I am sick in bed, so thought
now might be the perfect time for a new blog post!
Over the last couple of
months, I seem to have been almost constantly unwell… Infection after cold
after infection, on and off antibiotics and God know what else: the Korean
doctors do love prescribing a medley of brightly-coloured pills at the first
sign of illness…
I have
been slightly frustrated by my experiences over this time. Firstly, departments
within the hospital do not seem to communicate… My first visit to the ‘Family
Medicine/ Infectious Diseases’ department resulted in my first ever batch of
pills Korean-style:
These seemed to do the trick, but the doctor
didn’t have any knowledge of my diabetes or diabetes in general, especially the
propensity for diabetics to get this kind of infection and the fact that it
could be indicative of more serious complications.
The symptoms subsided and I
went on as usual, only to be knocked sideways by the same thing a couple of
weeks later. Annoyingly this time on a weekend when most departments at the
hospital are closed. I was advised to go to the clinic in Home Plus, a new find
and one that only served to remind me that you can literally get or do ANYTHING
in Korean supermarkets! Again the doctor prescribed a batch of brightly
coloured pills. Again, I mentioned my diabetes and was poo-pooed.
Finally, this week my body
seemed to have had enough. The symptoms of the infection reared their head
again but this time the lymph nodes in the right of my neck reacted by swelling
up to 4 times their usual size and throbbing like mad. The pain has spread
through my neck, jaw and into the right side of my mouth. Two more doctors
apoointments in 3 days have resulted in yet more antibiotics, painkillers and
antacids, but no real answer to the problem.
I am worried that there is
something more sinister going on, even though I hope beyond all hopes that I
just have too much time to think! You see, while I know rationally that I am
not old, I feel ‘old’ in terms of my diabetic life. I have had diabetes for
more of my life than I haven’t; 18
years, 7 months, 22 days and 1 hour in total.
JDRF UK, say that one form
of diabetic complication, retinopathy, usually
occurs after around 20 years of having diabetes. Diabetes UK separates the
range of complications into two brackets: long-term
and short-term. I can only assume I am getting close to the long-term
bracket.
I have never felt this
rundown in my life, or been so sick so often in such a short amount of time. It
worries me that my body is suffering and my immune system is not what it should
be.
However, looking on the
positive side of things, next Monday is P-Day… A week yesterday I will be
admitted to hospital to get my insulin pump… One super-positive thing that I
hope will help to get me back on an upward spiral. For one, a week in hospital
right now cannot be a bad thing! Secondly, I will undergo tests for diabetic
complications: an event I am not looking forward to at all, but which will at
least give me answers. Finally, I will spend time working on the titration of
my doses.
I have been spending some time over the last
few days exploring my options with Lisa from IGS as I have received my pump
possibilities from my diabetes doctor at Paik:
1. Medtronic Paradigm insulin pump (712 pump)
2. Medtronic Paradigm Realtime insulin pump (722 pump/ 522 pump)
3. Medtronic Paradigm Realtime insulin pump (722 pump/ 522 pump)
with wireless transmitter
with wireless transmitter
At
the moment I am none the wiser, but I am
going to spend the rest of today sleeping and reading this page and
its offshoots on the Integrated Diabetes Services website in preparation for my
Skype appointment with Lisa tomorrow morning…
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