No, but my wife is a biomedical scientist specialising in blood sciences and I also took the time to read up on the subject. I also joined the Diabetes Forum when I was diagnosed 4 years ago. I had an HBA1c of 86 but got it down to normal levels, ie below 40 within 12 months. Having said that, I am semi retired and work from home so I have lots of time to learn, learn about food, buy the right foods and learn how to cook it. Type 2 diabetes for most people, but probably not in your case, is a disease of modern life. Too many people have to drop their kids off at pre school nursery and then have long commutes in heavy traffic to work where they sit at a desk. Lunch is a pie and a sandwich followed by a bun and at the end of the day they have a long drive back in traffic to pick the kids up from after school nursery. When they get home they are either physically too tired or mentally too tired to start peeling and washing fresh veg and preparing a healthy meal. Moreover, the kids won't let them, so, it's reaching into the freezer, grabbing a ready meal and sticking it in the oven ir microwave. Ready meals ought to come with a health warning. One of Waitrose's Mixed Wholegrain loaves only contains 6% wholemeal flour and 51% refined white flour. It also contains 43% of other unspecified stuff. See A Wholegrain of Truth. You can't beat preparing your own food. You can control what's in it.
I went to one of the Desmond courses and met a couple of men, not overweight by any means, one in his 70s the other in his 80s who were dignosed with type 2. It appears that the ageing process can bring it on too. As with most other things, you wake up in the morning and as you get older you discover that this or that doesn't work as well as it used to. It's the same with your pancreas. However, as long as you just watch what you eat, there is no reason why it should ever bother you. Many people live with it for 30 years before they have to start taking meds and even then, they start on a simple med called Metformin. All that does is make your digestive system slower. Too many people think it is a cure however, so they continue to eat all the starchy stuff they used to. You can do the same by eating foods which take longer to digest. Your GP should put you in touch with the local Desmond course organisers. Some of it is a bit silly. They showed us a plastic fried egg, sausage and bacon. At 62, I already know what these things look like. Not that these things are bad for diabetics, but they are paranoid about people getting high cholesterol levels. There are lots of good recipes online and books available.
There used to be a type of flatbread called Haverbread. It's made from oatmeal. Oats are mostly OK for most diabetics, and the Havebread below with ham and cheese and some pickle was wonderful:
http://adambalic.typepad.com/the_art_and_mystery_of_fo/2008/01/oatcakes.html
Just don't pour melted butter with maple syrup on it, though it does taste wonderful if you do!
