Today is the American Diabetes Association’s Alert Day. One in five Americans is at risk for Type 2 diabetes and nearly 6 million have diabetes and don’t know it. Take the diabetes risk test right now and ask your friends and family to do the same.
(Note to readers: Stop Diabetes is a branded trademark of the American Diabetes Association. The Stop Diabetes site was initiated last November as a forum for sharing stories, photos, videos about people living with diabetes. To learn more visit www.stopdiabetes.com and www.diabetes.org .)
Sadly, in the the U.S. almost all of us know someone with diabetes. For me, that person is my father. He is a Type 1 diabetic and one with a miraculous story.
In the 70s he was home in San Diego for a break from UC Davis – where he attended school. He was feeling lethargic, always thirsty, and was urinating a lot. He went to see his general practitioner to find out what was wrong. The GP ran some tests but at that time diabetes wasn’t as well know as it is today. No red flags popped up.
My dad spent the rest of break feeling ill, but just figured it was the flu or something. He went back up to Davis – but my grandma was concerned. A few days passed and my grandma called my dad in his dorm room. There was no answer. She called and called but no one picked up. Something didn’t feel right to her so on a mother’s intuition she boarded the first flight to Davis. She landed, went straight to my dad’s dorm and opened the door to find him lying on the ground passed out.
He was in a diabetic coma.
Luckily, she found him in time and he was treated and diagnosed. However, if it weren’t for some amazing mother’s intuition and a whole lot of luck I certainly wouldn’t be here today.
I shared this with the 211info staff and asked if they had anything they wanted to share. Liam See, one of our volunteers, wanted to share his story as well:
My Dad was diagnosed with diabetes while I was in college. Because he was not emotionally equipped to deal with the consequences of this news, he did not change any of his habits: work, eating and any exercise.
Although he could have controlled his diabetic condition with oral medications only, with significant dietary modifications, he made his choice by not including any options of a differing work style. Dad eventually succumbed to a largely sedentary life style (along with a depression that was not diagnosed).
My younger brother, who was living at home at that time, discovered Dad slumped over the breakfast table, on one subsequent morning.
Several additional years of potential living were surrendered by my Dad primarily because of an inability to cope with and learn a new way of living on for a much longer period. Denial along with depression and, I suspect anger eating away beneath the surface of daily routines, shortened his life span.
Early diagnosis and subsequent appropriate alternative ways of dealing with this new turn in one’s life constellation can produce an entirely possible and more fulfilling outcome.
Do you have any stories about how diabetes has impacted your life?
