Death & Taxes

The two unavoidables, apparently. So, there's a cheerful start to this blog! June was a strange month for me. New things happened and not all of them were fun. 

Let's get straight to it and given that the header image is of a shoulder X-ray I'll focus on that. You might have read my brief tweets in regards to my shoulder X-ray results. You might have even heard me suggest that I have the dreaded Frozen Shoulder, which visits many people living with T1D. That became in doubt after a few months and eventually I was sent for a low dose of radiation.

After removing my top because "You're not allowed buttons on an X-ray" the enthusiastic HCP zapped me a few times in various positions and told me to check back with my GP in about a week. Can do! Did do! Yesterday, in fact. 

After some note checking, Dr MyMumHasType2 declared that I have some mild degenerative changes which translates to Osteoarthritis. A diagnosis is a strange moment. You probably remember that moment because you have Diabetes or you know somebody who does (or you're just here because you're attracted to middle-aged men with body parts which are increasingly breaking down, Hi! How you doin'?). Whatever. That moment might result in that little voice in your head exclaiming something which rhymes with Clucking Bell. If you verbalised your Clucking Bell then you have my huge respect, well done. I did not. I left and did some online searching. Of course I did! Isn't that our default route when delivered new health-related news?

I've digested, I've tweeted, some of you have the same condition for which I offer my fullest feeling of your pains, brothers and sisters. And today? I'm alright with it. My shoulder is in relatively good condition and that gives me hope for some physio and maybe some tremendous pain relief to keep the screams of agony away for a while. At least until I need to remove another Libre.

The unavoidable? 

As my friend told me, soon after the news, coating their thoughts in razor blades rather than sugar: "You're getting older" which was almost as sympathetic as friend no.2, of a similar age, who declared: "Yeah, we're both f***ed".

I have the best friends.

However, aging is unavoidable. You can't escape the passing of time as I've learned from watching Prof. Brian Cox, of a Sunday evening. And you can't avoid the ultimate health complaint. Sorry, not very cheerful again. I also think it's the fortunate minority who go from cradle to the grave without a single health problem. Some problems are clearly more serious than others and I think a little crumbly shoulder isn't high on the list of the possible problems which I could face. So! As always, I'm grateful for the amazing NHS, who have tried various things and treatments and will continue to support me and make that particular complaint as small of an issue for me as they can.

Taxes?

That's enough doom and gloom for one blog! 

 Thank you so much for reading this blog. I do appreciate your visit and your support. As you might know, I LOVE COFFEE! So I've teamed up with a thing called Buy Me A Coffee. If you enjoy my content and appreciate the time it takes to create such things then you can buy me a coffee! If you leave your Twitter @ name when you buy me a coffee, I will personally thank you. If you'd rather be anonymous then that's totally cool. Thanks for the caffeine!

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Shoulders

Brrrrrrr!

You read the blog title and you thought 'He's going to waste my time, talking about frozen shoulders'

You're not wrong! 

But I'll talk about shoulders in a different way, too. 

Let's start with the frozen thing because the cold REALLY bothers me anyway. I heard some friends talking about "Frozen shoulder" a couple of years ago. I didn't really give it a great deal of attention, assuming it may just be a coincidence that they have Type 1 Diabetes and Frozen Shoulder. I also remember seeing it mentioned infrequently on Twitter but didn't think much of it. I didn't have any issues in the shoulders and, after over 3 decades in the T1D club, thought it might be a rare complication that won't "get me".

Yeah. So, I probably have a frozen shoulder. I say "probably" because nobody seems sure and with everything being very virusy right now nobody is really keen to investigate in detail or send me for a scan.

It all started back in August/September 2020. I woke up, feeling very stiff (giggity). The kind of feeling you get if you've slept in an unusual position. The stiffness wore off as the morning progressed but then I noticed sharp "electric shock" pains in my shoulder if I raised my arm or stretched. The feeling continued for a few weeks until I called for medical advice. Physio began, as did Naproxen for the pain - later replaced with Cocodamol.

4 to 5 months later, things have improved but it's "still there". It doesn't often affect me during the day but I do have trouble getting comfortable in bed. It seems to be slowly getting better. I have no advice on how to avoid this happening to you. With other complications, we know to go for screening, get our feet checked and hand a tube of urine to a nurse - those checks are supposed to stop things becoming too bad for various complications. With shoulders? Nope. If you get it then your options appear to be physio or steroid injections. They may or may not help. If you know of things to do to avoid Frozen Shoulder or you just want to share your experience then write in the comments below.

We all need somebody to lean on

The next part of this blog isn't strictly shoulder related. In fact, it has nothing to do with shoulders in the physical sense. However "if you need a shoulder to lean on" is a well used metaphor when it comes to offering yourself in the support of others. So, what I really want to talk about is support and, in some quarters, the complaints about lack of support specifically from the #GBDoc community.

I have no complaints. Absolutely none. From the first few days on Twitter, I have always felt welcomed and engaged by many members of the community. I have become good friends with some. Others have offered valuable advice and direction to me. It's rare that I will go a day without some form of engagement within #GBDoc.

That seemingly isn't (or hasn't been) the case for a few others. At first, it seems inexplicable. Why would people choose to not engage or help specific people? I think I've found one reason. It may not be the only reason; For the ones complaining there is a common theme: Aggression. 

It's not a case of continuous aggressive or angry tweeting. It may not be frequent at all. It happens often enough, though to turn people away. That aggression may materialise more when a complainer doesn't get the desired response or support to their tweets. It can be passive-aggressive in nature or just outright insulting. They feel entitled to responses and when they don't get them their first port of call is to state their achievements. You might remember some, as you read this. Here are a few which come to my mind:

- I've had diabetes for 26 years and I've been tweeting for 5 years but nobody answers me.

- I have a PhD but I'm never listened to.

- I've done all of this to raise awareness of T1D.

Are we, the more mild mannered to blame for their neglect? Should we turn a blind eye to the anger and sense of entitlement and feed their needs? reply to their every tweet? buy their merchandise? offer them a place at conferences to speak?

I think not. 

Nobody is more important than anybody else when it comes to online peer support. We're lucky that it exists! and as previously mentioned in this blog, you only get what you give. Be kind, offer your shoulder to support others in their time of need and you won't ever need to worry when you need a little attention.

Complicated

I think the majority of you will know about the complications associated with Type 1 Diabetes. Perhaps they were hammered into you at a young age? I remember a DSN once offering me a tour of the amputations ward and promising me that was my future if I didn't "buck up" my ideas. I was probably 12 years old and the invite didn't make me buck up my ideas in the slightest. Perhaps you've read leaflets or things on the Internet? Or even a had some kind words spoken to you by a HCP. The point is we mostly know about the eye things (I certainly do!) and the kidney stuff and the dickie hearts and the nerve damage. Yep, we know the big stuff already. They're scary but we carry on and we do our best because what choice is there?

What doesn't get mentioned as often, perhaps because they don't make sexy headlines, are the less serious but arguably more frequent complications.

I've had a sore and stiff shoulder for a couple of months. It's gradually become worse to the point that I've sought medical attention. It looks like it might be a frozen shoulder, at this stage. I'm taking Naproxen and I'm about to embark on 2 weeks of exercises before the physiotherapist decides on the next move. Before my "embracing" of my diabetes and jumping head first into social media I had no idea that frozen shoulders were associated with diabetes or even what a frozen shoulder was! Another great reason to join in with your peers on social media, I guess.

Shoulder aside, the latest possible complication on my diabetes journey has brought the other lesser-spoken-about complications to my mind. I'm delighted that mental health has been spoken about more often in relation to diabetes, as are eating disorders and perhaps a bigger focus will fall on those in the years to come but what about the other "niggly" complaints that we shy away from or just shoulder (pardon the pun) the burden of quietly?

Let's get straight into the biggest "little" one! Sexual dysfunction. @diabetic_me and I have spoken about this one, albeit briefly in a podcast. Following those few minutes of audio back in 2019, several men got in contact with me to tell me about their problems and to ask advice. I'm not a medical professional and don't give advice so I could only offer supportive replies and suggest a chat with their HCPs. The common reply was that they couldn't because they were embarrassed. I've heard of similar issues facing women too. I cannot find an explanation as to why it is embarrassing. I wonder if the smirks and jokes from our youth remain fresh in the memory as an adult? Perhaps the jokes and bullying online make it too much of a risk to talk about. I wonder, if I ever needed help for this complication, would I seek it? Honestly, probably not. I'd probably look for a private and no doubt expensive solution. And this is me! I'll talk to anybody about anything, right? Still, the stigma. I get it. It needs to end for both men and women. 

So, HCPs! If it's an embarrassing subject, bring it up! (stop making me pun) and treat it as a matter of fact health check. 

How about something more common? Fatigue. Everybody gets tired, don't they? But have you ever worked a long day with high blood glucose, peeing out every fluid in your body because you over treated a biblical hypo at 3am from the night before? You were so full and bloated after that hypo that you couldn't sleep and had stomach cramps. But you had to work. Another sick day doesn't look great. So, in you go. Bloodshot eyes and into autopilot.

Perhaps that fatigue brought on a migraine when you got home? You couldn't really eat much dinner, which you'd bolused for, and it sent you hypo again. So you're trying to stay alive now while feeling nauseous and that headache isn't getting any better.

Meanwhile you're ignoring your friends and family. They want to talk to you, see you, go out for a meal or a drink or do something fun. But your head is throbbing and mostly over your toilet bowl as you throw up that bottle of energy drink which you drank too quickly to fix the hypo.

Fatigue, I would argue, is certainly a complication of diabetes that you're almost guaranteed to get at times. Nobody appreciates the luxury of a full nights sleep like a T1D.

What else? How about those grouchy moods? When you're hypo and somebody dares to exist in your company. Or hyper! and that day in 2004 when somebody jumped the queue in the coffee shop! Grrrrr! Is mood a complication? I certainly feel less my "normal chirpy self" at the top and bottom end of the scale.

How can these things (and others) be resolved? I think talking openly is a great starting point. Shall we continue? Tell me what other problems diabetes causes you in the comments box below.