American Diabetes Month 2009

For those of you that don’t know, November is American Diabetes Month. As a dad living with Type 2 diabetes I wanted to share some information on the disease and the importance of heeding the warning signs for it, as they may seem relatively harmless when viewed independently.

According to the American Diabetes Association 24 million children and adults in the US live with diabetes and 57 million are at risk for developing Type 2 diabetes. Even more alarming is that 1 out of every 3 children born today face a future with diabetes if things don’t change.

The fact that I have diabetes isn’t a surprise to me, as I have a long history of both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes in my family. However, the reason that I developed diabetes in my thirties is because I failed to recognize the warning signs, ignored my genetic disposition for the disease and consistently made poor decisions regarding diet and exercise (or, in my case, a lack thereof).

With the first anniversary of my diagnosis looming I felt it was important to share a little of my story. A few days before Thanksgiving last year I had an infection that got so bad that it ended up requiring me to undergo an outpatient surgical procedure.

At the first doctors visit to figure out what the mass was on the back of my head my new doctor decided to draw some blood and run a basic panel. During the course of our conversation I disclosed that it had been about four years since I had last seen a physician and that my lab results at that time indicated I was pre-diabetic with a fasting blood sugar of around 130 mg/DL.

A day or so later, as I continued to battle with this infection, I got the call that would change my life. The panel had come back with a blood glucose reading in the low 400’s and an a1c level over 10. My parting gifts at my doctors visit the next day were my very own blood glucose monitor and my first insulin pen.

After nine months of aggressive treatment and altering the way I eat my blood sugar is in control. Granted, I am on medication (two different insulin sensitizers to be exact) and sometimes feel like a walking pharmacy, but I’m off daily insulin injections. While I’ve made progress, I’m still no where near where I need to be for myself, my wife or my son.

I still don’t exercise much and I still need to lose a lot of weight. My goal for 2010 is to get under 200 pounds for the first time since birth (ok, maybe high school). It took me thirty some years to put myself in this predicament, so I realize that it will take me some time to work my way out of it.

If you take anything away from this, then do yourself a favor and don’t be like me. These are some of the warning signs that you may have, or be at risk for, diabetes:

Type 1:

• Frequent urination
• Unusual thirst
• Extreme hunger
• Unusual weight loss
• Extreme fatigue and irritability

Type 2:

• Any of the Type 1 symptoms
• Frequent infections
• Blurred vision
• Cuts/bruises that are slow to heal
• Tingling/numbness in the hands and feet
• Recurring skin, gum or bladder infections

Source: American Diabetes Association

After reading this if you think you might be at risk, check out this Diabetes Risk Test over at diabetes.org.

Even if you don’t have a history of diabetes in your family, or think you have any of the symptoms, go ahead and schedule an annual physical anyway, especially if it’s been a while. As men we tend to only seek medical attention when things are more urgent, such as situations involving drastic blood loss or missing appendages.

We owe it to our wives, partners and children to be around for a long as possible.