A Prediabetes Patient Shares a Personal Triumph

Thursday’s blog post topic…

We don’t always realize it, but each one of us had come a long way since diabetes first came into our life. It doesn’t matter if it’s been 5 weeks, 5 years or 50 years, you’ve done something outstanding diabetes-wise. So today let’s share the greatest accomplishment you’ve made in terms of dealing with your (or your loved one’s) diabetes. No accomplishment is too big or too small—think about self-acceptance, something you’ve mastered (pump/exercise/diet/etc.), making a tough care decision (finding a new endo or support group/choosing to use or not use a technology/etc.).

Today, I’d like to introduce Marc.

He’s 53 years old and was diagnosed with prediabetes last year. Here’s what Marc has to say about his progress and achievements in a prediabetes treatment program…

Marc: When I was younger, I always worried about being thin. I used to work outside in a physically demanding job, and I got enough exercise to balance out the bad foods I was eating. When I started working in an office, everything changed. I started eating worse and I got a lot heavier. For 20 years I suspected that my health was deteriorating. I had high blood pressure for 15 years and high cholesterol too. After a while, it seemed like my blood pressure and cholesterol meds weren’t working anymore. My doctor would tell me to cut carbs and start exercising, but he was really passive about it. Continue Reading

Managing Emotions After a Prediabetes Diagnosis

Today’s topic is “Memories.”

Today we’re going to share our most memorable diabetes day. You can take this anywhere…. your or your loved one’s diagnosis, a bad low, a bad high, a big success, any day that you’d like to share.

OK, so my most memorable day?

That’s simple–the day I was diagnosed as a prediabetic.

Up until that fateful day in fall 2012, I thought I was in perfect health. I didn’t have any symptoms of a developing health problem–like most people with prediabetes and even diabetes. (Even if there are symptoms, they’re often easy to ignore or dismiss as “nothing.”)

When I got my test results back and saw that my blood sugar level was elevated, I was shocked!

Whaaa??? But I look pretty healthy, I dabble around in health foods (in addition to eating double cheeseburgers), my blood pressure is normal and I don’t have high cholesterol.

Still, my results showed I was trending toward type 2 diabetes. I was in that weird prediabetic stage where my blood sugar levels were elevated but not high enough for a diabetes diagnosis. Continue Reading