Meet Liz & Stacey!

Stacey and Liz first met in September 2009 at the Revolution bar in Huddersfield after initially being introduced via a business networking organisation, they've been best friends ever since.

Stacey's Story

Stacey was diagnosed with a poorly pancreas at 18, at the time she thought it was great, she had lost 4 stone and was enjoying her new figure. However the downside to this was the excessive thirst, grumpyness and sleepyness.

After a trip to the docs and a fair few bloodtests it was found that Stacey's blood sugar was in the 30's (ouch!!) and had been for some time. She was told it was amazing that she hadn't been hospitalised. So having been diagnosed a type 1 diabetic and equipped with new gadgets, which included 2 insulin pens, insulin cartridges, a box of needles, a blood glucose testing kit, testing strips, lancetts and a needle box, she was told she couldn't leave hospital until she had done her first injection...GULP...2 hours later, she was out of there!

So the first week was pretty miserable, especially as an 18 year old in the first year of uni, but as she read up more and more on Diabetes, she soon bagan to realise that she could have much worse things, and no matter what she did she couldn't undo the fact she had Diabetes. So in true Stacey spirit, she got on with it!

After 6 years Stacey leads a normal life, she loves travelling and has seen a fair few amazing places. she has a degree, a career and has recently married. She now follows a low carbohydrate diet, which has seen her blood sugar levels reduce significantly, she has even lost a bit of weight, and has lots of support from her husband, family, friends and diabetes support team. She can honestly say as well, that she has gotten over her fear of needles :D

This year she has decided to take part the Great Manchester Run on behalf of Diabetes UK.

"Diabetes is not an easy illness to live with, you have to monitor it closely, be fairly organised, do lots of blood sugar testing and watch what you are eating, It is simply not the case of injecting more to cover sugary treats on a daily basis. I want to help Diabetes UK, by raising as much money as possible, in order to find new ways of treating this illness, and hopefully one day introducing a cure."

 

Liz's Story

Liz's Father Brian was diagnosed with Diabetes over 20 years ago, she remembers the night he had his first hypo and the nurse visiting the house. At the time, Liz was very young so didn't quite understand what was happening but as she had got older and began to see what is involved she learnt it can be quite traumatic to see a family member go in to a hypo.

"With both my best friend Stacey, and my father being Diabetic I know just how important it is to keep raising money for Diabetes UK so they can continue researching new ways to treat the illness."

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