Type II diabetic for 13 years. I had slight retinopathy in both eyes (with no apparent loss of vision) in year 6. At my last check I was clear, so if your diabetes is under reasonable control it can reverse.
Because it sneaks up upon one. You normally don’t just go from normal to 400 mg/dl in a day, unless your pancreas just up and shits the bed.
I will say that if I have to skip/miss all my meds for a day, morning insulin and assorted pills, by about 5 pm I am pretty much feeling like shit [not just an insane glucose mg/dl, but a blood pressure that has steadily been creeping up as assorted meds wear off.] I absolutely detest any medical procedure that makes me have to skip meds, and if I can not schedule it for first thing in the morning, I refuse to schedule until I can get in first thing.
And after 35 years I have no retinopathy nor neuropathy - again, be very assiduous with following medical instructions, regular medical appointments, tracking blood glucose, checking my feet and having mrAru check anything I can’t see, and my eye doc photographs my retinas and whatnot to be able to track any changes that might happen [well worth the $35 that insurance doesn’t cover.] I see a PCP doc, an endocrinologist, a nutritionist, an eye doc and a podiatrist. Well, I also see a rheumatologist and an orthopod but those aren’t diabetes related =)