Fergus O’Dowd went to his GP in January for a routine prostate blood test but left with a diagnosis of diabetes.
It was “a complete surprise” to the former Louth Fine Gael TD because, as he says, “I had no symptoms at all”.
A HbA1c test checks for diabetes and whether you’re at risk of developing the disease. He had a score of 52, confirming the diagnosis. A score of 42 is pre-diabetic while below that is normal.
After the shock discovery he started reading about the disease “and it’s frightening. You can develop heart disease, go blind, lose limbs”.
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The last thing our teenage son said was: ‘Why are you all so sad? I’m going to be fine’
Following the diagnosis, he went to see a consultant “and he advised me to go on medication. But I hate tablets. If you can manage without them, I prefer not to take them. He gave me three months and in the three months I lost almost three stone”.
“I cut out white bread as much as I could. I cut out red meat also. That doesn’t mean I don’t have it once a week or so, but I would have had a burger and chips maybe three days a week.
“So in the last year I’ve had salad every single day with green peas, beans, broccoli, loads and loads of vegetables. I replaced my carbohydrates with vegetables. I replaced my red meat with fish and chicken and sometimes turkey.”
He also reduced his salt intake and now only ever shakes pepper on food.
Breakfast is Weetabix with berries. He also loves scones and where previously he would have one every day now he says “I only have a scone on a Saturday”.
If he has a burger he will either not have the bun or only half of it.
Alcohol is another big issue.
“I would probably buy a bottle of wine on a Friday and have it finished on Sunday. So I went from a bottle a week to two a month and now I’d say a bottle a month.”
But even now, “every single day is a battle, every meal is a battle and you don’t always win, but you’re entitled to commit a sin once a week at least”, he quips.
“Being a politician is a dreadful life for regular meals, particularly when you come in late at night frustrated over whatever ringer you’ve been through that day. The first thing you do is go to the fridge and have a good slice of bread with butter and maybe cheese.”
There have been successes along the way. “I gave about 20 shirts to Vincent de Paul. And my suits I couldn’t wear them anymore, they were too big for me.”
He has put some weight back on but says; “I’m still well down. I was 120kg, I got down to 104kg and I’m now about 108kg. Ideally I need to get down to 100kg.
“I’ve joined the gym. I’m swimming three times a week and walking on average 10,000 steps a day. That’s good, but it’s still not enough. But I’d say to anybody ‘if Fergus O’Dowd can do it you can do it because I am completely self-indulgent’.”
When he went back to the consultant after the three months his diabetes test score was 42, pre-diabetic. Six months later, the score remained the same, but the specialist told him he had made great progress and the illness was in remission.
He had his eyes tested “to see if there’s been nerve damage from sugar. Sugar is so toxic. People think about fats being what kills you. But sugar is far more insidious and very dangerous.
“Sugar can make you go blind. You can lose limbs, you can have kidney failure, you can develop heart disease.”
His diabetes was “was picked up on a completely routine blood test” and he recommends “a complete blood test every year at least”.
Monitoring his diabetes, he does a daily finger prick blood test. He averages 5.4. The aim is to remain above four but below six on the scale.
“If I eat a meal that has no potatoes, no carbohydrates but has loads of salad, loads of greens, I’ll be fine.
“But if you went for a McDonald’s, you’re going to have the bun and burger, the chips and salt. Your reading would shoot up to probably six or 6.2.”
After 22 years at a TD including a stint as a minister of state, he is opting out of politics because “I’m 76 years of age”.
He had also had enough of “sitting on a Wednesday night in the Dáil not sure what time you’ll be home and getting up the next morning at 6 o’clock to get to an appointment”.
But he will miss it.
“What I love most of all and this will sound very corny, I just love helping people. If I can help somebody that makes me feel good.”
He is going public about his diabetes “to help somebody else” if he can.
“It’s a bit like alcoholism. It sounds so awful, but you just can’t do what you want to do. You’ve got to change. But when you change, you’re happier, you’ve a better outcome.”
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