Welcome to our support group, where we all prob'ly wondered once or twice "why me?" But it's a moot question - and we're better advised to apply our energy to getting our blood sugar under control. There's a wealth of wisdom and knowledge here, so ask all the questions you want; did they test you for antibodies? Maybe you're a type 1 or 1.5 - obesity isn't necessarily what causes diabetes. What has your doctor prescribed to manage it?
How did I catch diabeties?
Hi everyone. All my life I have been fairly healthy (I admit to being a bit of a wimp, but I was hardly ever ill). I'm about 5ft 10in and weigh in at around 175 pounds. A modest beer gut, but hardly significantly overweight.
We moved here to the middle of France in 2004 to enjoy a long healthy retirement and until this year we didn't even know the name of the local doctor.
Anyway, just to keep it interesting my brother and his wife came to visit us for a week starting 9 August. The plan was that the car would need a clean out since our dog sometimes forgets to take all her fur with her when she jumps out of the back seat. That was my chore for the afternoon after the shopping. Oh no it wasn't: I felt so under the weather that the wife had to do it and she let me know what she thought about that
By evening, I felt a good bit better and the brother was collected from the station and we went to bed. Tuesday dawned but I didn't - I felt terrible Finally the wife decided that I needed medical help (she doesn't drive) and went to have a word with one of our neighbours who kindly offered to run me to the ER room of the main hospital. Then she waited with the wife for the whole day whilst I was examined.
Fairly quickly it was decided that I had a serious kidney infection and was in the process of going into a DKA coma. However, it did take them over five hours to tell the wife and our friend that I would be staying over and that they might as well go home
The following morning, still plugged into the saline drip, the insulin pump and the antibiotics, the doctor repeated the question I had been asked in the emergency room - perhaps she thought I hadn't understood the French?
No, I had never been diagnosed as diabetic. No, I have no family history of diabeties. My weight has always been about normal.
I'm convinced she thought I was lying!
So now I ask the world - why me?
We moved here to the middle of France in 2004 to enjoy a long healthy retirement and until this year we didn't even know the name of the local doctor.
Anyway, just to keep it interesting my brother and his wife came to visit us for a week starting 9 August. The plan was that the car would need a clean out since our dog sometimes forgets to take all her fur with her when she jumps out of the back seat. That was my chore for the afternoon after the shopping. Oh no it wasn't: I felt so under the weather that the wife had to do it and she let me know what she thought about that
By evening, I felt a good bit better and the brother was collected from the station and we went to bed. Tuesday dawned but I didn't - I felt terrible
Finally the wife decided that I needed medical help (she doesn't drive) and went to have a word with one of our neighbours who kindly offered to run me to the ER room of the main hospital. Then she waited with the wife for the whole day whilst I was examined. Fairly quickly it was decided that I had a serious kidney infection and was in the process of going into a DKA coma. However, it did take them over five hours to tell the wife and our friend that I would be staying over and that they might as well go home
The following morning, still plugged into the saline drip, the insulin pump and the antibiotics, the doctor repeated the question I had been asked in the emergency room - perhaps she thought I hadn't understood the French?
No, I had never been diagnosed as diabetic. No, I have no family history of diabeties. My weight has always been about normal.
I'm convinced she thought I was lying!
So now I ask the world - why me?
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Wow - you've settled down very well in a very short span of time! Good work, John! When you see results like yours, you know you're on the right track, regardless what the medical experts think. I wish my total average were 91!
Hi Bryant,
In this part of France, the nearest town - 5 miles away - has a HUGE population of 823, and where the main hospital is - 20 miles away - all of 3,000. What's a gym??
Walking, running or cycling are the only exercises on offer and with our idiot dog demanding exercise too, walking at least 5 miles each day is more or less compulsory!
Whilst I'm fairly happy with the French crisis management of my DKA incident, their follow up and education program seems to be entirely in the hands of my GP, who seems to be very happy to leave us to it. Perhaps he was thoroughly impressed by log of blood sugar results? Maybe as he gets to know us better, we'll be able to drag more information out of him.
As you say, we're not going to let this spoil our long and happy life here in France!
In this part of France, the nearest town - 5 miles away - has a HUGE population of 823, and where the main hospital is - 20 miles away - all of 3,000. What's a gym?
?Walking, running or cycling are the only exercises on offer and with our idiot dog demanding exercise too, walking at least 5 miles each day is more or less compulsory!
Whilst I'm fairly happy with the French crisis management of my DKA incident, their follow up and education program seems to be entirely in the hands of my GP, who seems to be very happy to leave us to it. Perhaps he was thoroughly impressed by log of blood sugar results? Maybe as he gets to know us better, we'll be able to drag more information out of him.
As you say, we're not going to let this spoil our long and happy life here in France!
Welcome to the forum! First of all I want to clarify something, you don't catch diabetes, it is not contagious. MOST of the time we inherit the disease. And as to why you have gotten the disease....that is a good question and you probably will never know the answer.Hi everyone. All my life I have been fairly healthy (I admit to being a bit of a wimp, but I was hardly ever ill). I'm about 5ft 10in and weigh in at around 175 pounds. A modest beer gut, but hardly significantly overweight.
We moved here to the middle of France in 2004 to enjoy a long healthy retirement and until this year we didn't even know the name of the local doctor.
Anyway, just to keep it interesting my brother and his wife came to visit us for a week starting 9 August. The plan was that the car would need a clean out since our dog sometimes forgets to take all her fur with her when she jumps out of the back seat. That was my chore for the afternoon after the shopping. Oh no it wasn't: I felt so under the weather that the wife had to do it and she let me know what she thought about that
By evening, I felt a good bit better and the brother was collected from the station and we went to bed. Tuesday dawned but I didn't - I felt terrible
Fairly quickly it was decided that I had a serious kidney infection and was in the process of going into a DKA coma. However, it did take them over five hours to tell the wife and our friend that I would be staying over and that they might as well go home
The following morning, still plugged into the saline drip, the insulin pump and the antibiotics, the doctor repeated the question I had been asked in the emergency room - perhaps she thought I hadn't understood the French?
No, I had never been diagnosed as diabetic. No, I have no family history of diabeties. My weight has always been about normal.
I'm convinced she thought I was lying!
So now I ask the world - why me?
1 - 11 of 11 Posts
