Coping with life as a diabetic
by Rintos Mail, features@theborneopost.com. Posted on March 22, 2015, Sunday
Voon takes his blood to be tested and at right inserts the black code key into a glucose meter.
He has been living with Type 2 diabetes over the past 28 years.
The 83-year-old is very open about his condition — maybe you would be too if you have had the disease all this while.
“I have never been secretive about it. I think the more open you are with people, the better it is. After all, at some point, you might need their help or you may even help to create awareness of the disease among others,” he said.
While it is not the first thing the octogenarian will talk about when he meets someone new, he, nonetheless, is not really worried about telling people if he needs to explain the effects of the disease to them.
After all, he is secretary of Diabetes Malaysia, Sarawak branch.
Voon, a former lecturer at the Batu Lintang Teachers’ Training College — now Teacher Education Institute Batu Lintang Campus — can still remember when he first knew he had a high glucose level.
“One day, in 1987, I went to meet my friend, a doctor, at his home and between our chatting, he suggested I make a random blood test for glucose level. I didn’t hesitate. He gave me the test and found my glucose level at 11.”
The doctor friend then advised him to double check and seek medication.
The blood test at a government clinic (at Jalan Masjid, Kuching) showed an even higher reading. He then asked to be registered as a diabetic patient at the clinic.
“After consultation with the doctor, I began my diabetic control by doing exercise and watching my diet. I had been doing that for five years.
“Later, I found I could not control my condition and asked for oral medication. I tried that for two months but still it was difficult to control, so I tried insulin. Since 1992, I have been dependent on insulin injections,” he revealed.
Not a surprise
Voon said he was not surprised he has diabetes. His mother and his maternal grandmother also had it.
“My grandma went through amputation while my mum had kidney failure. In the 1970s, there was no medication for diabetes, let alone insulin injections. The tips for diabetics at the time were only exercise and diet control.”
Voon said living with diabetes left him with little choice but to change his lifestyle, pointing out that aside from diet control, he had to do regular exercise.
“I have to watch not just what to eat, but also the portion, at every meal.
“To make sure my diabetes is under control, I bought a blood test meter to check my blood pressure and a smart check meter to test my glucose level every day.
“I do random blood glucose tests before going to sleep and fasting blood glucose tests early in the morning after waking up. I have to do it every day to have an idea whether my insulin is working or not.”
Voon has avoided high sugar, high fat, high salt and high carbohydrate food most of the time. He still consumes them but in controlled portions.
“For example, if I take one plate of rice (high in carbohydrates) last time, now I take a quarter plate.”
Different diet controls
However, Voon said his diet control may not be suitable for others as it all depends on the individual.
“The personal diet of one diabetic may not suit everybody — there is no one-diet-fits-all formula.”
He said some people could not avoid eating a large portion of rice because they need the energy to work.
“For example, it’s impossible to expect a farmer to eat less rice and take less sugar. These are good sources of energy and the farmers need them to do their work.”
As far as Voon is concerned, regular exercise does help him control his glucose level and blood pressure.
He used to swim and play badminton before undergoing a bladder operation in 1992. Subsequently, he took up health-enhancing exercises such as Tai Chi and walking, but stopped the former when it became too strenuous.
“I made modifications, taking just a few steps to do some exercise at this age. I do my modified Tai Chi exercise maybe for five minutes, then the other exercises like walking and jogging for about 10 minutes.”
Voon suggested that if one feels unwell, it is always better to find out whether diabetes is the cause.
Based on information displayed at the association, among the signs of diabetes are frequent passing of urine, thirst, weight loss, tiredness, frequent skin infections, blurring of vision, dental disease, numbness in the hands or neck, and itching especially of the genitalia.
The chronic complications of diabetes include heart attack, blindness, stroke, kidney failure, damage to blood vessels in legs, foot ulcers or gangrene, impotence, nerve damage and leg amputation.
Diabetes may also sometimes lead to cancer, brain damage, enlarged heart, heart failure, pregnancy complications (large babies), high blood pressure, bad cholesterol, being overweight and obesity.
Better now than later Voon said it is better for one to know now rather than later so that one could learn more about the long-term effects and complications of the disease, and make more lifestyle changes.
“It’s hard to advise people but if you have been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, you’d better commit yourself to making gradual changes and putting a healthy and realistic routine together,” he pointed out.
He suggested joining a support group for the knowledge and long-term success.
“The group may offer emotional support to help the diabetics stay motivated and stick to positive lifestyle changes.”
Voon agreed that being diabetic does not mean the inability to live a normal life.
“You can live just as healthy a life provided you have the condition under control. You just have to be more conscious about yourself than the person next to you and learn what your body is telling you, and act on it.”
At 83, Voon still looks healthy — and does not seem to have diabetes. You would not know he is diabetic if he did not tell you.
He believes education on diabetes has been a lifesaver for him and could be for others as well.
“If we have more knowledge about the disease, we are in a better position to control it. Since I was diagnosed with diabetes, I joined the Diabetes Malaysia Association and from my involvement, I have learned a lot on how to control my glucose level. I know the importance of proper dieting and exercise in diabetic control — which I have been doing until today,” he explained.
Voon puts a test strip with his blood into the glucose meter (top) and shows his blood glucose reading.
Type 1 diabetes develops when the insulin-producing cells in the body have been destroyed and the body is unable to produce any insulin.
Type 1 diabetes accounts for about 10 per cent of all adults with diabetes and is treated by daily insulin injections, a healthy diet and regular physical activity.
It can develop at any age but usually appears before the age of 40, and especially in childhood. It is the most common type of diabetes found in childhood.
Type 2 diabetes develops when the insulin-producing cells in the body are unable to produce enough insulin, or when the insulin produced does not work properly (known as insulin resistance). The cells are only partially unlocked and glucose builds up in the blood.
Type 2 diabetes usually appears in people over the age of 40, though in South Asian people, who are at greater risk, it often appears from the age of 25.
It is also becoming more common in children, adolescents and young people of all ethnicities.
Type 2 diabetes accounts for between 85 and 95 per cent of all afflicted people and is treated with a healthy diet and increased physical activity. In addition, medication and/or insulin are often required.
Often, diabetes is caused by poor diet. A lifetime of too much refined sugar and fat will put your body into a state where it is eternally having difficulties dealing with high sugar levels in the blood.
