By T. R. Shaw Jr.
November
is World Diabetes Month. Specifically,
November 14 is World Diabetes Day. But, much
like diabetes, few are aware.
Diabetes is the
next world pandemic and crisis. It’s
quietly sneaking up on all of us, yet funding for research and education is not
yet a national priority.
It has been said
that diabetes is a disease of affluence.
The statistics show the chronic disease is growing exponentially at an
alarming rate, especially among Americans.
One in three young adults in the U.S. today will become diabetic by
middle age, according to the American Diabetes Association.
I
say that it’s a disease of affluence because it’s undeniable that it is not
just genetic, but greatly influenced by our first-world diet and lifestyle. Diabetes is a physiological, genetic, and
cultural phenomena reaching epidemic levels.
I’ve
been a Type-II diabetic for more than 20 years, but I don’t struggle as much as
I used to. Times are a-changing as they
say.
I
recently authored a book entitled DEFY THE IMMEDIATE, a memoir on the many
challenges in my life and how I dealt with them. My challenges with diabetes is one of the
chapters.
When
I was growing up in the 1960’s, diabetes just wasn’t discussed, and not well
understood. It was a lot like cancer,
you know the “C-Word.” The euphemism I
remember from my grandparent’s generation was someone had “Sugar.” It wasn’t quite understood and diabetes
research was in its infancy with limited medications and treatments. Some people were even institutionalized as it
was sometimes mistaken for a mental disorder.
As a child I viewed it as an “old person’s disease,” something I really
didn’t have to worry about.
Advertisers
and marketing gurus realized we had a love-affair with carbohydrates. Sweet stuff was everywhere, in vending and
pop machines which were never out of sight.
Sugar sold; and it was in everything!
My
diagnosis of diabetes came after I completed college and served in the Navy
where food is a morale issue. In my 30’s
I worked hard in my family funeral business, served in the Navy Reserve and was
busy with community leadership. I found
little time to work out the way I should.
My eating habits grew terribly bad and I gained weight. A few times I lost weight, but yo-yo dieting
was never effective. I always gained back
any weight I lost, plus more, as I grew weary of dieting and restricted eating.
I just gave up and ate what I wanted to,
most of the time without really thinking about it. Intellectually, I knew how and what I should
be eating, but eating out of convenience was so much easier when you didn’t
think about it.
During
a Navy Reserve trip to Norfolk, Virginia, I took part in a four-day NATO virtual
exercise during a cold February. I was
glad to escape a brutal Michigan winter for a few days and get to a “warmer”
climate. Tidewater winters are nasty. It was warmer, but only 45-50 degrees and
rainy.
During this
exercise, where we sat in a war room and monitored many screens, I grew
uncomfortable. The exercise we monitored
took place in the far eastern Atlantic near Portugal.
I started getting
really thirsty and was making constant trips to the drinking fountain to fill
my coffee mug, and subsequently, many trips to the restroom. I blamed my sudden thirst on the change in
climate and latitude. On Saturday night
of the exercise, I went to dinner and on the way to my room, stopped by a
convenience store and picked up two large bottles of Gatorade. I drank one before I went to bed and the
second one during the night. I couldn’t
sleep. I was constantly waking up and
running to the bathroom where I filled the bottle with water and drank
that. Unbeknownst to me, my blood sugar
was in a hyper-glycemic state. I was
still blaming my thirst on the weather.
On Sunday
afternoon the exercise ended. We headed
home that evening and I guzzled pure Coca-Cola at the airport to quench my
thirst.
When I returned
home, the thirst subsided. I made an
appointment with my eye doctor a few days later because my vision had greatly
changed. After examining my eyes, she
demanded I see my physician immediately and even scheduled an appointment for
me. She suspected diabetes, I didn’t.
My doctor called
me and told me to get to the hospital now.
I was reluctant, I had a busy few days ahead and didn’t have a lot of
time. He told me we needed to do
tests. I shook my head and thought,
“Can’t that be done at the lab?” I
relented and checked in. Everyone there,
except me, had a sense of urgency. I
didn’t really understand why I needed to be there.
Throughout the
night, I was continually poked and tapped every few hours for blood draws. It got a little annoying, but I watched late
night TV and dozed off to sleep, still a little angry about why I was there.
The next morning,
my internist came in and flat out told me I had diabetes. Privately, I was saying “no I don’t.” He showed me some numbers that were off the
chart, but had little meaning or relevance to me. I assumed, the spike was from my recent trip,
change in climate, and drinking all that Gatorade and Coke. I felt they were overreacting. I was in complete denial that there is
something seriously wrong with me.
I was counseled by
a dietitian, which pretty much went in one ear and out the other. I was given several prescriptions and
glucometer and taught how to use it. I
took the pills as I should, but didn’t think much more about it. I infrequently used the meter, besides the
test strips were very expensive. For the
next several months my numbers improved, but not as much as they should
have. I was getting lectures from my
doctor at every visit and it was getting old, I was still in denial.
After a few years
of bad control, I was referred to a diabetes specialist who was adept at
getting people on the right track. He was on top of everything the diabetes
world.
I’m one of the
lucky ones. I took care of it in
time.
Today, advanced
diabetic medicines are now plentiful and convenient and becoming more cost
effective. Science and pharmacology are
catching up, along with fabulous new diagnostic devices.
However, many
without good insurance still struggle with affordable insulin and life-saving
prescriptions. The American Diabetes
Association is working hard to lobby for more affordable medicine and health
care plans. For many the struggle is
real and critical.
The good thing is
diabetes is one of the most controllable chronic diseases we face. The bad news is more and more of us will be
facing it in the years to come. Denial
routinely comes before acceptance. If
you are facing it, deal with it decisively and proactively, don’t let it linger
into a more complicated condition.
Learn the risk
factors and consider lifestyle changes to minimize this menace. There are many resources available today,
take advantage of them. The American
Diabetes Association website is a great place to start. You can visit it at www.diabetes.org.
Life is too short
to not take the best care of yourself while you can.
T. R. Shaw Jr. of Battle Creek,
Michigan, is CEO of Shaw Communication, an author and speaker. He is a retired Navy officer and funeral
director. His most recent book, DEFY THE
IMMEDIATE, A Journey of Failure, Perseverance and Success is available at
Amazon.com and local bookstores. Visit
his website at www.trshawjr.com
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