Sliding into Them Dms: An Insightful Anecdote into the Life of a Diabetic Millenial

By Ewan Syazwan

Finding out you suddenly have insulin dependant diabetes at the ripe young age of 27 may not sound all that exciting to most people. While everyone else in their mid 20s were out there realising their dreams, I found myself waking up to a nightmare.
Not many fit, young people find themselves with an ailment to which there is no cure. You usually just, get better after a while. Despite this, life had to go on.
This is the very true story of my journey. Blessed with previous life choices to be trained in healthcare as a Registered Nurse, I have spent the last few years fine tuning my Diabetes control. I work closely with the medical team in charge of me over at the Diabetes Management clinic in Tan Tock Seng Hospital to achieve my goals at this end.
(Even returning as a full time Nurse during the pandemic.)
Now, with all the knowledge and experience I had been graciously given the opportunity to acquire, I would like to pass it forward.
As both a Nurse and as a Patient, these are my life experiences and learned knowledge.
How I adapted to change, overcame this adversity, and ultimately converted that negative energy into something positive. May it provide comfort to those who are suffering in silence, and joy to those who wish to walk hand in hand with me down this relatively short but important chapter of my life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Partridge Publishing Singapore
• Release date: Apr 18, 2023
• ISBN: 9781543773491

Book preview

Copyright © 2023 by Ewan Syazwan.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

www.partridgepublishing.com/singapore

A Guide

Prologue

1. Initiation 76_b_lbj6.jpg

- An introduction. 76_a_lbj6.jpg

2. Technical Difficulties 76_b_lbj6.jpg

- Types of Diabetes. 76_a_lbj6.jpg

- Terms and a few medications commonly used in Endocrinology. 76_a_lbj6.jpg

3. Consumer’s Market 76_b_lbj6.jpg

- A conversation about diet. 76_a_lbj6.jpg

Gallery 76_b_lbj6.jpg

4. Perfect Imperfections 76_b_lbj6.jpg

- Management of erratic blood sugar levels & using flash continuous glucose monitoring systems to our advantage. 76_a_lbj6.jpg

5. In Sickness, & In Health 76_b_lbj6.jpg

- How illnesses and exercise affect our blood sugar levels. 76_a_lbj6.jpg

6. Endgame 76_a_lbj6.jpg

- A final word. Summary. 76_b_lbj6.jpg

About the Author

References 76_a_lbj6.jpg

Special mention and thanks to my friend & colleague Dr Tan Seng Kiong from Khoo Teck Phuat Hospital and Dr Seow Cherng Jye, together with the team from the Diabetes Clinic at Tan Tock Seng Hospital, for their invaluable guidance and support. These experts in the field of endocrinology helped tremendously with vetting the facts contained within this book.

I’d also like to thank that doctor in Thailand for saving my life, my lovely wife for the unconditional support and always believing in me, my amazing parents, my family and closest friends for always being by my side and helping me overcome anything life threw at me.

And thanks Jules for making me write this book.

Medical Disclaimer

The articles and arguments provided in this book were written for a generic audience and is not an attempt to treat any specific Diabetes Mellitus cases. This information shall not be used for any form of diagnostics or as a replacement for any medical treatment. For the best and most accurate treatment, please consult your physician and/or diabetes educator.

© Ewan Syazwan

Singapore

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This is a subjective account of what I went through, my story as someone living with diabetes from the day of diagnosis to the present; how I felt, what my thoughts were, my obstacles and how I overcame them.

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These are objective, explanatory notes based on what I have learnt in my past experiences as a healthcare provider and simplified analogies explained in simple laymen terms to the best of my ability.

PROLOGUE

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December 14, 2016. I was on holiday in Thailand. A twenty-seven year old male in peak health, about to be engaged to an amazing woman, and set to embark on a brand new career that will quite literally take me around the world. I had more than my fair share of the local street fare that day so I didn’t think much of the slight discomfort that was brewing in my stomach. After all, I was in my prime with no known medical conditions, been working out enough to maintain my physique since my military days, and just a fortnight ago passed a medical exam for my soon to begin career with zero red flags. Life was good.

And then, I lost consciousness.

1

INITIATION

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"God does not burden a soul beyond

that it can bear." - Quran 2:286

When I came to the next morning, I was in a Thai hospital with intravenous lines sticking out of my arm and a severe, gnawing pain in my upper left abdomen. Nothing made sense, compounded by the fact that everything in the hospital was in a foreign language. I have some medical background; I studied three years in nursing school, worked in a major hospital and am still registered with the national nursing board. I also spent two years in the military as a combat medic as an enlisted man in my early twenties. Despite not being in practice for a few years now, I still retained most of my basic knowledge. So despite the slight language barrier, I asked a nurse if I could take a look at my diagnostics before the doctor gave me his opinion.

Everything was normal with my readings. Except for my random blood glucose. It was showing 224 mg/dl (or 11.3 mmol/L). Fasted. The doctor presently walked in.

You have Diabetes.

Nope.

His words did not sit well with me. I knew from my past experiences in healthcare that a blood glucose level of 11.3 mmol/L was a cause for concern. Especially if it was a fasted test. A fasted test basically means you have not eaten anything for at least eight hours prior to getting your finger prick test. Now in a normal person, that number would likely be between 4.5-6 mmol/L. (The Thai healthcare system currently uses the mg/dl scale, similar to the U.S. However where I come from, we use the international standard unit or SI unit, which is mmol/L. It’s basically like another metric system. We will be using the SI unit for this narrative.)

The bluntness and delivery of the good doctor’s assessment really triggered me. No further explanation was offered with regards to my presenting signs and symptoms. Surely being diabetic by itself will not cause me to lose consciousness. I immediately started crossing out the possible lapses; maybe the equipment was defective, perhaps something was lost in translation, both in actual spoken language and in the conversion of the units for glucose measurement. Maybe it was a sugar spike due to some weird side effect of what I perceived to be just a really bad case of food poisoning. Those three words were very simple, concise and in my mind, ultimate. Yes he was a doctor, but part of my previous job as a healthcare professional was to always question the doctors’ decisions. I understood that one does not simply dish out diagnoses based on the results of a random finger prick test. I am not diabetic. Denial and amusement quickly devolved into something else.

Anger. How could this guy be so incompetent?

I demanded for a new glucometer and some test strips. If you wanted anything done right, you will have to do it yourself.

I was arrogant and still in denial. Big city boy, warded in a foreign countryside hospital. The doctor was patient, forgiving in his reaction to my outburst of rage. He let me prove his point.

It was something I had done numerous times before, both on my patients and on myself. I cleaned the finger I chose to perform the needle prick on with an alcohol swab, let it dry completely and depressed the button on the lancet with no hesitation. A drop of dark maroon blood was administered onto the test strip. A few tense seconds followed. The hourglass displayed on the LED screen was promptly replaced by some numbers. 232 mg/dl. I punched the numbers into google to convert the metrics into something I was familiar with.

12.9 mmol/L.

With that, my holiday, together with any excitement I had of going back home to embark on my new career, was ruined.

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Diabetes Mellitus (also referred to as DM for short). Not every diabetes diagnosis story is as dramatic as mine. Matter of fact is, most people don’t even know they have the disease until some years after onset. That doesn’t make each story any less impactful than the last.

The timeline and events may all differ, the individual reactions may not all be the same, but the feeling that you get? That hollow, sinking feeling that follows the revelation that you now have an incurable disease that will slowly kill you. That it destroys your very body from within at a cellular level unless you eat nothing but bland salad and drink nothing but tasteless water? I daresay many will share my mutual feelings of dread and despair. I know. I’ve been there. But to be honest, it’s not all that it seems to be.

You see, not all sugars are bad. And not all alternatives are good in excess. The important thing about diet