An Island patient has been awarded the Dr Robert Lawrence award in recognition of his courage and perseverance of living with diabetes.
Raymond Webb from Shanklin has been awarded the medal for living with diabetes for some 60 years.
Having diabetes means your body cannot produce enough insulin or that the insulin that is produced doesn’t work properly. Untreated, it can cause very serious health problems. Being diagnosed with diabetes means making lifestyle changes; people with diabetes often need additional treatments such as medication to control their diabetes, blood pressure and blood fats.
Mr Webb was first diagnosed at the age of 5 whilst in hospital having his tonsils removed. Remembering back to that time, he said:
“It was a struggle as a child with not having any sweets but I continued to play sports and it was just an inconvenience really. The method then of testing for your glucose level was rather unpleasant as it entailed boiling your urine to test for the amount of glucose present. In those early days, my mother would inject me but I began injecting myself from a teenager.
“I would visit the doctor once a year for an assessment and possibly a change of dose but this wasn’t based on anything accurate.”
Dr Victor Lawrence, Consultant in Diabetes and Endocrinology at St Mary’s Hospital presented the medal. He said:
“Proper testing has only been available since the late 70’s, early 80’s. Before insulin was discovered in 1921, people with diabetes didn’t live for long as there wasn’t much doctors could do for them. The most effective treatment was to put patients on a very strict diet that consisted of a small amount of meat and boiled cabbage. This gave patients a few extra years but they invariably died of starvation, whereas now we are able to celebrate people living full lives for 60, 70 or more years after diagnosis”.
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Mr Webb now gives his insulin injections 4 times a day; before each meal and later in the evening and adjusts his doses as required. He added:
“Over the years I have seen a lot of changes as far as treatment for diabetes is concerned but I have never allowed it to hinder my life and apart from not eating certain foods I have always tried to carry on as normal!”
He now only needs to attend the diabetes clinic every 4 months for a check-up and the Diabetes team look forward to presenting Mr Webb with his 70 year medal.
Photographed L-R: Graham Hall, Chairman of IW Diabetes Group; Liz Whittingstall, Lead Specialist Nurse in Diabetes; Raymond Webb and Victor Lawrence, Consultant in Diabetes and Endocrinology
