A Wakeup Call

My last New Year's resolution never seemed to take hold. I'll never see 50 again, so I figured my age had a lot to do with being so set in my ways that I couldn't easily modify my diet. Then came the rude awakening. Back in March, after a winter of bad eating and exercise habits, I began to experience an extreme thirst and unusually blurry vision that came on very quickly. There were some mornings when I shouldn't have driven to work. I googled the symptoms and "diabetes" came up right away. A visit to my doctor showed a blood glucose level of 465. That was enough to make me start seeing food as the enemy, but that wasn't the way to manage Type 2 diabetes. For the first couple of weeks, I avoided sweets entirely and drastically cut my consumption of carbs. The salad route worked quickly, with a 25-pound weight loss - the biggest drop in my life. I was amazed at how many people commented on my diminished dimensions, but more impressed at how a daily pill and keeping the house less stocked with baked goods have kept my blood sugar levels in check. Does that mean my diabetes is gone? I won't assume that, but I do feel better and look forward to a healthier winter than the last one. Diabetes is such a common condition today, and it's important to take care of it before it results in other health complications.