Tim Taylor was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in December 2004 – 3 days before Christmas. Some of the very first DESMOND programmes were running in his local area, and his GP offered him the chance to attend. Did it make a difference for Tim? Read on…
“I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in December of 2004, three days before Christmas and after I had bought the booze, following a routine urine sample test which was followed by a glucose tolerance test to confirm whether I had diabetes or not.
Despite questioning the result, my GP was emphatic about the outcome of the test which is when I was introduced to the DESMOND programme for people newly diagnosed with diabetes. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to attend, but at the time I needed to take advantage of any help that was on offer.
In the meantime I decided to visit the local library to see what I could find out for myself. BIG MISTAKE. By the time I had finished reading I was convinced that if the disease didn’t kill me, I’d die of starvation, as I all there was for me to eat were vegetables and salad. I am sure the authors of these books were eminently qualified to write and communicate their knowledge with the best of intentions, but to a newly-diagnosed diabetes-ignorant patient the information scared the life out of me and convinced me that my life was already over and all I had ahead of me was drugs, needles, blindness and amputation. I now know this is utter rubbish, but to me, at the time, it seemed inevitable.
After having read all these books, I enrolled on the DESMOND programme with little idea (much less faith) of how it could help. All I knew was that it was a programme of education designed to help people like me like to learn how to manage our diabetes. But in all honesty I was apprehensive and unconvinced – particularly as I had a real fear of needles and was sure it was just another excuse to get blood out of me.
Anxiously I climbed the stairs to the first meeting and was shocked to be offered coffee and biscuits on arrival. Didn’t these people know I had diabetes? Were they hell-bent on my destruction? I was, however, warmly greeted by the DESMOND team and soon put at ease. The facilitator explained that biscuits weren’t completely taboo and could be enjoyed in moderation – which immediately made me feel happier - at least I could add biscuits to my food list. It seemed that this educational programme was to be the voice of sanity in my newly-diagnosed state. My wife, who has been very supportive, attended with me on the pretence that she was keen to know more about my condition and learn about diet management but secretly, I think she came to make sure I didn’t stop off at one of the many pubs on route.
We were small group – just two women and two men including myself so it was very relaxed and informal. The session began with each of us introducing ourselves, which was a great ice breaker, and we talked through our experiences, how diagnoses had come about and most importantly, about our concerns for the problems that we faced.
We each voiced our individual concerns; these were written on large sheets of paper. They were pinned to the wall for review at the end of the second session to ensure that nothing had been missed and all our questions answered.
The great comfort I found in the Desmond sessions is that they were really about us, the people with diabetes. It wasn’t three hours of “you must do this, you must do that or you can’t have this or that”. We talked about the disease; its causes; its implications; the mechanics of what was going wrong in our bodies and more importantly, how we could adapt our diet and lifestyle to reduce the dangers caused by diabetes. I think there is a common misconception out there that Type 2 diabetes is nothing to worry about. After all, it can’t be that serious if you control the diabetes by diet alone and don’t need drugs or insulin to treat it. I know I was one. I believed that I’d ‘got away lightly’ because I wasn’t insulin or drug dependent. I soon understood that Type 2 is as serious as insulin dependent Type 1 and while alarmed at that realisation, I was nevertheless grateful for the knowledge.
The sessions were interactive, straightforward and jargon free. We looked at nutrition, a subject close to my stomach and discussed as a group what, ideally, we might want to (and might not want to) eat. We looked at ways of avoiding temptation and at ideas for dealing with any ‘indiscretions’; like how increased exercise or activity can offset glucose excess. But perhaps most importantly, we learned that there were plenty of things we could and should eat. I could still eat chocolate; just a square not the whole bar. I learned about combining complex carbohydrates with protein in a main meal, I could afford a small pudding or a glass of wine.
There were some activities as part of the sessions; one involving an array of foodstuffs on a table and a box of sugar lumps. The idea being, we ‘guestimate’ the quantity of sugar in each item by allocating lumps. Talk about an eye opener! As a group, we had only a vague idea, so collectively we duly allocated the estimated number of sugar lumps to everything from an orange to a packet of fruit pastilles and a sachet of tomato sauce.
When we had finished, the facilitator reviewed our efforts and shared information with us. It was a real education and quite scary to realise the amounts of sugar we ingest daily without a second thought. One stood out for me - a well known fizzy drink containing 35 grams of sugar, that’s equal to twelve sugar lumps or seven teaspoons of sugar. It reinforced the concept of ‘hidden sugar’ in our consciousness.
The second session dealt with our concerns, concentrating more on the ‘dark side’ of diabetes, how it affects our kidneys, eyesight, heart and why foot care is important. The emphasis was always upon how much we could influence the progress of the disease, the tests available and what checks we should carry out for ourselves, such as glucose monitoring.
Because the other members of the group had been exposed to diabetes via friends and relatives and its effects, they had numerous stories to exchange. It became clear that largely speaking, complications were a direct result of either lack of education and understanding, or of ignorance. There was one story of someone who just didn’t care, continued to eat what and whenever they wanted. Sadly the person weighs over thirty stone, has limited sight and loss of feeling in their feet. On the other side I learned of an octogenarian who was diagnosed with Type 2 over fifteen years ago who took control and is still living independently and positively without medication. The message is ‘good education and good management champions good health’.
I manage my diabetes on a day- to-day basis by setting goals and monitoring my progress. I learned to experiment with different foods and know how to eat. I know two slices of my wife’s chocolate bread makes me feel wretched so it’s not worth the hassle but I know one slice, followed by a brisk walk feels wonderful. We now have adverts proclaiming the benefits of Omega 3 for reducing cholesterol levels which is found in fish such as pilchards, salmon, sardines and mackerel; my dog’s had it in her food for years!
Education has given me confidence that if I go off the rails I know how to get back on track. Interestingly I eat far more healthily now, the way I should have eaten years ago.
Shopping is fun, although it does draw some attention - reading food labels for hidden traces of sugar in the guise of glucose, sucrose, lactose, corn syrup et al! I line up loaves of bread along the top shelf, whilst other shoppers look on in pitying disbelief at my preoccupation with the merits of granary over wholemeal bread. Shopping has become as exercise of the brain as well as the legs.
Are there upsides to diabetes?
Well I eat more healthy food, drink more water and have the motivation to exercise. This has resulted in a greater feeling of well being. My wife has great fun experimenting with recipes and has developed a repertoire of ‘sin-reduced’ cakes and biscuits that I can indulge relatively guilt-free if I do feel like something sweet. Even my children have taken steps to reduce their sugar and fat intake through their own choice.
I’m losing weight slowly, the results from my last blood test showed my glucose levels to be within normal limits, 5.5 (the limits being between 4 and 7). My cholesterol - blood fats - was 3.8, below the recommended limit of 5.0.
Has education helped?
I’ll let you decide.
DESMOND is now the local structured education programme of choice for 70 healthcare organisations across Great Britain and Ireland, for people newly diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. And with an ever-growing ‘waiting-list’ to take up the newly diagnosed module, demand for training is at an all-time high.
Two new DESMOND education programmes to be launched in 2008 have the potential to reach thousands more people currently affected by diabetes.