The last few years my husband, Jason, and I have been on a health journey. It started in August of 2021 when Jason had severe pain in his abdomen. He went to his primary doctor and found out he had a hernia that was causing the pain and needed surgery. During the prep work for surgery we found out Jason was a type two diabetic with glucose numbers running over 500 and A1C at 10%. A normal glucose is 70 to 100 and A1C under 5.7%. Diabetes is a condition that affects how insulin is released in the body to break down sugars. Some of the main symptoms are increased headaches, thirst, frequent urination, increased appetite, weight loss, blurred vision, fatigue, numbness and tingling in the hands and feet, and dry mouth. Jason had no symptoms, which makes it a silent killer.
Both Jason and I were at our heaviest weights at this point in time. During the last few months of 2021, Jason started watching some of what he was eating, and lost a little bit of weight. In January of 2022 we started a diabetic education program with Angela Spencer at Champions Recovery Room Physical Therapy that lasted one whole year. This Diabetic Education program has over a 95% success rate. During our time with Angela and her team, between the both of us, Jason and I lost over 125 pounds. Today Jason is no longer diabetic. I no longer have hypothyroidism, due to diet and some other changes I made.
Our journey is continuing, combating food related illness is a struggle. We both have gained some weight back, and are concentrating again, and figuring out new things that work. We hold each other accountable, sometimes by reminding each other that we cannot work concession stands at ball games, sometimes by being sad together that we can’t have our favorite ice cream every week at Granny’s Sweet Shoppe on Hubble, and reminding each other that we need to walk.
I always make our meal plan for the week and am finding new ways to cook or new foods that are healthy. We had bad eating habits for over 40 years, and it will take a long time to break those eating habits, but we have– and can– do it together!
If you are interested in Angela’s program visit her website at www.championsrecoveryroom.com for more information. If you are struggling yourself and want someone to talk to available for ideas, resources and support.
-Ann
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