‘Diabetes has been great for my mental health’

TYPE 2

Did your diagnosis initially upset you?

It was a surprise because I’d had no symptoms, but I wasn’t upset. I just shrugged my shoulders and said: ‘What do we do now?’ I’m not afraid of any diagnosis, because once you’re diagnosed you can do something about it. But I was shocked when I Googled ‘diabetes’ and saw smoking was a risk factor. I thought ‘I can’t smoke anymore.’

So, you gave up at once?

Giving up is easy