I'm the one in the middle!
That was September 2008!
In 2009, I was diagnosed with Diabetes.
A complete shock to me! Prior to being diagnosed, I had lost almost 50 pounds. I was doing all the right things to enhance my life by changing my diet and going to the gym fairly regularly. And even though I had grown up with a diabetic family member, and knew about the disease, I was not aware that rapid weight loss was a sign of diabetes. I knew about increased thirst, frequent urination and rapid weight gain. But was unaware of other signs, including the rate of which your body heals from open wounds.
As you can imagine, I was very upset. Not because I was diabetic, but because I thought that the changes I had made was what finally put me on track to living a healthy life. Instead, it was my body rejecting or not processing the sugars I was eating and therefore changing my life.
I was shocked one more time when they told me I needed to take insulin to get my blood sugars under control. The shock wasn’t that I needed to take it, but that I thought I was too old to need to take it. My assumption was that insulin was for younger diabetics and people diagnosed with diabetes at my age were Type II (non-insulin dependent).
I quickly learned that I was in the “hazy” stage between Type I and II. And based on my blood sugar and A1C, I needed to take insulin to regulate my blood sugar levels. Either my pancreas was making insulin and my body no longer knew what to do with it, my pancreas was not making enough to support my diet OR my pancreas no longer made insulin. Ugh!!!
After being told that I needed to take insulin, the doctor told me I would probably gain 20 pounds because the insulin would help my body use the sugar for energy rather than wasting it. Determined to NOT gain that weight back and lose more weight in hopes to not take insulin later in life, I changed my diet and increased my activity at the gym.
By the time I went back for my 6 month check up, I had lost an additional 50 pounds!
I am still on insulin! But that doesn’t matter to me as much now. As I look back, I am proud of the diabetes as it has given me the strength to conquer many things!
The other things I have conquered:
- I quit smoking!
I am also continuing on the journey to meet my goal weight!
I will keep you posted on more goals met as time goes on!
