Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Diabetes Sucks

I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes on January 2, 2001. A heck of a way to start a new year! I weighed 260 pounds at 5’3”. I was just shy of 38 years old. My worst fear had come true—I had diabetes just like my dad.

This blog is about living (or not) with diabetes. For the first two years after I was diagnosed I did exactly what I was told by doctors and nutritionists. I thought I understood the disease because I’d grown up with a diabetic parent. Turns out I didn’t know shit about the disease I have, and neither did the medical personnel I was trusting to help me.

At the end of 2002, I suffered a back injury that left me unable to walk without assistance. I hobbled around for nine months and was at the mercy of anyone who was kind enough to bring me food or make me a meal. The only good thing that came out of it was daily swimming to keep moving. I gained back all the weight I'd managed to lose after my diabetes diagnosis. I pretty much gave up managing it and decided to ignore it for the next three years.

Then about 1.5 years ago I joined a gym, hired a trainer and worked out for a year. Six months ago I decided that I should look better for the amount of work I put in at the gym, so with help from my trainer, I radically changed the way I eat. I've lost 52 pounds since October 2007. It's made a huge difference in my blood sugar levels.

I thought some of the stuff I've been doing might be of interest to others. Maybe someone will read this and get something from it, maybe not. But here it is.

Thanks for reading.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't say stuff like this very often, but here goes: You inspire me because you've been brave enough to deal with reality. (I'm not there yet.) Kudos for deciding to take control of your life, and then, more importantly, actually making it happen.

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad you've begun blogging this. Having someone "put it into context" for me is really very helpful and I look forward to reading more often. :)

Rabbitch said...

Welcome to the dark side.

Anne Turner said...

Oh yeah!! I found out 3 years ago myself that I'm diabetic. They warned me back in my 40's that I better keep my weight down. Pffft..
So, here I am in trouble.
I'm glad you put this blog up. The info was actually something I didn't know.
Don't know if you can me join a Gym tho.

knitizen said...

i am fascinated--looking forward to hearing more. how you made real long lasting dietary changes (that's really hard, no matter the disease or health issue). i'm also really interested to hear how you don't defeat yourself with your father's legacy. it's a universal theme that touches anyone who has watched a parent suffer and succumb and who looks in the mirror and faces their own mortality. keep writing--i'll keep reading.