| DARK VOYAGEI originally posted this essay on Writing.com in December 2006, partially to let my friends know of my health condition, and partly as a cautionary tale.?I've decided to re-post it here on the internet for the same reasons.?? I first noticed it in the late summer of that year.I was driving to Atlantic Beach, North Carolina, on a short vacation trip from Raleigh.The road signs on Highway 70 seemed just a little blurry, less distinct than normal.I've worn glasses since I was a kid, but my corrected vision was very good.Guess I need to see the eye doctor and get a new prescription, I thought.That promise, as so many of its kind do, got put off amidst the hustle and bustle of life.I changed jobs soon afterwards, and a demanding training schedule, then the stress of the new job, pushed the eye doctor out of my thoughts.But, a few months later, I noticed a definite change in my vision.I became concerned, and made an emergency appointment to see an optometrist.Saturday, December 28, 2002: ?a day that would unalterably change my life.After the standard battery of eye tests, my doctor told me that she believed I had diabetes.The icy hand of fear crushed my heart.My mother-in-law had died from complications of diabetes, but beyond that, I knew little about the disease.On the recommendation of the doctor, I went to the emergency room of my local hospital.The admissions people informed me that my blood glucose level was 430, and my blood pressure was 223/178.I knew that the pressure was an abnormally high number, but, like most people who don't live with diabetes, I had no idea about the glucose level.The nurse began my education on the subject by saying that a normal person's sugar level is around 100, and that 200 is considered dangerously high.They kept me in the hospital for a couple of days, feeding me insulin intravenously and giving me medication for my high blood pressure, or hypertension.One of my nurses confided, "You're lucky.The last guy we had in here with readings that high didn't make it out of here."It was at the hospital that I met my current physician, a wonderfully sympathetic and knowledgeable woman, originally from Calcutta, named Dr. Nandini Lahiri.She took all the time I needed to teach me about my disease, and to help me chart a future course on my dark voyage.I learned that the type of diabetes I contracted, adult-onset or Type II, is a very aggressive and dangerous disease.It is a chronic disease; there is no cure, although limited stem-cell research indicates there is hope, if not for me, then for those in the future.Dr. Lahiri further explained that I needed to embark on a course of action that would keep my blood sugar under control.My form of diabetes is the result of a defect in the pancreas that causes it to produce insufficient levels of insulin, the body's product that controls sugar level in the bloodstream.In my case, it also appears that my body actually doesn't use the insulin the pancreas produces very efficiently.My plan to control my diabetes involves a three-pronged attack.I take a pill called Glipizide ER, which works to control the blood sugar and help the body burn off the excess.Secondly, I control the amount of sugar I consume.I read the "Total Carb" content line on the labels on everything I eat or drink.I aim to restrict my total carbohydrate intake to around 200 grams per day.Finally, I try to remain as active as I can, exercising as much as possible to help burn off excess sugar.It's a daily battle, but I'm holding my own. |
| It's a daily battle, but I'm holding my own.The lab reports from the blood tests I undergo every three months show that my deadly enemy is under control.Unfortunately, the disease has already ravaged my body.It has affected my eyesight, and I've required an operation on each eye to save my vision.My kidneys are now operating at somewhere around fifteen percent efficiency, and I'm on kidney dialysis, four hours a day, three days a week.I also get something called diabetic neuropathy, which is an occasional yet painful kind of burning, prickling sensation in my feet and ankles.My immune system is somewhat compromised, so I catch anything that comes down the pike.If you sneeze, I get pneumonia!------------ Why am I telling you this?I'm not looking for sympathy or for pity.I'm not venting against God or the Fates, decrying my ill fortune.That's not the way I feel, and it's not the way I approach my situation.The reason I'm talking about this today is that I want to help spread the word.I want to let people know that, while not curable, diabetes is preventable.The US is in the throes of an epidemic of diabetes.It's striking more people, and at a younger age, than ever before.What steps can you take to prevent the onset of the disease?Perhaps the most important one is to get a check-up from your family doctor.Knowledge is power.If you don't have diabetes, you can prevent it.If you do have it, you can take steps to control it before it ravages you as thoroughly as it has done me. I was too much of a macho man to go in for regular check-ups that might have caught the disease in its early stages.That's probably why men don't live as long as women.Secondly, watch your consumption of soft drinks.A twelve-ounce can of Coca-Cola contains 39 grams of carbohydrates.I used to drink the stuff like it was water, going through four to six cans a day.I have little doubt that my history as a Coke addict is the main reason I contracted diabetes.And I'm sure it's a contributing factor to my hypertension as well.Soft drinks taste great, I know, but at least drink diet sodas: they have no carbs.Finally, get out and get some exercise!When I was a kid, I was outside playing almost every afternoon after school, and all day on the weekends.Riding my bike, playing stickball, or just running around as kids did is what I lived for.As an adult, I played softball and hockey, and swam.It wasn't enough for me. The increasingly sedentary lifestyle of some kids today surely contributes to the obesity epidemic we hear all too much about.Please, give my words some thought.My dark voyage is one I don't want you to have to accompany me on.2006, 2008 by Kenneth M. Rhodes |
| 2006, 2008 by Kenneth M. Rhodes |
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