'Diabetes hasn't ruined me, it's saved me'
Diabetic Living Australia|January-February 2021
Robyn Goulter discovered she had type 2 diabetes four months after her 45th birthday – and the day after she’d had a stroke. At the time, it was the least of her health concerns, but 10 months later it’s the reason she’s turned her health around
KAREN FITTALL
'Diabetes hasn't ruined me, it's saved me'

“Being asked ‘has someone spoken to you about your diabetes?’ by a doctor as I was lying in a hospital bed was certainly a shock considering I didn’t know I had diabetes, but at the time, I was far more concerned about the stroke I’d just had.

“The day before, I’d woken up with a terrible headache and when my husband Benn came into the room to say goodbye before he headed off to work, I didn’t respond – I couldn’t respond. I could hear everything he was saying but I just couldn’t talk. I’d also dropped something on the floor and while I was convinced I’d picked it up, I hadn’t. It was the scariest moment of my life.

“The night before I’d started getting some numbness in the fingers on my right hand, but I hadn’t really thought anything of it. I’d been lying on the couch watching television so I just assumed I’d been lying in a funny position.

“Benn’s grandma had suffered a few strokes and, being in the army, he’s also well trained in first aid so even though I didn’t have any other stroke symptoms and I could still walk, he knew what had happened.

“When I got to the hospital, an MRI confirmed it. All I could think of was Benn’s grandma. Was this going to be my life now?”

The road to recovery

This story is from the January-February 2021 edition of Diabetic Living Australia.

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This story is from the January-February 2021 edition of Diabetic Living Australia.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

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