Your Stories

Katherine's Story

Climbing Kilimanjaro was something I had always wanted to do. At 5,895m, it was not only the highest point in Africa but also the highest freestanding mountain in the world!! However having had diabetes since the age of 10, I thought it was something I could only dream of.

It all started when my parents came to pick me up at the end of my first year at university. Included in the post that they brought me was a letter from Diabetes UK informing me about the climb to the summit of Kilimanjaro in September 2007. Having just got back from four days camping for my Gold Duke of Edinburgh expedition in the cheviots, I immediately signed up without a second thought.

It was a year and a half between signing up and departure and it flew by, filled with lots of fundraising, car boot sales and spending a lot of time training for the expedition. I got up to the lakes with my parents whenever I could (luckily they were also very keen walkers and very supportive) and was going to the gym several times a week, as well as playing the many sports that I play for my university.

To be honest, as time got closer I was terrified. People kept telling me horror stories of altitude sickness and how tough it was. It began to dawn on me what a challenge this was actually going to be. After spending hours packing the endless amount of kit into my rucksacks, the time soon came to drive down to Heathrow from my home in Manchester and I don’t think I have ever been so quiet and nervous in my life. Despite the training I felt completely unprepared and had no idea how I would react to the altitude, as I had never been that high before.  

I met the rest of the group at the check in desk at the airport easily recognised by the white charity challenge t-shirts we had been given. It was at this point that the reality of the situation hit us all as we all smiled nervously for a picture and then went through to departures. My nerves certainly weren’t eased when going through security when I had my bag emptied and searched, undoing all the hard work I had put into squeezing all the stuff in. However it was nice afterwards to get to know everyone, people from all walks of life, of all ages from myself a student of 20 years old to Butch a retired 62 year old. Some had diabetes like myself, others with diabetic relatives, but all were genuinely really nice people doing their bit for a very worthy charity.

We spent a day travelling from Kenya to Tanzania, then a day travelling from the bush camp in Tanzania, where we saw giraffes and zebras and travelled past masaii villages to the gates of Kilimanjaro national park. It was worrying that for all that time we had not even caught a glimpse of Kilimanjaro. However Mt Meru, was a common sight on the horizon looking extremely high and frightening despite being a thousand metres less in height. It was only after spending a day climbing through the jungle, and at our second camp on the mountain that the clouds disappeared and we caught the first glimpse of the mountain. There were gasps of fear from everyone.

 

The climb up took a number of days so that we could acclimatise and maximise our chances of reaching the top. We went through the jungle and rainforest of the Lemosho Glades and walked on the high altitude dessert plateau of Shira blown away through volcanic action. We experienced boiling hot temperatures during the day being so close to the equator then freezing temperatures during the night as the clouds disappeared and we got the ever-approaching view of the summit. Everything was needed from shorts and sunhats to thermals and balaclavas but thankfully we didn’t have to carry it all. Each of us had our own porter to carry our main rucksacks for us, many of them doing it as a summer job, earning money before they went off to university. Unlike us, doing the walk each day poley poley, translated as slowly slowly, they ran. They left camp after us, once the tents and cooking facilities were packed away, then overtook us and had tents set up when we arrived into camp each night with hot bowls of water that provided our only form of a wash for the duration of the trek. They definitely deserved their tip at the end of the trip, especially the cooks who provided morning tea to our tent and three course meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I certainly didn’t loose any weight as I was expecting to.

After the last ascent before summit night we all had our evening meal and went to get some sleep as we did most nights come to think of it. One of the signs of altitude sickness was restless sleep but I definitely didn’t have that symptom. We were all then woken at 11.30pm, made a cup of hot Milo (hot chocolate) that we had all come to love and set off for the summit at half past midnight. I had seven layers on, yet I was still cold in temperatures of –15 degrees, and had only the moonlight to guide me as my head torch ran out of battery life after 10 minutes due to the altitude. The six hours spent climbing up steep scree were probably the worst of my life. Fortunately I didn’t get any symptoms at all of altitude sickness as others did such as vomiting and headaches, I can’t even imagine what I would have been like if I had. The night seemed to last forever though at the time, thinking back, it all seems a bit of a blur. I just remember feeling incredibly tired and wanting to rest, but told off every time I stopped and being told I’d freeze if I didn’t keep moving. I’m not sure how I conjured up the energy to keep going, but just kept imagining myself standing at the top and couldn’t give up.

 

The best part of the whole challenge came when we reached Stella Point, the ridge of the volcano. The steep ascent was over! As we sat down and were forced to have a hot drink, (all the water we had was frozen) the sun began to rise beneath us. The faint orange and red glow on the horizon was beautiful! It gave me the last bit of energy to reach Uhuru peak, the highest point in the sunlight. It was a moment I will never forget and a truly amazing achievement. The views from the top with the glacier ice fields and a blanket of cloud beneath were breathtaking. Although I think I was too much in a daze at the top to really appreciate it, I feel privileged and honoured to have climbed it. It was definitely victory day and a dream come true!! It just goes to show that if you treat diabetes well, take regular blood tests and account for the exercise whilst calculating insulin doses, diabetes can’t stand in the way of anything. I have the pictures and the t-shirt to prove it!!

It only took a day and a half to get down back through the beautiful rainforest to the finishing gate. We all had a well-deserved bottle of Kilimanjaro beer and were driven to a lodge, which provided a very welcome comfortable bed and a proper shower, something we had not had for 8 days. I don’t think I will ever take some things for granted again.

Getting back to university for my final year, it is hard to believe I did it. I’m already looking for something else to do, but who knows what’s next? Maybe for my 25^th birthday when I’ll have had diabetes for 15 years I’ll climb Everest. You never know though, in 5 years time, diabetes might not even exist. We’ll just have to watch this space.

Chris's Story

I have lived with type 1 diabetes for 27 years. Through childhood I failed miserably to cope with urine testing, eating the correct foods, injecting insulin and ultimately maintaining good blood sugar levels.

Throughout my teenage years medical advances meant I could use pens to inject and blood glucose testing machines to check my control but I always felt diabetes was controlling me rather than the other way round. Constantly I would read articles about people doing fantastic feats despite diabetes and I was left feeling a failure. I never did anything special, and was struggling to keep on an even keel.

But without a word of exaggeration there was the day that revolutionised my life, a massive turning point that I remember with passion because my life was to be different from then on….. I was a Diabetes Specialist Nurse and went on a three day training course to learn about insulin pump therapy.

I was connected to a pump for 3 days and unlike the other staff on the course decided to try it for real with insulin instead of water. I learned about the theory surrounding insulin pumps and much sense was made, within 12 hrs I awoke with a clear head, energy that was incredible and a feeling of utter amazement. I was experiencing what I know I should have been feeling but had not achieved for 27 yrs despite hard work.

From that day on, my blood sugars became more stable, I was now more motivated than ever and felt there was a true gain in testing and ultimately a result…. I was able to control my blood sugar levels, have more options with my diet and for the first time in my life I had power and power meant I could live a more spontaneous life like my family, friends, neighbours and contemporise. I was one of them !

Of course I never wanted to abuse my body but I did want to be able to have a few drinks, the odd treat, and skip the odd meal when it suited. Wearing a pump allowed me to do these things, feel well and still control my diabetes.

I still have to work hard each and every day but the feeling of being different was less of an issue. I felt well, I felt normal, I actually felt the passion of being an achiever rather than a failure.

Sue's Story

" Sue Marshall, who's worked in journalism for 20 years and has had type 1 diabetes since she was 5. She has worked with Accu-Chek as editor for the Reach magazine and on it's diabetes newsletter."

I was diagnosed as a Type 1 diabetic just before my 5th birthday, way back in 1972. Back then there were no blood glucose testing machines, and injections were big glass and metal affairs, and the needles were 3/4 of an inch long. Things have really changed!

I've lived through being a child with diabetes, a teenager, through my twenties and most of my thirties. This meant getting through school, college and embarking on a career while keeping my diabetes under control in order to make the most of each of those environments.

Each decade since has brought a lot of personal change, and it’s also brought a lot of improvements and innovations in diabetes management.

Over time, I’ve spoken to many people with diabetes, and it’s extremely heartening to speak to many people who’ve had diabetes longer than I have and seem perfectly OK in health and in mind.

While there is a discipline to living with diabetes, it’s all much easier than it was, with far greater choice and control.

Kim's Diary

Then....

In March 1986 (at the age of fourteen), I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.  This in itself really did not present too much of a problem to me at the time - I was spoiled rotten, had a couple of weeks off from school and generally reveled in the attention. I did not really pay too much attention to the condition that I was told that I had, I carried on eating pretty much what I wanted to and generally did not take much care of myself. At the age of 17, I ended up in intensive care, through having the ‘Flu and running out of Insulin (I thought that I would be fine eating salad for a day ...) This did teach me a lesson and so gradually I began to take a little more care of myself…

For years I managed my diabetes pretty well, my Hba1c results were reasonable and I only had a few Hypos here and there.

Fitness was never part of my life. At school I struggled to get around the cross country course (usually last and apart from the appropriate effort in front of the PE teachers, normally walked the majority of the way. I did a few ‘keep fit’ classes (normally commencing every January!) but these never lasted for very long.

 

Now....

In 2006, I sat and watched the 2006 London Marathon as I did every year, envying those who were so fit to be able to run the 26.2 miles. At that point I had had diabetes for 20 years. The next year would be 21 years with this condition (that’s a fair few injections!). So at that point, I made the decision that the next year , 2007 would be the year that I would do the Marathon. Here is my story so far…

 

April 2006

As we live in the countryside, there are no pavements or streetlights, so with safety (and warmth and television!) in mind and finally convincing my husband that I would definitely use it and that it wouldn't sit in the corner of the lounge gathering dust, I bought a treadmill. My husband’s colleague was selling one at work - ‘Little Used’.

With great excitement, we set up the treadmill and with great trepidation, I began to run - for about two minutes - before collapsing into a heap on the settee. I had a long way to go…

 

May - July 2006

For a few months, I got onto the treadmill every now and then (1 -2 times a week), trying to convince myself that I was ‘in training,’ I told a few people that next year, I would be running the London marathon. A few people sniggered and raised their eyebrows, some even laughed out loud (Yes, you know who you are!). My diabetes was generally well controlled at this time, if running, I would have extra carbohydrate to compensate for the extra energy that I was using up.

Managed a couple of half hour sessions. Also some fitness videos - now I know why Cher is so thin! I have noticed that I have lost weight since I have started to run and alter my pre - meal Insulin when I know that I will be running later on in the day. Before I begin running, I always check my blood sugar levels.

 

August 2006

So, I had decided to run the marathon and raise some money for charity. Which one should I choose? I applied for a 'Golden Bond ' place via Diabetes UK and also the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) I wanted to raise money for a charity that were helping people with diabetes. I also applied through the normal ballot system. Now all I had to do was sit and wait!

On August 31st, I received confirmation from the JDRF that I had been accepted and a few weeks later, Diabetes UK confirmed that they too were happy to give me a 'Golden Bond' place in the Marathon. (My little boy asked me if I was going to run twice!). I decided to run for the JDRF simply because they had offered me a position first.

 

September 2006

Everything now seemed real, it was actually happening. I knew that I had to take a serious look at my training, my diet and my Diabetes. I made an appointment with my Gp and the Podiatrist. Everyone seemed very interested in what I was planning to do and as my diabetes had been well controlled so far, there did not seem to be any reason why I should not be able to 'go the distance'. However, I was advised to visit my consultant at the local Diabetic Centre to ask for further advice and also to speak to the dietician.

Now able to run for an hour without stopping! As I get to know how my body is likely to react during training, I am able to adjust my Insulin according to the amount of energy that I use up.

 

October 2006

So thankful for my treadmill! On days when it is getting cold outside, I am grateful to be able to run indoors! I am busy trying to fundraise at the moment and conscious that I still have an awful lot of money to raise. My blood sugar levels are erratic at times as my training does vary from day to day. With a hectic family life and working as well, I try to fit in what training I can. This can be early morning runs or late at night, so I really do have to keep a very close eye on my blood sugar levels.

 

November 2006 

I visited the Diabetes centre to discuss my needs whilst training for the marathon. It was a bit of a learning curve for everybody to determine my regime during my training and also during the run itself. I spoke to the dietician and it was agreed that I would complete a food diary for her to view, alongside my Insulin dosage and details of the training that I was doing.

That in itself would be a challenge (remembering to write everything down as well as fundraising, training, working and being a 'normal' person too!)

Now training for 4 - 6 days per week. I have run 15 miles! My runs now consist of basic runs (of varying length) and also doing some fast runs of thirty minutes and also some 'uphill' training.

 

December 2006

Training for the marathon? After fighting my way around the supermarket for an hour and a half, feels as though I have done my training for the day already... However, I manage to plough on, but do give myself a rest for a few days over Christmas. It prepares me for the running that I need to burn off those 'extra few pounds' that strangely accumulate around this time of year!

I now need to increase the amount of training that I am doing, so I begin to gradually increase the length of my runs and am now able to run for about 10 miles on alternate days, with some 'hill work' slotted in and also some 'speed runs' here and there too. I always make sure that I have plenty of carbohydrate within my diet if I know that I will be running later on in the day. If I try to run without eating a good amount of carbohydrate, then I find that I do not have the energy to run. I think that sometimes having diabetes plays such a huge part of my life, that it is easy to forget that I will also have the normal problems that a trainee marathon runner will have.

 

January 2007

I love the period of New Year, as it always feels like a fresh start. With Christmas over with, I join the rest of the population and promise myself that I will eat more healthy foods and do more exercise! It is great to have a goal to work towards and I feel great that I made the decision to run the marathon. I visit the Diabetes Centre to put up a display about my run to try and raise funds. After a chat with the Diabetic Specialist Nurse and the dietician we arrange for me to visit next month to look at my food diary and discuss the next plan of action.

My blood sugar levels seem to be higher in the mornings at the moment, but seems to be lower during the day. I increase my night time Insulin and lower my pre- meal doses which seem to help a little. Definitely something that I need to discuss when I visit the Diabetes centre. I also need to be thinking about what I will be doing on the actual day. I plan to be running for between 5 and 6 hours, so I need to have a plan. After some research I realise that the people that I have read about who have had diabetes and who have run the marathon all seem to have done something different - i.e. they have swapped their Insulin regime around and some have even injected on route! I realise that it will need careful consideration.

 

February 2007

Time is ticking by and I am beginning to worry that I am not doing enough training, but after logging on to a website dedicated to first time marathon runners, I realise that I am not doing too badly. I have arranged to go into the local infant school to discuss the marathon and having diabetes. One of their topics this half-term is 'going for goals,' so it seems appropriate. I have told my children that if they do not behave, I will go in wearing my running shorts! Strangely enough they are on their best behavior.....

 

February 2007 cont...

Disaster! I had read that uphill running was good to do whilst training... So far this had proved to be easy to do in short bursts, either on the roads or the treadmill. So, it seemed like a good idea to run on a small incline on the treadmill, it seemed easy, so I carried on and ran (gently), steadfastly ignoring the niggles in my right foot... The next day I did my usual 10 miles on the flat and the following day? I could just about manage to hobble around the house, while the area under my right foot arch began to swell... Lots of crepe bandages and anti-inflammatories later it was no better and after consulting a physiotherapist, it was decided that the best thing was rest. REST! Did they not understand? I was running the London marathon in two months time, how could I possibly rest? So I got back on the treadmill and began to run. After about 1/2 mile, I had to admit defeat. I would have to do what I was told (aagh!) and rest.

Unfortunately, my body had now adapted to the lower levels of Insulin and my ever increasing appetite. Now I had to keep a really close eye on my blood sugar levels and my stomach grumbled in protest at the lack of constant snacks to which it had become accustomed.

Hooray! After one week without a run, I was now able to manage without the usual painkillers and ice pack in the evening. After trying a very tentative mile, I found that I was able to run without pain. It was definitely a lesson learned. Now that I had begun to run again, I needed to readjust my levels of Insulin and eat more (heh heh heh!).

 

March 2007

My heart was pounding... beads of sweat began to form on my brow.... my mouth was dry. No it was not a training session, (something even more scary) - I was just about to address a room full of 4 -9 year olds and talk to them about training for the London marathon and having Type 1 Diabetes. One confident child put up his hand and explained to me the reason that I had diabetes was because I had eaten too much sugar - his Grandad had diabetes. I explained (in basic terms) the differences between Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes, but inside felt sad that children were still led to believe that diabetes could develop in this way. With the aid of my son's 'The Human Body' poster, a pair of kitchen scales, and a bag of sugar, I managed to explain a little bit about diabetes and what a good idea it was to set goals in life and aim to achieve them. Unfortunately, this thought is not always foremost in my mind when I am pounding the streets at 08:00 on a Sunday morning....

However, I have just completed 18 miles and am feeling very pleased with myself. I ate plenty before I left and also carried some liquid glucose with me, just in case. When I eventually arrived home, my blood sugar level was 2.9 mmols. Time for some fast acting carbohydrate I think!

I have also been to see the dietician at my local Diabetes centre. She was very helpful and later revealed that she was also a 'runner'. After looking at my food diaries, she suggested that I eat a little more protein in my diet.

41 days to go! (not that I'm counting)!

March 2007 cont..

I decided to give up alcohol for Lent. It seemed like a great idea, (at the time!). No alcohol for forty days or forty nights, shouldn't be a problem and would obviously benefit me in my training. After all, what use is a few glasses of 'empty' calories with an evening meal? My husband also kindly volunteered to go 'alcohol free' too, which was kind of him. (He frequently reminds me). He has since tried to badger me into having the odd glass particularly when we went out for an evening meal with some friends. I have to admit, the sugar free fizzy substance that we consumed for the most of the evening had began to lose it's sparkle (and I'm not talking about the carbon dioxide!).

Anyway not long to go (the marathon is not far off either! :.)

Today I ran for 20 miles! Hooray! That is the furthest that I have ever run and I intend to make it the last 'long' run before the day itself. My blood sugar levels were actually quite stable:

Pre breakfast 6.6 mmols.

Pre run       8.6 mmols

Post run     7.6 mmols

I was very pleased with these results as I had been been running for 3hrs and 50 mins. (I am quite a slow runner). Later in the afternoon, my blood sugar levels did begin to drop (a good excuse to open the Mother's Day Maltesers). It did level out, but this does demonstrate the need to closely monitor after exercise.

Next weekend I will be running a 10k race, which will be the first race I have entered ... should be interesting!

26 days to go and I am definitely counting now!

April 2007

Hooray! I ran the 10k race and even felt envious of those that were running the half marathon... (I must be keen!). The thing is, will I feel that way when I am running the London marathon? I think that I will enjoy every minute of it. Even whilst running the 10k, the adrenaline rush was amazing, especially as I pounded towards the finish line with everyone cheering and clapping - I smiled my best smile for the camera as I collected my medal.

The 10k run was part of my training and I am now beginning to 'taper'. For all those that don't run, this means easing off with the training, doing shorter runs until eventually you wind down completely in preparation for the Big Day and allow your body to gear itself up for the gruelling distance of 26.2 miles. Physically, my body is glad of a rest, but mentally it is quite difficult to do, as for the last 8 months I have strived to build up the distances that I have been running and now I am almost feeling guilty for not completing the mileage that I had previously been achieving.

As I am not covering the same sort of distances, my dietary needs have also changed again and consequently my Insulin doses have had to increase slightly as I am not using so much energy. It is easy to put on weight at this time, so I have to be careful about fat intake etc (great at Easter time!)

The local press have also printed my story today - hopefully I may manage to raise further funds for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). Unfortunately my photograph has aged me by about 50 years, but who knows I may get some sympathetic donations!

April 16th

Three days to go! I ran 5 kilometeres yesterday - my last 'proper' run and tomorrow my family and I will be travelling to London in preparation for the 22nd. The next time that I write, I will hopefully have a photograph of me wearing my medal.

My children will also be cheering me on. They are aged 7 and 9 and very excited about it all. I hope that they will also be inspired to go out and achieve their goals in life.

April 23rd 'The Day After'

I finished! My time was 5 hrs and 56 minutes. It was slightly slower than I had hoped for, but in the end I was just glad to finish in one piece! The day was very hot, apparantly it was one of the hottest days for running the marathon. The atmosphere was absolutely fantastic and the spectators provided invaluable support, shouting encouragement just when it was needed.

I had started well prepared (I thought!) My blood sugar level was around 7 mmols before breakfast. I had a bagel and some orange juice, and reduced my insulin a little to compensate for the high amount of enegy that I would be using. By the time I had reached the start, my blood sugar has risen to 22 mmols! I was feeling thirsty at this stage and the queues for the toilets were growing longer and longer! After approximately 15 mins, I rechecked my levels and they remained high, so I then made the decision to inject myself with 4 units of Humalog. This obviously did the trick and my blood sugar level went down.... and down.... although I took three sachets of glucose gel and a cereal bar, I still had to down 3 pouches of Lucozade to maintain my blood sugar levels. However, I tested approximately 10 times during the course and my levels seemed to be relatively stable, as long as I kept sipping the Lucozade!

The next time that I needed to have any insulin was 20:00 hrs, before I had a sandwich. I have also been careful to test my blood regularly since as the effects of the exercise continue to have an effect.

The day was absolutely fantastic, I achieved my lifetime's ambition and I have raised over £2200 pounds for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation who are working hard to find a cure for type 1 diabetes. I have also become very fit which will obviously contribute to my management of my diabetes.

Athough it is advised that everyone should consult their doctor before embarking on an exercise regime, I would definitely recommend running the London marathon and yes, I will be doing it again!