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Maria – Type 2 diabetes – Education for Better Diabetes Management
Diabetes Diagnosis and Treatment – Type 2
I found out I had type2 diabetes in 2000. I started feeling dizzy. The work I was doing was reaching down to put tags on products. I felt like I was just going to fall on the floor. And at first I thought I needed glasses. So, I put on my glasses. That didn't help. It just kept on going and finally I went to see my doctor. And he's the one that told me that I had diabetes. I said, “Oh, well, you get something for the flu, and it's gone. Same way with the diabetes...” That's what I thought. But I knew what diabetes was because my dad had it for 25 years. I thought of what my dad did, and if I would do that, it would go away. Like cutting down on fried foods and the amount of foods he would eat. Or if I would just take my pills like my doctor had told me, it would just go away. But it doesn't work like that.
So before I found DiabetesAmerica™, my regimen was to eat no more fried foods. My weakness was tortillas and things like that. Sweet stuff. Sweet bread. And I just thought, well, if I cut down on that, it will go away. I didn't really know what I had to do at that point. Not yet, anyway. I kept taking the pills that they gave me. But I noticed that it wasn't helping. I would test my glucose on a regular basis, and I noticed that it wouldn't go down. It always stayed high. So, I figured, “What's the use of taking medications that aren't going to help me?” But it wasn't the medication. It was what I was doing. It wasn't right. I was still eating what I wasn't supposed to. And medication won't help you like that. Then I found out that diabetes is destroying your other organs in your body like the kidneys, the liver, and the heart. If you don't take care of it, it will slowly deteriorate all your organs. Till finally, that's it. You won't live that long without your organs like the kidneys and liver and heart. You need to have them.
Before I found DiabetesAmerica™, I didn’t have anyone to tell me about diabetes….what I was doing wrong. I would read the leaflets they have at the doctor's office. But I would not understand what they were talking about. Like the cholesterol levels….. The doctor never explained to me. DiabetesAmerica™ explained what diabetes was. It was something serious.
A co-worker of mine told me that she was coming to a place called DiabetesAmerica™ and that I should come, too, because they would check everything. From your glucose to your hypertension and all of that… And they actually really looked into it. I would tell her, “I already have my pills. I don't need to go. I don't think I need to do that.” But she kept on telling me, every time she would see me, “You should go, Maria, you should go.”
And that's why when I came to DiabetesAmerica™. The first time I came ... it was so different. They explained to me first, from Day One. I said, “Oh, this is a different thing now. This is way different. I was like ... I've been doing everything wrong.” All this time, I thought that I was doing the right things. They talked to me about what would happen if I'm not taking care of the glucose count in my blood. And all these things that they were telling me, I read about - but now I knew exactly what they meant.
DiabetesAmerica™ Treatment - Better Understanding for Better Diabetes Outcomes
When I first came to DiabetesAmerica™, I had the lab work done. And then I saw the doctor. Then doctor explained to me what I had to bring down, like cholesterol level and high blood pressure. They explained to me very clearly on all that. Before, other doctors would just tell me “Keep on taking your medicine and see us if you need something else.” Then, after the doctors at DiabetesAmerica™, I went to the nutritionist that told me about the diet that I had to follow. It was something I never had before. Everyone helping me out and explaining to me what was going on. The nutritionist explained carbohydrates. Oh, boy! They really helped me. It was a whole different thing than I had in my mind before. I just couldn't believe it.
The next day that I saw my co-worker, I went and thanked her. She said, “You know what, too? That monitor that they gave you, they're going to take that out and they put it in the computer, and they're going to find out how many times you tested yourself.” I have a brother that has diabetes, too. Before, I would check his blood sugar level using my meter if he felt sluggish or sick and he didn't have his tester for the blood. I now know not to do that. Since becoming a patient at DiabetesAmerica™, my lifestyle has changed a lot. Now they monitor me when I come in. They're going to ask me why something happened. Or why was it high this day? And I have to have answers. And before I felt like nobody cared. But here it's different.
This place also makes a big difference for me because I don't have to be going to different places to find out the results of one thing or the other. And it's everything under one roof. I have the doctors here. I have a nutritionist here. They're very wonderful here. And they're not rushing me to get me out of here. When I go to other doctors, it's what, like, 15 minutes? And you're out of there. If I'm here an hour, hour-and-a-half it's well worth it. One co-pay instead of having three and four is a big difference, too. That way, I just take care of everything that I have to here. It has helped me financially to come here because it's all in one place. It's more convenient for me.
I like the staff here a lot. They're fantastic. They show that they really want to help you and keep track of you and of what's going on with your lifestyle. They want to keep you healthy. They really talk to you in a good way. I like the way they treat you here. I look forward to seeing them. I feel their support, and I feel that they do care about us. They greet us like they're happy to see us here. And when I come here, I feel comfortable. It's nice here and we don't wait long anyway. The lounge is nice and the coffee and drinks. I don't mind waiting.
They tell me that my health has improved from the first time I came up to today. My cholesterol level is almost normal and my blood pressure is getting there. And my glucose is okay. It's not as high as when I first came. Everything has improved a lot. Or to me it has. We have to learn how to manage diabetes on our own, because we don't have the doctor 24 hours a day with us. Or the nutritionist 24 hours a day to tell us you should eat this or that. So, we have to keep track of what we're doing to manage it the right way. It's kind of hard at first. But it's getting easier - everyday it's getting easier for me.
One of the times that I came, my nurse said that I needed to have a retinal scan done for my eyesight. She noticed there was some bleeding in the back of my eye. She didn't go through the whole exam because it was bad. I needed to go see an eye doctor. I did – that day. I had no pain or symptoms that something was wrong with my eyes. The eye doctor said there was bleeding in my eye and it can lead to blindness. They caught that at DiabetesAmerica™. I feel like I was lucky that time. Who wants to go blind?
Diabetes Education, Nutrition, and Lifestyle for Better Health
Everything that I have learned so far is from DiabetesAmerica™. I learned more than reading about it. I would read about it, but I didn't always know what they were saying. I feel like I have more understanding than before. Before I came here, I didn't know anything about diabetes. I thought it was like the flu thing. I thought that because meat was boiled or broiled, I could have all I could eat. It's not like that. It's a portion. They showed me. And they showed me how to read the labels. I read the labels on bread or yogurt or cereal to see how much carbohydrate or cholesterol it has.
They also explained exercise. I would tell them sometimes I walk around the lake once, maybe twice. I feel like it is 30 minutes. They would say, next time, time yourself, and you watch. It's not 30 minutes. I was just walking 15 minutes. But they also explained to me and it doesn't have to be all of 30 minutes at one time. Which ever way you want, but make it 30 minutes total. So, now we're back on track with that.
Before finding DiabetesAmerica™, I didn't feel like I had to follow anything. I didn't care if I was getting the medical attention that I needed. I didn't even know that I really needed all that attention. I wasn't even sure what diabetes was. I thank DiabetesAmerica™ because they're the ones that really showed me what it was. It is serious. But it can be well managed if you follow correctly what they tell you to do. It can be well balanced. Everything's going to be okay if you keep to what you're supposed to do and follow the guidelines. And not just assume that you're doing it right. It used to be very scary. It's not anymore. You don't have to let diabetes control you.
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