Speaking of blood sugar...

I suppose I should talk about my diabetes. I've been diabetic since I was 13. A long time. When I was diagnosed, I'd never heard of it. A couple of days after diagnosis, in hospital, I'd still not really heard much about it. The big surprise came when the nurse came to do my regular insulin jab and informed me, in a matter of fact way, that I would have to do this for the rest of my life. I said yes, of course, but inside I was screaming nooooooooooooooooooo. It all seemed a bit surreal. Back then, it was metal and glass syringes kept in a plastic tube full of surgical spirit and the stainless steel needles were used several times before disposal. The diet was much the same, except they encouraged the use of 'starchy' foods such as potatoes, rice, etc. Nowadays, of course, they discourage the use of these, but one can only thank them for their hard work in keeping us up to date with developments. I found out about the change in attitude recently. I think it may have been known about for a couple of decades, but maybe I should have read a few more articles on the interweb.
Anyway, as a diabetic, I go for a retinopathy check every 6 months or so, which involves the pupils being dilated and both retinas being photographed to look for small capillary arteries growing into the retinal area. This happens if we allow our blood glucose to get too high for too long. I've had a couple of calls to the eye specialist before who said there's not too much wrong if I take care of my blood sugar levels. I naturally said yes, of course, and carried on the guessing game that is blood sugar roulette. This time, however, I've had to have minor laser treatment to correct a problem in my left eye. The specialist left me in no doubt about the future if I don't improve. So, with the amazing dedication of my fabulous girlfriend, I am trying my damnedest to get control of my diabetes.
Things are better than they were a few weeks ago, but there's still lots to do. We're waiting to see a dietician in 7 weeks time. We're hoping to see the specialist nurse at the hospital in a couple of weeks. Meantime, we're on our own but we have found a lovely forum at http://www.diabetessupport.co.uk/ where they are all very friendly and helpful and have encouraged us to keep trying.
Meantime, I test my blood several times a day and my GF documents it all until one day, we may see a pattern forming.
I am now going to help in putting the birds to bed. More on that another time.