It all started last November 2005 when I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. I had been experiencing all the symptoms associated with diabetes – thirstiness, going to the toilet a lot and even some weight loss. I chose to ignore these symptoms for a while not willing for it to interfere with my then lifestyle. I started to get some back pain, which I had put down to bad posture at my work. My work, at the Tower Hamlet’s Town Hall, involves long periods of sitting in a, not always comfortable, chair answering calls talking about Council Tax.
Anyway, where was I? Ah yes back pain! So I went to the doctor who gave me some painkillers. After a while I returned to the doctor still in pain so she gave me a urine test. When she saw the results she nearly hit the roof and told me I was in quite a bit of trouble and promptly gave me an emergency blood test at the hospital. This confirmed her fears: My blood sugar levels and cholesterol were very high and if I had left them unchecked I was in serious danger of dying. Things had to change and the doctor put me straight on to medication that would bring some of these levels down. The doctor told me I had to do some hard work as well. Change my diet, lose some weight, and start exercising. It all sounded horrific. You know me; I am not good at any of these things. I managed to make a good start and surprisingly my levels did come down. The reduction figures were significant enough for the doctor to call me her star patient and not just for the doctor but also the whole surgery. I was chuffed.
That’s not the whole story, over the years I had noticed my eyesight changing and I had got a pair of vary-focal glasses. As well as being diagnosed with diabetes, I was also concerned my vision had getting worse. My original prescription seemed not to be as effective and I was having trouble seeing clearly whilst driving. As a result, I went to the optician, who found some retinal bleeding in the eyes. She explained that this condition changes the focal length of the eye and can lead to blindness. So she sent me straight to eye casualty at St Thomas Hospital. She told me not to drive until it was sorted.
This situation caused a lot of pressure for Andrea who hated the idea of driving for me. Understandably she finds driving in London a bit scary but took on the challenge of driving me around admirably. After two consultations at the hospital they where happy the panic was over and discharged me. My GP told me Diabetes is quite a complex condition and because I had been so good this had caused the problems with my eyes.
I have to work so hard to keep the place that I had reached before. Unfortunately the last time I went to the Lipid Clinic, I was told I had put on five kilograms! Back to more hard work.
Christmas was fun, we all spent Christmas day where Sarah-Jane lives. This is an old vicarage in the heart of Bermondsey. She lives there because she does two sessions a week with The Salmon Youth Centre. The house, though a little run down, had a nice charm that enhanced the mood of Christmas, especially as we were able to have an open fire in the lounge. We used quite a lot of the wood that had been accumulating in Sarah-Jane’s garden.
2006 saw both of us reach half a century. In January Andrea was the first to reach 50 and she thought she would like to celebrate it by going to Center Parcs in Suffolk/Norfolk border. All the family came from various parts of the country. We were able to get two chalets next to each other. It was quite an active few days. The centre of attention was, of course, Andrea. We went to a restaurant in the complex and when they found out it was Andrea’s birthday gave her a lot of helium filled balloons. During the meal Kieren (ever the joker of the family) started tying them to Andrea's arms and legs. Not just one or two, but eight! Andrea is normally not one for things like that, but she was very sporting and walked through the shopping area bedecked with them attracting many a stare.
We had been married 27 years by April. We wanted to find a place to celebrate near one of our favourite places: Minsmere RSPB reserve. The guesthouse we stayed at was lovely, it had a real Oldie-Worldy charm; full of creaky doors and prominent oak beams. We visited Minsmere and had a great time seeing a lot of birds and other wildlife that are not found in good old London Town. Things like hearing a Bittern “boom” (it sounds like someone blowing across a milk bottle), or seeing Sand Martens skim and dance across the water to catch insects. We thank God for His wonderful creation!
For the last few years we have gone to France for our holiday and we decided, in May, we would try South Brittany. It was further away than first thought and took nearly thirteen hours to get there. We stayed at a campsite that was considered to be one of the best in Europe. Getting there quite late we were welcomed and showed to our pitch. It was dark by the time we had finished pitching the tents so did not know what the site was really like.
When I awoke I couldn’t believe my ears! The noise of the dawn chorus was amazing! And each morning was the same. It's great visiting France, there are lots of things that we don't normally get in England, and there were lots of sounds I did not recognise. One of the sounds was a kind of screeching-croaking sound. We had no idea what it was it turned out to be otters! Andrea saw them when during an evening walk around the lake that was very close to where we had pitched.
One morning we heard a strong buzzing sound. A swarm of bees liked the look of the tree and took up residence there in the next pitch along from us. We asked what would happen to them at the reception desk and they confidently predicted they would be gone in two days, surprise, surprise they were; maybe they were trained bees!
I was fifty in July and wanted to have a major celebration. I had been thinking about the party for a long time. I was keen for the theme to be God's faithfulness. I wanted to express how grateful I was how much my Heavenly Father had looked after me.
Sending out the invitations I had no clue how many people would come. To my genuine astonishment loads of people came; it was great. They were rewarded by a fiendishly difficult quiz and puzzles. Kieren was Master of Ceremonies for the evening and kept things moving. He planned several surprises. One was a series of Kid’s Club games. He picked “volunteers” to come and compete against me and of course it was always my competitors who seemed to win!
Dave Nunn gave a “This is your life” talk with embarrassing stories and photos.
The food and drink was admirably organised by my friend Angela. She got people to bring contributions of food making sure all types of food were covered. Many people helped and all I can say is a big thank-you to everyone who helped.
We had a disco and I got really stuck in doing the “Staying Alive” strut with Sarah-Jane and her friend Clare.
It has been nearly ten years since I began to go to the East End church plant. We have now become a fully-fledged church with full time leaders leading the church. It is such a great church and God is doing big things amongst the membership, getting us ready for the day when we see things really change for the people of East London.
Saturday 5 May 2007
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