in serious state of degeneration owing to the most extreme of Road-Traffic-Accidents (RTA) possible. My memoirs are designed to illustrate how I have not allowed much, if anything, stand in my way of a great life experience whilst achieving and retaining a veritable A* diabetic health report.
Having recently joined many diabetic groups on ‘social media’; I have been astonished, nay shocked, at the number of diabetics that seem to accept that complications and problems are a natural follow on from being diabetic.
This is nothing that I can possibly prescribe to and I want to show you just how easy it has been for me to avoid such. I do understand there may be some readers who are currently troubled with complications and issues; this may help also, as maintaining a good balance certainly would not be harmful in any way. Those of you that may be troubled at the thought of developing them; I hope you will be able to take guidance and proceed.
We are now entering the 3rd decade of the 21st Century and we are in a rapidly expanding diabetic community. The last reported figures, taken from the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2014, stated there was an estimated diabetic population of 422 million. Rising dramatically and with associated costs is now exposed to an increasing amount of research and investment; to enable a much-improved-future for those diagnosed.
I believe that this figure will be in excess of the ½ billion mark by this time, in 2020. Accordingly listed as a ‘Pandemic’; but all affected must continue to live on as best they possibly can. I just want to help in order that this population I belong to can enjoy as good a life as possible; and one they will cherish!
The diabetic population is believed to be made up with 10% being type 1 and 90% being type 2. From a purely personal view I believe I can demonstrate that it really should not matter whichever type may be under consideration; and I hope to prove this to you. When it is taken to its basic level; all types of diabetes will require those diagnosed to engage in a manual-management of their energy creation capabilities.
Blood-sugar levels are a most important element of the body’s mechanism to enable the creation of the energy and reserves. The interference of diabetes has either; removed this capability or reduced it, somewhat alarmingly.
I have battled, often, but lived so well for so long with diabetes. I believe, my experiences should show how a normal life was possible, even in those more daunting years. I am not promoting living like I have; but by controlling your diabetes and management in the same fashion; should work for you if that is what you are looking for?
Here I present my memories about how I managed to control my diabetes throughout. Unlike the rules regarding formal examinations and the like; I really wish for all diabetics to be able to get the same result as I have. You can copy me with if you wish, but I seriously would advise leaving certain parts out!
Whilst, I realise as diabetics each one of us are very different; we all must manage one very important aspect of our lives. Understanding the simplicity of all of this can make such a big difference by applying the control required to obtaining a much better management of the same!
All you really need to do is to respect the fact that you will now have; but a few things more you must do to keep diabetes under control. For any type of diabetes this will require you to do something to enable a balancing of your blood-sugar-levels. Here I intend to demonstrate just how simple that has been for me; and some of the great fun and interesting situations I have experienced doing this.
I want to tell you all about how a diabetic; of 61-years at age 63-years-old, has managed to live the fullest life possible. A diabetic that has had so many, even terrifying, obstacles placed in his way and has managed to get through; not unscathed, but ‘get through’ he has.
There is so much I want to tell you about my life and management of diabetes. By interspersing this with various occurrences to assist in understanding me as a person; sometimes, away from my diabetes. I want you to be able to visualise me and realise how I got here, through reading these memoirs from my life; I do hope that will not be too scary!
I cannot ask you to approve of everything that I will describe here; but you will be able to see just how I have lived. This should demonstrate that I could get involved in almost everything I wanted; some good and some bad, I have played and worked extremely hard to achieve what I wanted to.
In order to properly engage; I must uncover everything that has really affected me and the things that have had important effects upon me. In doing so this should allow you to understand; just how I accommodated my life passenger to enable my current, brilliant, diabetes position.
However, after I had started to put it all together; it became an extended version of ‘War & Peace’. So much detail needing to be presented and in such a way to enable proper engagement from my readers; I just had to set about doing something to ensure this would be readable and enjoyable in equal measure. Skipping over bits just was not going to work; especially for such an important issue as this is, being covered. As my Dad always used to say:
‘If you are going to do a job; do it right and to the best of your abilities!’
For that reason, I am providing this in easier to consume stages. Each one will follow a chronological-mannerism, not necessarily in direct-line, to cover the important aspects relating to my actual building process. Each one fits into its own ‘compartmental memoir’ area; ‘Physical-Drive’ and ‘Mental-Survival’. Associated detail is provided to enable you to understand the various predicaments and successes involved with greater clarity.
This, the first edition and my first memoir; ‘Accident survival guide; a unique story.’ will be covering, in the detail intended; the very early days with my ever-loving partner. Although this is incorporating my more physical life; I hope it will not disappoint you too much when I say I will not be providing any pictures here!
This will take you all the way through to my ‘too-near-to-Death’ Accident that could, and probably should, have been the time for me to ‘shuffle off this mortal coil’. At the very least this is the point where; my ‘Physical-life’ was set to become a second-string associate for the rest of my days.
The purpose here is to take you through my early diagnosis and formative-years, where you should be able to see just how different it was then. We will then traverse through the start I made with my condition; followed by the education-years. Then we will be going to part way through, my amazing working life.
Covered here are the days before many of the advancements we are now able to take for granted. These are also the days when we did not have the benefit of the knowledge we now possess; and should highlight just how disappointingly different it was then. Of course, we had no idea of how ‘disappointingly different’ it was at the time; we just had to get on and do what was necessary.
Finally, we shall arrive at the most incredibly terrifying incident that happened to me; I seriously doubt that a report of any such incident will be available from anyone else, diabetic or not! This is an incident that rarely leaves the injured party with anything but a sendoff at their Funeral.
Such instances are invariably fatal, and my exhaustive search hasn’t uncovered details of any to counter that belief; excepting mine of course! But I am still here, I was not ready for leaving so early and incredible as it might sound, I have been extremely lucky with my life and can sum this up thus:
· Born a generation or so earlier; it is very likely that I wouldn’t have enjoyed any sort of a life at all, fact!
· Had my Accident happened but a few years earlier; I would not be here to tell you about what happened, fact!
I desperately want to let the World know about how I got through all of this; if only because a diabetic surviving such a traumatic experience must be of value, to all out there that may have worries of their own. I believe this narrative can represent a veritable comfort-blanket if nothing more, and I truly hope it will do much more than that. Having survived in the face of such odds against me doing so; on its own is a story worth investigating. When you then consider surviving so well as a diabetic; with even greater odds supposedly stacked against me, must be an even more compelling read!
‘Wrestling Jelly.’, the final edition, will enable a realisation of just how a diabetic was forced to accept the unexpected changes that would require a huge shift in management emphasis. That edition will uncover how I was able to recover and then build for an even more remarkable future overcoming some more eventful and truly damaging occurrences.
I do hope you will choose to read both as it will also enable me to further help; the ‘Diabetic Charities’ and ‘Associations’ Worldwide. More importantly, it should allow a full realisation of how a diabetic has managed to lead a life in the face of so much being placed in the way and still achieve top grades for their medical disposition!
If you can read both; this will provide the fullest picture representing how a diabetic can really make a go of a life where; everything but the kitchen sink has been thrown at him or in his way! In this edition, alone, there have been quite a few bits thrown at him; most noticeable of which being the 2,500 lbs (1,134 kg) projectile with 4 wheels travelling at over 80 mph that decided to change his life’s direction, at the very least.
This is not a Medical-Story; it is a unique and totally true-story about how I have lived a proper ‘LIFE WITH A MEDICAL CONDITION’. A Medical Condition that had been expected to ravage me but has not been allowed to adversely worry me in any way whatsoever. Quite simply put; diabetes has become something of a ‘pussy-cat’ for me. If I am taking care of it and gently caressing its needs; it is fine and will purr along all day. But if I were to allow it to become feral; well it makes perfect sense not to do that, doesn’t it?
Mind you; being badly allergic to cats would not help with that analogy. Whilst this lovely little creature is purring; I will be left wheezing, sneezing and with my eyes streaming. This would not be a sight for anyone with a nervous disposition!
Please allow me to prove to you that being a diabetic should not have been a damning condition and that it could be tamed to be the most silent of partners; even with what we had to put up with then. At the start of my journey here, diabetes represented a much-changed World and not something you would want to experience; when that young.
I have searched for appropriate quotes, mainly from famous individuals; but hearing this tune made a perfect match to the message I am hoping to deliver. I want the world to know how I have managed to live such a wonderful life with my diabetes partner here. I intend to demonstrate just how easy that has been for me, to do; in times and circumstances where it certainly did not lend itself to such! My thanks are extended to ‘Bon Jovi’ for these wonderful lyrics.
