| Survival around the world . .
Beijing My experience of living and working in Beijing was fairly straightforward as far as diabetes went. Before I went, I consulted every doctor I was in the familiar habit of seeing at the time, had all the appropriate vaccinations etc. that there was time to fit in, got a letter written by my local GP explaining why I was carrying all these syringes and vials and stuff through customs, bought all the syringes and vials and stuff (that took another special script from the GP - I had to carry enough supplies for a year, essentially: it's surprising how little space that actually takes up!) and had a great time buying almost all the stock DA in Sydney had of the sticks I was using at the time, and bolted! I was given contact numbers and stuff for my doctors in Sydney (thankfully there was no significant time difference to worry about) but I never actually had to use them. While I was in Beijing I had reasonable control, in terms of highs, but lows were a constant problem as always for me! Chinese drink cans, it turns out, are somewhat smaller than Australian ones, so I was never able to stop a hypo with just one can of drink! There was nobody around, apart from the Australian embassy doctors, who I could consult freely and who had any knowledge of diabetes, but I don't think that this presented too much of a problem in itself. I had a hypo in the staff room at the school I was working at one afternoon, and thereafter I was viewed with some mistrust by my workmates, and my days were essentially numbered. The school I was working at was on shaky ground anyway but my situation added to everybody's difficulties, so I was effectively forced to resign. The Chinese themselves, by and large, were very understanding about my situation. Diabetes was not as common in China then as it is now, but I still ran into the odd person who had a distant relative who was afflicted. Everybody knew what diabetes was (the most common Chinese name for the condition, which translates as "sweet urine disease" is rather descriptive) even to the point of why hypos were likely to be a problem, but the condition was not all that common on the streets. Another difficulty was that the tones involved in saying "tangniaobingde ren" are quite difficult to pull off when you're out of it, so I was forced to carry a small sheet of paper with these words painted on it, in my wallet (or my pocket, depending on the circumstances!). Whenever I was in trouble (which didn't happen quite as often as this missive might make it sound - it's just that every single time, of maybe three separate incidents, was challenging in ways which couldn't have been at home) people always helped me without too much aggravation. Afterwards - if we had time to talk - they were much more friendly about it than many of my countrymen are here! Andrew Elston andrew_elston@hotmail.com |