Happy Thanksgiving to all! Boy do I have a lot to be thankful for. I would like to share my story today on how I became a type 2 Diabetic. Let me rewind to August 8, 2010. I went in for a routine physical at the ripe age of 48 years old and my Doctor told me that I had High Blood pressure and was overweight. Okay I can accept that. He gave me blood pressure medicine and told me by the way you are pre-Diabetic. You better lose weight and begin to eat healthy or you are going to get it. I thought to myself there is no diabetes in my family and I feel just fine. Of course my mind is the all knowing and I denied what the doctor had said and I went on with life. Two years later is when it all started. January 3, 2013 I decided I better go in for another physical because I am now 50 years old. So I went and picked up my lab sheet and did the full blood work before I went in to see the doctor on January 11, 2013. I was feeling fine! I know I was overweight at 263 pounds at 5’10” inches tall but I felt fine. I had my ice cream every night and ate a lot of fast food and you know it was all great. I work in Real Estate and I am always on the go so I would eat wherever I could. I figured no big deal I am young. Once again I will say I was feeling fine! January 11, 2013 changed my life forever! When arriving for my appointment at 9:00 am I had a feeling something was not right because they took me in right away. You know you typically wait a little bit. They brought me into the exam room and said the Dr. will be right in and sure enough the Doctor came right in with my blood work. This is what really shocked me; he looked at me with a straight face and said “What are you doing to yourself”! I said what do you mean Doctor. Frank you are a ticking time bomb. I am surprised you have not had a heart attack or died yet. YOU HAVE HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE AND TO TOP IT OFF YOU NOW HAVE TYPE 2 DIABETES! I was in shock! I knew I was overweight and I knew I liked to eat my red meat and ice cream everyday but I also knew it could never happen to me. He went on to explain what I had as the nurse came in with that machine that you check your blood sugar with everyday. Great! I thought to myself now I have to prick my finger three times a day now and I am sick. The fact of the matter I did not realize how sick I was till he began to tell me my results. The doctor began to tell me the results of my blood work which scared me to death! Like the pun! I don’t. My triglycerides were 1019 and should be less than 150. Cholesterol 251 should be 125-200, Creatine was 405 should be 30, Glucose was 313 should be 65-99 range and the list goes on. To say the least I had to make a change and make it fast. My family depends on me and I could not imagine leaving them behind because of my stupidity. It is time to change my life today I thought to myself. My Doctor wrote a prescription to see a nutritionist immediately by the name of Missy Porteous, MS,RD,CDE who saved my life. I was very nervous and scared to think that I had developed this disease. As you should be! It can be corrected though with the proper diet and exercise if you catch it early enough. She taught me how and what to eat. She was more like a psychologist of food to me. We would talk for hours about eating and what not to eat. She would listen to my long stories and then would explain to me again how a proper diet is the key to good health and she was right. I will say it again if it were not for my physical with Dr. Bill Pollock and my sessions with Missy I would not be here today. Now that we have set the ground work let’s rewind this disease and try to get my life back. With the direction of Missy and her coaching I made some drastic changes immediately. I went home and donated all the food I had in the house that was not good for my present condition and began to rebuild. Of course it was hard; no one said it would not be! Shoot it took me 50 years to destroy myself and I know I need to fix it. COMMITMENT is the key to success. I structured my diet with lots of vegetables, chicken, fish, yogurt, and organic foods. NO MORE ICE CREAM! Missy then began to adjust my calorie intake so that I would loose weight gradually. Well as time went on I began to lose weight and all my blood levels went back to normal. I now weigh 203 lbs and my blood sugars are stable. Yes I still check them everyday. In conclusion I cannot express how serious this is and with the proper guidance and commitment you can change your life for the better. There are things that I can do now that I could not do before when I was not healthy. I have more energy! More confidence! Feel Great! And enjoy everyday to the fullest. I would like to thank the people who have read this and hope that you will really adhere to what I said. I thoroughly enjoy my new lifestyle change and the food is GREAT! Thank you all for your support this year and being there for me. I appreciate everyone! I still do miss Ice Cream! Sincerely, Frank Baldwin
Posted on: Tue, 19 Nov 2013 19:13:33 +0000
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