After my college graduation, I moved back home with my parents and went back to school at night to gain my teaching certification. I worked retail during the days and quickly realized how detrimental my high blood sugar tendencies were to having a career. I knew I would only be working retail until I could find a position in a school, but even while working in a department store I saw how hard it was for me to focus and be alert. I would need to use the bathroom two or three times per hour and I was always desperately thirsty. I take pride in my work ethic and I never let the way I felt interrupt my work and I never called out for diabetes related reasons. It was extremely difficult for me to balance working during the day with taking classes for three hours at a time at night all while feeling like I was at rock bottom.
I knew I needed help and I was willing to ask for it - but I could not (would not) yet come clean about how deep I was in. I began seeing a certified diabetes educator (CDE) who was also a nutritionist. I was hoping to find someone who understood the intracacies of diabetes and who could also help me transition out of the way I was eating to something healthier that would help my diabetes control get back closer to the normal range. I found a wonderful woman named Karin who I met with weekly and sometimes even twice a week. Karin was the first person that I told my story to and the first person who made me believe that maybe things could get better. I continued working with Karin for a long time and made progress with her but still struggled mightily.
In February of 2008, I was working in a school as a special education aide and was having lunch with a co-worker when she casually mentioned that after work she was bringing dinner over to a neighbor whose wife had just died of diabetes related complications. She was in her forties. I was devastated. I vividly remember sitting in that cafeteria blinking back tears and knowing that I finally had to make a serious change - or lose my life in the process. I went home that very day and told my mom that I needed serious help. I came clean about my years of seriously negligent diabetes care and that felt like I was at rock bottom. A lot of tears later, we went online and did some research and found the Lifestyle Center of America located in Oklahoma, two hours south of Oklahoma City. Oklahoma changed my life and showed me how wonderful life can and should be if we take care of ourselves and strive for the greatness we deserve. In my next post, I will talk about the Lifestyle Center of America in Oklahoma and the wonderful weeks I spent there regaining my health and my life.
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