I was diagnosed with diabetes in April of 1997. I woke up
one morning and my wife was already up. I asked her to turn on the bedroom
light, because it was dark. She told me that the light was on. The room was so
dark, I feared that I was going blind.
I went to the emergency room at my VA hospital and found that
my blood sugar (glucose) was 876 mg/dL. I had no other symptoms other than
going to the bathroom often.
A couple years before the diagnosis of diabetes, in
January of 1995, I had a bunionectomy that went bad, and I got a staph
infection that caused a very rare disease called reflex sympathetic dystrophy.
It shut down my pancreas and thyroid and damaged the part of my hypothalamus
that controls body temperature and weight management. I went from 190 to 420
pounds in 14 months.
This has wrecked my life – I was an LPN (Licensed
Practical Nurse) and a physical therapist assistant for 20 years and had to
retire at age 42. Just trying to cope with this and now diabetes has been hard
to accept.
But I do cope. I am the only diabetic on both sides of my
family!! God has been good to help me lose 80 pounds in one year with no
surgery, but losing weight with the sweat of my brow and strict dieting.
This is my story, and I hope this helps someone. You can
live a normal life with diabetes.
Willis F, 52
Huntington, WV
133025