CakeAbility gives Debbie a brand new lease of life

I still felt so ill, though, and then in March I felt so sick, so strange, that I knew I had to get more help, so on a Friday afternoon I called my GP and described my symptoms, and he said: “Get to A&E now”. My husband was working at home that day and he took me to Lagan Valley Hospital. I was admitted straightaway and a couple of hours later I had a new illness to contend with - I was diagnosed with Type II diabetes. My blood sugar was dangerously out of control - I nearly died a couple of times over that weekend, and the doctors had to work hard to bring my system back to a degree of normality.

After five days I was allowed home, and had to start to work out how I was going to live with this new illness, along with “old” illnesses! But now I was more determined than ever.

This was not going to defeat me. And I knew from my reading that Type II diabetes does not have to be a lifetime illness - it can be stopped and even reversed. I was going to beat this. It was just the kind of jolt that I needed. It helped me to put everything in focus, to understand my situation and to know that I had to rely on me to get out of the mess that I had been in at the start of the year’.

All I then needed was a business idea - and then it came to me! I discussed it with the DWP to confirm that I could do this under the permitted work scheme and that was fine, I had the go-ahead. It may seem strange to think that, here I was, newly-diagnosed with Type II diabetes and this was my new business idea: cakes! But not just any old cakes - these were going to be egg-free and dairy-free, because I’m a vegan and I knew from talking to people that there was a need for such cakes in Northern Ireland. A lot of people are lactose-intolerant, and there are others, like me, who don’t eat any animal products. But it’s so difficult to buy those kinds of things here. I will also do gluten-free cakes to order.

Everyone loves cakes but not everyone can eat the cakes you see in the shops. CakeAbility was born! Cakes that look every bit as yummy as any cakes - but everyone can eat CakeAbility cupcakes!

My business has only been up and running for three months but it’s already proving really popular and keeping me very occupied. Over the three months I’ve been running Cakeability I’ve raised several hundred pounds for charities. And I have now got my diabetes under control - my blood sugar levels are now at normal levels with my careful diet and taking the medication that I need.

We’re halfway through the year now, and it’s strange to look back at the very, very dark space that I was in at the beginning of the year. I’m still ill, I’m still disabled, but having been so close to death - both by my own hand, and because of illness - my life is now more full than it has been for a long time.

My business is buzzing, I’m managing my health and for the first time in a long time I look forward to what the day is going to bring.