Diabetic drivers

[Floridatilly]

Originally Posted by daytonababe

If she’s got poor control and little hypo awareness she really shouldn’t be driving until it’s under control
She’ll be a danger to others as well as herself..

A friend of mine has to have his licence renewed yearly , he’s a type1 as is his son who has just begun lessons but he has good control and rarely has hypo’s.

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I completely agree with you. Honestly if it wasn’t for the dexcom we would not let her even contemplate driving. In fact it would be dangerous and wreck less.
X x x

[scooby99]

Originally Posted by KarenG

We must have been diagnosed in the same year?

How things have changed for the better

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Late 70’s.
Yes they have; so much better these days.
I remember giant glass & metal syringes that had to be boiled to sterilise them, metal needles, glass bottles of insulin; none of these particularly portable.
And the tablets dropped into a test tube of your urine that changed colour to give a very vague idea of your sugar levels; no portable blood sugar test kits in those days!

[daytonababe]

Originally Posted by scooby99

Yes they have; so much better these days.
I remember giant glass & metal syringes that had to boiled to steralise them, metal needles, glass bottles of insulin; none of these particularly portable.
And the tablets dropped into a test tube of your urine that changed colour to give a very vague idea of your sugar levels; no portable blood sugar test kits in those days!

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My dad died 9 years ago from diabetic related issues , but he’d been a diabetic Type1 for 56 years before that , he was at the time the patient who’d had diabetes the longest as his Dr’s surgery ( a accolade he could probably have lived without ) .

It’s amazing how much things had changed , the control in the later years of his life was so much better .. I can remember the glass syringes and bottles of insulin etc

[daytonababe]

Originally Posted by Floridatilly

I completely agree with you. Honestly if it wasn’t for the dexcom we would not let her even contemplate driving. In fact it would be dangerous and wreck less.
X x x

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I know it’s hard .. my dad was a type 1 I know the issues he faced

And both my kids drive and that’s worry enough without adding in diabetes .


Does it make her insurance ridiculously expensive ? I know it’s pretty high anyway for new drivers .

[KarenG]

Originally Posted by scooby99

Late 70’s.
Yes they have; so much better these days.
I remember giant glass & metal syringes that had to be boiled to sterilise them, metal needles, glass bottles of insulin; none of these particularly portable.
And the tablets dropped into a test tube of your urine that changed colour to give a very vague idea of your sugar levels; no portable blood sugar test kits in those days!

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I don’t remember the glass syringes (I was too little) but my mum does!

I most definitely do remember the tablets in the test tube though 😂

[munmun]

Originally Posted by daytonababe

My dad died 9 years ago from diabetic related issues , but he’d been a diabetic Type1 for 56 years before that , he was at the time the patient who’d had diabetes the longest as his Dr’s surgery ( a accolade he could probably have lived without ) .

It’s amazing how much things had changed , the control in the later years of his life was so much better .. I can remember the glass syringes and bottles of insulin etc

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daytonababe, my dad was the same as yours, diagnosed in his early twenties and managed his diabetes for over 60 years.

I remember him boiling his syringes and needles every Sunday to sterilize them and urine testing with tabs that fizzled and changed colour.

My Dad became an eminent scientist and got a knighthood for his work, he travelled the world from the 1950s, lecturing and advising. He let nothing get in his way including his diabetes.

It was hard for him, and us but he led a good life.

[daytonababe]

Originally Posted by munmun

daytonababe, my dad was the same as yours, diagnosed in his early twenties and managed his diabetes for over 60 years.

I remember him boiling his syringes and needles every Sunday to sterilize them and urine testing with tabs that fizzled and changed colour.

My Dad became an eminent scientist and got a knighthood for his work, he travelled the world from the 1950s, lecturing and advising. He let nothing get in his way including his diabetes.

It was hard for him, and us but he led a good life.

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My dad unfortunately began to lose his sight due to diabetes , it started to go when I was about 3 so he stopped driving , whilst he was registered blind he still had some albeit very limited sight till he died .

He suffered a lot of other complications in later years with his heart and kidneys

But he never complained he made the best of things , came to Florida twice with us etc

Dad was 6 when he was first diagnosed it was always blamed on a reaction to being attacked by a German shepherd , however I suspect it’s more of a genetic thing seeing as later on his dad , 2 brothers and a few of my cousins all ended up with it

One cousin has had a pancreas transplant and that for her has cured Type 1 .

[munmun]

Originally Posted by daytonababe

My dad unfortunately began to lose his sight due to diabetes , it started to go when I was about 3 so he stopped driving , whilst he was registered blind he still had some albeit very limited sight till he died .

He suffered a lot of other complications in later years with his heart and kidneys

But he never complained he made the best of things , came to Florida twice with us etc

Dad was 6 when he was first diagnosed it was always blamed on a reaction to being attacked by a German shepherd , however I suspect it’s more of a genetic thing seeing as later on his dad , 2 brothers and a few of my cousins all ended up with it

One cousin has had a pancreas transplant and that for her has cured Type 1 .

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I think one of the problems with being diagnosed 50+ years ago was the lack of monitoring of the side effects. Now things are so much better, good continuing care, an ability to monitor and maintain blood sugar at an acceptable level.

I have so much respect for those people like our Dads who managed themselves. I also have respect for all diabetics who manage their own care so well.

[KarenG]

Originally Posted by Floridatilly

I have literally just posted that! How things must have progressed in 43 years!
I think you diabetics are so brave and amazing. 🥰

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I think the people that look after ‘us’ are just as amazing. It can be pretty gruelling dealing with it at times, so fair play to you for the support you give your daughter xx

[klr15]

Originally Posted by daytonababe

My dad unfortunately began to lose his sight due to diabetes , it started to go when I was about 3 so he stopped driving , whilst he was registered blind he still had some albeit very limited sight till he died .

He suffered a lot of other complications in later years with his heart and kidneys

But he never complained he made the best of things , came to Florida twice with us etc

Dad was 6 when he was first diagnosed it was always blamed on a reaction to being attacked by a German shepherd , however I suspect it’s more of a genetic thing seeing as later on his dad , 2 brothers and a few of my cousins all ended up with it

One cousin has had a pancreas transplant and that for her has cured Type 1 .

See more...

Diabetes is such a difficult illness and those who have it I feel are very strong people.

My next door neighbour’s kidneys started failing when she was quite young and so she had a kidney transplant and a pancreas transplant which then cured her of type 1 diabetes. I was amazed when she told me as I didn’t know such a thing was possible.

When I worked in a school for a while there was a little boy there who had type 1 and his control was awful, nothing his mum or his diabetes team could do would get his levels under control and eventually they said his body also had a resistance to insulin. He ended up spending over a year in GOSH when he was 6-8 as his levels were out of control and they were trying to find some resolution. I’m not sure what they did as I lost contact with the school, but he’s back home again now and seemingly doing okay according to a local news article.