Understanding My Challenges

I am going to reference in one big article, my own journey. This is MY story, but we want your stories too. I will probably look back in my own articles from time to time, but this isn't about me, it's about you. So, just to understand my motivation, here's my own story:

To give you some insight into what it is that I am trying desperately to overcome, you will see that my progress is clearly remarkable, constant, steady, and moving in the right direction.

With each passing year, I gained a bit more weight, got a bit thicker around the middle, and continued to smoke cigarettes without any regard for health.

With each passing year, I also noticed a steady upward trend in my blood pressure. Always a smooth 110/70, it had moved through the years to top off at 210/160----stroke proportions for sure.

Then some years later, I had a severe asthma attack, and it caused me to become hospitalized. During that three day stay, the Hospitalist, the staff doctor that replaces your internist for hospital stays....a specialist in ACUTE care, which is what hospital stays are mostly about, came rushing into my room, excited, almost jubilant.

The man stood at the door, waved a piece of paper wildly, and proclaimed that he discovered me to be diabetic.

The next weeks, months and in fact years led me toward understanding this diagnosis and disease. The first object of diabetic treatment is to stabilize you and get things under control. This clearly had to become the first priority. Diabetics typically suffer from several accompanying diseases; being:
1. hyperglycemia; the inability to maintain a balanced glucose level
2. hypertension: the inability to maintain normal blood pressure
3. hyperlipidemia; the inability to metabolize and maintain normal cholesterol levels
4. metabolic disorder: a cornerstone in developing diabetes, about getting FAT

The beginning for me was to see the Endocrinologist. Much to learn from this specialist, on proper eating habits, which aren't really so bad once you get into the pattern. The second objective was to reduce insulin resistance. This is the actual core of the diagnosis of Type II Diabetes. Yes, we make enough insulin to get the job done, but our body ignores it and stores the sugars in our bloodstream, and this is damaging to organs, blood vessels and arteries, the brain etc.

The injections begin two times per day. My injections were NOT insulin. I had enough of that already, but the appetite had to be controlled, and the resistance to using my own insulin had to be reduced. The medicine I had to inject is called Byetta. It was a sure miracle drug for me. I was on that for 6 months total time, then off all meds from that point forward. But, during my use of Byetta, I had to get a REAL handle on the disease.

I now test normal. When they take blood from me to test the diabetic management every three months, I come up clean, clear and normal. Does this mean I am NOT diabetic any more? No, sorry to say, it doesn't. I will be diabetic for life, but that doesn't mean I must live the life of a diabetic, I must maintain a healthier lifestyle, and diabetes stays at bay naturally. For me, as for any diabetic, this took some doing, but it is doable, and yes, you can reconstruct any and all Type II diabetes anomalies that have occurred in your body. I am the living proof, and I am NOT superhuman, just scared to death of the legacy of diabetes.

And lets not forget that first revealing incident, asthma. It's a killer too. That brings me to a total of what they call Morbid Disease. I have two of them now;
1. Diabetes
2. Asthma, and associated COPD

That is two times the potential killing force of disease states. Am I dead? Nope, and I don't intend to go that way until the real time is upon me. Can this be achieved? Sure can, safely, securely, without fuss, without frustration, without concerns. I never starve myself. God forbid! I love food, and I won't stop eating for love or money. Nope! That is not what is expected of the type II diabetic.

Do I breathe well now? Well, I hit the pool every day now, and I am building my body back to what it was when I was younger. That takes breath. So, I guess I'm breathing better too. Pools are great exercise, and you don't feel like you are exercising, just don't forget an SPF of at least 30, or 50 if you live in Florida like I do.

More to come..........................