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"You have type 2 diabetes." It seemed as though the doctor was saying those words to someone else. "It is a very treatable disease with medication and some lifestyle changes." His voice had an almost palpable sense of finality . My heart plunged down to my feet it seemed, I could feel the blood draining from my face. How could I, at age 45, and in good health suddenly be diagnosed with such a dreadful disease? As far as I knew diabetes didn't even run in my family. Sure, I did like to indulge in my favorite sweets, but don't we all? Obviously I was already in the early stages of denial. Leaving the doctor's office with several prescriptions clenched tightly in my hand, I couldn't help but feel as though I had just been given a death sentence. My mind swirled with garish images of amputated limbs. Driving home my self-pity grew as I passed many of my favorite fast food joints, knowing that my visits to them were now a thing of the past. "What kind of life will I have now?" I mumbled half aloud to myself. That was a question that would turn out to have many surprising answers as I would discover in the days and months ahead.
The first week after the diagnosis was the worst. I grew increasingly afraid of food, never quite knowing what was safe for a diabetic to eat. Foods that once comforted me now seemed to mock my. Knowing I could not go on in such a state of confusion and fear, I decided to confront this monster called diabetes. So off I went to the wonderful land of the world wide web to do extensive research on my illness. Wow, I called it 'my' illness, I was already beginning to own it. The information I came across was both hopeful and depressing. One website proclaimed that with tight control of blood sugar a diabetic could expect to live a long and healthy life. Another informed me that diabetics were at as high a risk of having a heart attack as someone who has already experienced one. That did plenty to send shivers down my spine, as I watched my own father suffer many heart attacks before he died at the young age of 55. He wasn't even diabetic.
So my quest for for the elusive facts about diabetes continued with a fever pitch. Most of my free time was now spent on the internet researching the diabetes topic. Perhaps this was my personal coping strategy. All I knew for sure is that in a strange almost superstitious way, I felt that reading about the disease would somehow ward off the complications. It didn't. Although I had carefully rearranged my diet to a more diabetes friendly one, my fasting blood sugar was often very high. So in addition to popping Metformin twice a day I began a regular exercise routine. I started to eat less, and the weight began coming off. When I was first diagnosed I weighed in at a hefty 280 pounds. Now my weight was down to 250 pounds, and my blood sugar levels dropped accordingly. Still I realized that I had a long way to go, but now there was hope that this dreaded disease could be managed. Hope springs eternal as the poets remind us. In my case hope was the one thing I clung too with a tenacity that surprised even me.
Slowly, and with constant effort things gradually changed for the better. My weight continued to drop until I reached a healthy 170 pounds. My A1-C test, which measures blood glucose levels over a period of time dropped dramatically from a 9 to a 5, which my doctor said is lower than many non-diabetics. My energy levels increased as well, and the constant fatigue I used to associate with getting older simply vanished.
Of course I would be negligent if I did not mention the most important factor in my recovery, the spiritual part. Prior to my diabetes you would be hard pressed to catch me reading a self-help book or any other spiritual tome. Fortunately I was able to come across some marvelous books written by Dr. Wayne Dyer and Louise Hay. They provided me with much needed inspiration, especially on the darkest days when I felt like giving up. It became increasingly evident that I DID have a choice in the treatment of this progressive, often fatal disease. I no longer view myself as a person with a terminal illness. Yes, it is a fact that I shall have diabetes until there is a cure or I leave this earth, but no longer will diabetes have me. In fact, I have come to the conclusion that my diabetes diagnosis was actually a blessing in disguise. If I had never met diabetes it is quite certain that I would have continued living in very unhealthy ways. My fat and sugar laden diet would have most likely led me down the path of the very heart disease I had originally feared. So in a strange fashion this disease may have actually saved my life.
So if you have been recently diagnosed with diabetes, please know that there is hope. You have the healing power already within you, just waiting to be activated with one turn of the key called faith. Below I have listed a few of the many wonderful diabetes resources I discovered on my journey to health. Also there are links to the websites of Dr. Wayne Dyer and Louise Hay. May you find as much comfort from these great teachers as I did. Good luck, and God bless.
Disclaimer: All information on this site is provided for informational purposes only! By no means is any
information presented herein intended to substitute for the advice provided to you by any health care or other professional
or organization.
