My Diabetic Journey Two Years Later

Today marks two years since I called 911, scared a whole lot of people, had an EKG sitting in the back of an ambulance, and finally got the wake up call I waited too long to answer.

What I thought was a heart attack turned out to be blood sugar surpassing 370. My body was finally giving up and sending me serious warning signs that I needed to get healthy and do it fast.

After a couple of hours in the emergency room I returned home with an ultimatum for myself: improve the diet, lose weight, and reduce blood sugar and do it as quickly as possible.

I am happy to say that over the past two years I have been able to stay the course, for the most part. There have been times of struggle. There have been times of laziness. There have been times of downright defiance of my own rules. I, however, have not let those hiccups return me to what once was my utterly unhealthy life.

I have been doing as much walking as I can no matter the weather or time of day. The talk has always been that you should walk at least 10,000 steps per day in order to lose weight and live a non-sedentary lifestyle.

Recent news articles have said that the number is closer to 8,500 steps per day. Despite this news, I have been adamant to hit the 10,000 mark daily. At times it isn’t easy, having to go for a walk late at night before the clock strikes midnight, but it is a goal I pride myself on hitting each day.

During the past two years my doctor has changed my medicine, added in new pills and taken some away. He has upped and lowered prescription dosages. All in all, I’ve been getting good feedback at every six month appointment. I am working towards only having to see my doctor once per year and I think it’s coming soon.

I’ve said it before and I will say it again until I am blue in the face. Do not ignore what your body is trying to tell you. Do not ignore results of bloodwork you have done on your own, through an employer, or through the emergency services department that provides the service. I ignored results and warning signs for too long. It almost put me in a dire predicament.

Diabetes is nothing to turn your head at. While it is recommended you cut as much sugar, sweets, carbs and other food not good for you out of your diet, if you get things under control you can still indulge every now and then.

My advice is to stay active. I was very inactive before my diagnosis. I didn’t go out of my way to walk as much as possible during the day. I didn’t watch my food intake. I drank a TON of soda. To date I walk an average of 10,000 steps per day. I make sure I am not snacking often or eating too many sugary items. I’ve also reduced my soda intake and switched to sugar-free soda when I do drink it.

At my last appointment following blood work, my A1C was measured at 7.1, which is high. However, it is not terribly high being that I am a Type 2 diabetic. My doctor has given my the goal of reducing my A1C to under 7.0 and I hope that at my next six-month checkup I hit my goal and then some.

These two years have flown by and I am thankful that I have been able to get my blood sugar levels and my weight under control. I’ve had a ton of support from everyone around me, which makes it that much easier.