I was 50 years old when I fell apart, health wise anyway, blood tests revealed I had high blood pressure, high cholesterol and as I begged the doctor not to say “Diabetes,” but that is what he said. I was really shook up,
Diabetes in my mind was the disease that ravished my father’s body and took him away from me, my father was a type 1 diabetic. I have learned that a lot of this was due to his own stubbornness, “No one was going to tell him what he had to do”! I watched my father go from a very active hunter and fisherman to a man that could only sit in front of the TV and listen to it because he had lost his eyesight within the first few years and his feet were so swollen he couldn’t walk without help.
He manipulated his insulin so he could have that piece of pie, or another drink at happy hour. Well, when I got the news, I was determined not to be my father!! I have been a type 2 diabetic, first time I’ve been pleased I wasn’t #1 in something, for 3 years. I still work 40 hours a week, I still square dance 3-4 times a week, I still call square dances a few times a month, the only thing that has changed for me is that I now have to carry my meter with me, and I eat whether I feel like it or not. I check my sugar levels 6 times a day, before each meal, snacks and at bedtime.
When I was trying to get a prescription from my doctor’s office so I can get my supplies on my insurance, the office girl and I quote said “Don’t you think testing 6 times a day is extreme?” Now she had made me mad. I let her know that I was testing to keep myself healthy and if I felt I had to test 6 times a day that it was no skin of her nose and that I needed the prescription for strips testing for 6 times a day.
After 2 weeks of them faxing in blank prescriptions to a prescription for 1 time a day, lets get real, to writing it for 4 times a day and not doing it right, I went to visit my doctor. I live in a small west Texas town and this is the only doctor for 80 miles. I let them know that my A1C is 5.6 because I take care of my Diabetes and they should be happy to help me do that and if not I would drive to 80 miles to another doctor because without their support I would end up in bad shape.
I just received my supplies, I have enough strips to test 6 times a day. Stand up for yourselves, ask questions, and demand what you need to keep yourself healthy. You are the one that will pay if you don’t. My doctor couldn’t even tell me how many carbs a day to eat, thank goodness my Dad was a diabetic, we learned about carbs early on. Please take care of yourself.
God Bless
Tina J.
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