chickencam Posted November 8, 2016 Share Posted November 8, 2016 My OH has just been diagnosed with this, I have been trying to persuade him to get tested for a couple of years, but men are stubborn Came as no surprise to me or him if he is honest. He went for a pre operation assessment for Dupytrens Contracture which is his little finger having curled into his palm. They tested his urine and said the sugar levels were sky high then did a finger prick test which read 24 they sent him straight off for a blood test which shows the average level of sugar over a 2/3 month period. The results were back very quickly and the GP surgery rang to give him an appointment with the diabetes nurse in a couple of weeks. He is otherwise in very good health blood pressure excellent etc. He is overweight but not too much but does have a very sweet tooth. Just wondered what advice you lovely people can offer and what is likely to happen at his first appointment. He has been very good for the past 24 hours and eaten nothing sugary, long may it last, shame that it had to come to this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alis girls Posted November 9, 2016 Share Posted November 9, 2016 Diabetes UK has great advice. 1 you are entitled to flu Vax annually 2 pneumonia Vax once 3 annual eye check for diabetic retinopathy 4 annual foot check 5 see if your area does weight watchers on nhs and gym memberships 6 stop smoking I assume he doesn't 7 moderate alcohol 8 loosing weight is most difficult thing for anyone I would suggest weight watchers or slimming world unless you both need to lose like OH and I did. Easier to do together. 9 I think you might need to let DVLA on only if on medication. Check with nurse 10 and ask advice re travel insurance if travelling your nurse should know this. I am out of touch with diabetes but there is good advice on website. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alis girls Posted November 9, 2016 Share Posted November 9, 2016 Forgot to add don't get diabetic products very pricey and can cause tummy upsets as lots of sweeteners which can cause diarrhoea. Good luck. Pm me if any questions Ali xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickencam Posted November 9, 2016 Author Share Posted November 9, 2016 Thanks I have been reading up on sites like Diabetes UK. unfortunately he is a smoker, he seemed fairly determined to give up a month or so ago but then got a horrible cold and use drugs that as an excuse. I am trying to make it more and more difficult for him to smoke but he is very stubborn. I a man hoping that a lecture from the nurse will help. He has had the self discipline not to eat anything sugary for the past two evenings, although he has done nothing but moan about being hungry . Hopefully he will have the same discipline when it comes to giving up smoking, not holding my breath though, he has smoked for 35 years . Will check in the driving situation. We are both fairly active but will get out for more walks which we had already started to do. Like I say he is in otherwise surprisingly good health. He is 51 with a BMI of 30.3 so not disastrous and hopefully this will be the wake up call he needs to get his lifestyle sorted, he is an habitual snacker! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alis girls Posted November 9, 2016 Share Posted November 9, 2016 The smoking is a big no no. He could lose a leg if his circulation is poor due to high blood sugar. He has to tackle one thing at a time. If he can get his diet sorted and more exercise he can tackle the smoking next. Poss your nurse or another medic does stop smoking classes at surgery. They are better than trying to do it alone. Men are very difficult. OH lost 2 stone only because I did WW with him and although he moans I tell him to go and get fat again if he wants . I did lose weight with him. Sorry to the guys on forum but health wise you are a nightmare. I used to see the newly diagnosed once and do the basics and then saw them again a few weeks later and go over things. It's a lot to take on board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quickcluck Posted November 9, 2016 Share Posted November 9, 2016 just remember that when trying to be healthy, not to eat lots of fruit as it's sugar heavy. They say 1 or 2 pieces a day, apple and banana that sort of thing, soft summer fruits are tricky. But a basic low fat diet is all that is needed. and as said b4 dont get pulled into the diabetic products. I think that a diet change and increase in exercise can really help. Chances are there will be some sort of medication, but none of this will greatly interfere with your lives, once he is in the swing of it, it'll be second nature! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickencam Posted November 12, 2016 Author Share Posted November 12, 2016 Thank you We have been doing a lot of reading, still a lot that we need to get our heads around but OH has decided to try the 8 week blood sugar diet. So far he has done 5 days feels a lot better and his blood sugar is down from 24 to 10.5. I am joining him but not quite so severely, my blood sugar is fine but I could do with losing weight. He bought a blood glucose monitor and used me as a control. I am hopeful that this will be a turnaround in our health and wellbeing. We did spend about an hour and a half in Waitrose today though reading every label. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat tails Posted November 13, 2016 Share Posted November 13, 2016 You could visit a medical pedicure. One that specializes in people with diabetes. To keep on top of his feet ( ) is key. Once problems occur, it's harder to cure them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alis girls Posted November 13, 2016 Share Posted November 13, 2016 Diabetes UK do some recipes. Robin Ellis aka first Ross Poldark has type 2 diabetes does a blog with recipes and has wrote books. Don't know how much you like to cook. Get relatives to resist the urge to buy diabetic food goodies for Christmas for him. Great that he's got his sugar down by half. And he feels better too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickencam Posted November 14, 2016 Author Share Posted November 14, 2016 Got a great reading before tea tonight 8.2 we have walked about 5 miles today. Was back up after tea though to 13 we did have a casserole with some root veg though but with no potatoes and loads of green veg. He is still pretty motivated and is sleeping pretty well too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat tails Posted November 15, 2016 Share Posted November 15, 2016 Sounds like he's getting to grips with it! Well done OH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...