SPEAKER: I was aware
that diabetes was in my family.
But I didn't know anything
about it.
Growing up, I was around family
members who had a loss of sight
or amputations,
all due to complications
related to diabetes.
But it wasn't something that I
thought would affect me.
I went to the doctor
for just an annual checkup.
I didn't-- wasn't on any
medication, didn't have any
health issues.
And the doc said, so your sugar
level is a little high again.
Are you urinating a lot?
Are you thirsty a lot?
Have you changed the way you
feel?
Do you feel OK?
I'm like, I feel fine.
The doc said, I'm going
to diagnose you today with type
2 diabetes.
So I was in denial.
And as I was driving home,
that's when it dawned on me
that my mother had also died
at 35 from complications related
to diabetes.
And it scared the crap out
of me.
She was 35 when she died.
I'd just turned 35.
So how long am I going to live
with this?
I found an endocrinologist
in my area.
The practice had an exercise
physiologist, had
a nutritionist, and a diabetes
educator.
And I said, I want to see them
all.
I want to see
the physical fitness person so I
can get moving.
I want to see the diabetes
educator so I can learn more.
I want to see the nutritionist
so I can learn more about what I
could be eating.
I knew I needed to get active
when I got on the scale
and it said 225.
How did this even happen?
The doc said a couple times,
well, it would be probably
better if you lost a few pounds.
So that's when I decided today
is the day I'm going to get out
there and do some exercise.
And I felt, oh my God, I can't
even jog a single block.
Are you kidding me?
And I started walking a block
and jogging a block,
and walking a block
and jogging a block until I got
up to one mile.
And I just started doing that
consistently.
I worked my way up to a 5K.
Next thing you know,
I was down to my goal weight,
which was 155, all by myself.
It probably took me a couple
years.
And it's been I think five years
now.
And I've been able to maintain
it.
I learned a lot about portion
control.
I learned that when I eat out,
I don't make good choices.
I'm not a huge fan of salads.
I preplan my menu.
I do all my cutting of all
my ingredients,
chopping up everything,
with a little music
in the background.
And it really relaxes me.
I love it.
I have containers that I buy
in bulk.
And I label everything.
I take an oral pill.
And I take
a non-insulin injectable
medicine once a week.
And I take the pills twice a day
with breakfast and dinner.
That combination of pills
and non-insulin injectable
is helping me manage my diabetes
very well.
I check my sugar level
definitely every morning
when I get up.
And then generally I check it
right before I eat.
Sometimes I'll check it a couple
hours after I eat dinner most
of the time,
because that's my major meal
of the day.
I keep a journal if I have
a series of bad days
when I know I haven't made
good choices
and I start thinking about it.
OK, so what could
I have done better?
It helps me be a little more
accountable.
The advice I'd give to somebody
that was newly diagnosed
would be take control
of the disease.
Take control of your life.
Don't bury your head
in the sand.
But I really just had to wake up
one day
and decide I'm either going
to get busy living,
or I'm going to get busy living
not so good, not living.
Being in control of my diabetes
feels fabulous.
And it feels fabulous because I
did it.