Janet – Sugarbuddy

Hello I’m Janet and I am 51 years old. I have lived in Romsey for the last 17 years and have two grown up children. I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes in September 2013.

I currently work at the University of Southampton, as a Senior Admin Officer and oversee a team of 6 people, which can be stressful at times.

I found out that I had Type 2 Diabetes when I was sent a flyer from my doctors surgery, saying that I can have a free health check up. I attended the check up, and the nurse took a reading of my blood sugar, which read 22, which was then retaken. A week later, I had my blood sugar taken again after a 12 hour fasting. The reading came down to 11, but it was too high. From my last visit in February, with the Diabetes Nurse, my blood sugar has gone down to 5.

My lifestyle has changed a lot since my diagnosis. I attend Zumba at the gym twice a week and also go to a Legs, Bums and Tums class. My eating habits have changed to eating lots of salad and fruit, and I am feeling much better from this.

It took a while to adjust and inform people that I had Diabetes, and now I attend monthly meetings with Diabetes Aware in Romsey, so that I can get to know people with the same diagnosis, and I have undertook a demo Pilot Scheme based at the University of Southampton.

I became aware of Sugar Buddies at a Diabetes Conference held in Southampton, in June 2013, and would like to get to know more people that understand more.

Diabetes: Type 2
Year of Birth: 1963
Year of Diagnosis: 2003