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Wakeup Call to a Healthier Life
Gary Eppich didn't know he had it. As if it wasn't bad enough to be hospitalized for heart bypass surgery, his doctor also discovered Gary had diabetes. He was diagnosed as having Type 2 (non-insulin-dependent) diabetes. Unlike Type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes, Type 2 is treated with diet, exercise, and if necessary, oral medication. Understandably, Gary wanted to avoid a regimen of daily insulin injections for the rest of his life. He knew this was a wakeup call about his future health and understood that a permanent change had to be made in his diet. Fortunately, his wife Lynn was ready to share in that change to make it happen.
But even after Lynn began preparing meals based on information from their family doctor and diabetes literature, Gary's health kept getting worse, and his blood glucose levels remained dangerously high.
Lynn dug deeper, researching everything she could find on diabetes and diet. Although the books were helpful, she still couldn't find specific information about which foods to eat and why. Finally, Lynn found out that the Diabetes Association of Greater Cleveland (DAGC) offers Medical Nutrition Therapy counseling by a registered dietitian. United Way supports the counseling service through DAGC's Disease/Disability Information program.
Deadly Disease Affects 1 in 14 Greater Clevelanders
According to the Diabetes Association of Greater Cleveland (DAGC), 1 in 14 people in Northeast Ohio have diabetes, and almost a third of the people in the U.S. with diabetes don't even know they have it. If left untreated, the disease can lead to higher risk of heart disease, stroke, and illnesses of the stomach, kidneys, eyes, nerves, skin and feet. Diabetes is a disease that diminishes the pancreas's ability to make enough of the hormone insulin, which helps the body's cells to absorb and burn glucose, or the insulin itself doesn't work properly because pancreatic cells that produced it have been damaged by the body's immune system.
Time for a Change
After several counseling sessions with the Diabetes Association's registered dietitian Matt Sebastian, Gary and Lynn now have a clear understanding of which foods and portions are best for their dietary needs. Gary has been able to maintain low, consistent blood glucose levels over the past year, and both he and his wife have lost weight and feel more energetic. Gary lost over 60 pounds since adopting the correct diet. Their daughter began following the new diet, and along with her parents, lost weight too.
Lynn says, "One of the things we found out after we started changing our eating habits was how off schedule we were. Eating regular meals three times a day is very important to diabetics -- many don't realize that. They have this idea in their heads that, 'Oh, I have to go to the doctor next week to have my blood sugar tested, so I'll just skip lunch for the rest of the week.' That's the worst thing you can do."
"Meal planning is a big part of maintaining a good diet, says Matt, "and should include bringing healthy snacks with you to work or whenever you're away from home to get you through those between-meal periods of the day when the temptation may be greater to snack on whatever junk foods are available." He strongly emphasizes that limiting carbohydrates in the diabetic diet is very important, and that even many so-called "sugar-free" foods, such as sugar-free cookies, are made mostly of flour -- a carbohydrate. All carbohydrates are made up of starches or sugars that, when eaten, are converted to glucose in the bloodstream.
Small Changes Have Big Results
Gary and Lynn were happily surprised at how small lifestyle changes along with information they received from the Diabetes Association of Greater Cleveland made such a big and positive difference in their family's health, and in particular, Gary's blood glucose tests. In what's called the A1c, a blood test for diabetic people to determine the percentage of glucose attached to the body's red blood cells over the past three months, he's gone from unhealthy, high readings of over 8% in the past to healthy, normal test results of 5.5 to 5.8%!
Gary heard the wakeup call, and with a little help from the Diabetes Association, his whole family is waking up these days to a healthier life.
Diabetes Association of Greater Cleveland serves Northeast Ohio as the primary source of education, research and advocacy for the prevention and treatment of diabetes. For more information, call 216-591-0800 or visit www.dagc.org.
This is just one story from the more than 130 partner agencies that United Way funds to provide nearly 180 health and human service programs helping more than 400,000 Greater Cleveland residents each year.
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