Welcome!

Thank you for coming to this blog.  I have been thinking about it for weeks before posing my first entry.  You see, by starting this blog, I think I have a responsibility to continue to write and I take that seriously.  My hope is that you will find some value to what I write.

Three things happened recently to propel me to write this blog:

1. My diabetes nurse (part of my Treatment Team) told me I should think about being a Diabetes Trainer because I have been successful, in her mind, at managing diabetes.  
2. I was asked what I would do differently if I had a million dollars.  I don't have that kind of money, but it really caused me to ask myself what I would like to do.  The answer: Make a difference in people's lives.
3. I was talking with a client who told me one of his folks was out with a leg infection.  Of course, I thought diabetes - which I later found out was correct.  After asking about the prognosis, I thought it was totally avoidable - it did not have to happen.  I began to think about ways I could reach out to others to let them know they did not have to be victims.  And, a blog was born. (If you have any ideas on how to get folks to take a look at it, if you find it valuable, I will gladly take the help.)

So, I hope you get a bit of encouragement.  Smile once in a while.  And, comment when you want to.


A bit about me.  I am a diabetic.  I was diagnosed about three years ago when after a routine (what I thought was routine) series of blood tests.  My doctor's office called and told me I needed to come in.  They told me it had to do with the test results.  Well, I had a few days of rampant, raging fear not having any idea what was going on.

After I got into the doctor's office, he came directly to the point.  I had an HBA1c of about 13.1.  I remember looking at him and wondering what that meant.  He said it was a 'bit high' and that I had diabetes and that I would probably have to take pills the rest of my life.  I don't know what the rest of you thought when you heard the news you had diabetes, but I thought of all of the horror stories of lost feet, legs, blindness and organ failure.  To say I was scared is an understatement.

My doctor started me on good ol' Metformin and told me to return in several weeks after another blood test.  He also said that I had to 'lose a little weight.'  I came back and he changed the medication to Janumet - my A1c was not dropping fast enough for him, and I was scared, again.  Two months later my A1c was down to around 7.  He changed my medication back to Metformin and my numbers continued to drop.  My A1c seems to have stabilized around 6 - and sometimes under.

What have I done?  I changed my diet immediately.  I began to exercise.  I looked at the American Diabetes Association website.  Learned about BMI's.  And all sorts of stuff that I was clueless about.

This blog is about my journey toward diabetes management.