Before
& After:
14 Patients Share Their Experiences /
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It isn't unusual for
people with diabetes to make major changes in other
aspects of their lives once their blood sugars have
been restored to normal after years of poor control.
The changes that we see include marriages, pregnancies,
and reentry into the workforce. The story of Elaine
L. falls into the last category. She also points out
the disabling fatigue that she experienced when her
blood sugars were high. This problem has led other
diabetics, desperate to retain their abilities to
function productively, to abuse amphetamines. Elaine
is a sixty-year-old mother and artist. Her story is
not unusual.
"When I developed
diabetes twenty-one years ago, I began a fruitless
odyssey to learn all I could about this disease and
to have the tools to be able to deal with the psychological
and physical roller coaster that I was experiencing.
"The hardest thing
to cope with was the total loss of control over my
life. I was told that I was a 'brittle' diabetic and
that I would just have to endure the very high and
very low blood sugars that were totally exhausting
me. I feared that my eyes would be damaged. I'm an
artist, and this frightened me the most. I knew that
this disease was destroying my body every day and
that I was helpless.
"We went from doctor
to doctor and to major diabetes centers around the
country. I never could get a handle on how to become
'controlled.' I was given a gold star for 'good' blood
sugar by one doctor; told I 'had imbued the number
150 with mystical significance' by another; informed
that if my blood sugars were high after lunch today,
I could correct them before lunch tomorrow. All the
while, I was feeling worse and worse. I stopped painting.
I was just too tired. I was so scared to read any
more of the diabetes magazines, because I kept learning
more and more about what was in store for me.
"I'd been diabetic
about five years when an uncle in Florida advised
me to read Dr. Bernstein's first book. It made a lot
of sense, but when I read it, I thought, 'Diabetes
has robbed me of so much already, I don't have any
more time or effort to give to it—and who wants to
be a professional diabetic?' Of course, there was
a lot of anger and denial and even attempts to forget
about being diabetic. Maybe I could forget about it
for a while, but it never forgot about me.
"A seed was now planted,
however, in spite of myself. I knew that no matter
what happened down the road, I needed to feel that
I had tried everything possible, so that I would never
have to say, 'I wish I had done more.'
"I was very wary of
my first visit to Dr. Bernstein's office. I really
thought I would hate having to change my diet yet
again. I did not relish the idea of multiple daily
injections, testing my blood so often, and keeping
records. The fact is that I did hate all of that until
I found I was recording better and better blood sugars.
The diet wasn't any more restrictive than the American
Diabetes Association diet I had been following, and
most important, I was feeling better and much less
tired. In fact, I began to paint again and soon rented
a studio. I now paint full-time, but this time I actually
sell my work.
"The regimen that
I feared has, in the end, given me the freedom for
which I had dreamed."
Although Elaine does not mention it in her story,
her cholesterol/HDL ratio dropped from an elevated
cardiac risk level of 4.74 to the "cardioprotective"
level of 3.4, as her long-term blood sugars approached
normal. Furthermore, her weight has dropped from 143
pounds to 134 pounds, and her hemoglobin A1C has dropped
from a very high 10.7 percent to a nearly normal 6.0
percent.
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