May 1

Went to the pharmacy to collect my first prescription of 'diabetes stuff' - needles, insulin, testing strips. The woman behind the counter took my name and address and went to the back of the shop to speak to a colleague. While she was gone, the postman came in with some letters for the pharmacy. As there was no-one at the counter, he looked for somewhere secure to leave the post as he had to be on his way. Having looked all round, he eventually lifted up a lightweight biro on the counter, put the post down and replaced the biro on top. That would definitely stop anyone nicking it.

It's been two weeks since I first went to the doctors, and I'm gradually getting the hang of the diabetes. I am Type 1 diabetes mellitus which means I need to inject insulin before every meal - the amount of insulin depending on how much carbohydrate is in the meal. Chocolate and pasta have loads of carbs, bread has a bit, meat pretty much none. Despite the fact that I currently test my blood sugar seven times a day and inject four times (including a background shot before bed), the diabetes is far from controlling my daily routine. In fact, it is possible to forget about it, as proved last night when I got halfway through a plate of spag bol before realising I hadn't injected. If my blood sugar levels get high, I can inject some more insulin. If they get too low, I know straight away as my hands will shake and I have the sensation of being drunk. Obviously you want to avoid getting to this point but I'm glad it's happened a couple of times already - once in church and once at home - as I can recognise the feeling instantly and know what to do. Three Dextro tablets do the trick and boost the sugar levels straight up, they have the consistency of Refreshers but taste nicer. I love stats and the book where I record my sugar levels provides endless opportunities to work out weekly averages, lowest post-breakfast reading, you name it, I can calculate it.

While I was in town, I also had to visit our new dentist to hand in some medical records. I'd never been there before and only knew the road it was on. Eventually I found what I thought was the place and walked inside. There were two people in the waiting room so I asked one of them "Is this Chichester Smiles Dentist?" He thought about it for a few seconds and then said yes, it was upstairs. I went up there and handed the woman my forms. She said it was on the other side of the road. I walked downstairs, past the man to the door. I didn't see but he was probably laughing.