Stories on Health

OK, so mom always taught me to keep my fingernails and toenails clean and neatly trimmed. I always thought she was a little obsessive about it. But now that I’ve been diagnosed with diabetes, this toenail thing is serious business. The diabetes clinic where I go had a patient last year who did not properly care for his toenails. He stubbed his toe on a coffee table and pulled the toenail back. Next thing you know, the toe got infected. You see, diabetes makes healing more difficult—especially for your toes. The infection worsened and there was nothing they could do. Last week, the guy had his foot amputated. All because he didn’t trim his toenails. Thanks mom, seriously.

As a Certified Diabetes Educator, I am required to keep up on the latest research, best practices, and methodology. I reviewed a video series online the other day to earn some CE credits. This video features Daniel L. Lorber, who is a Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at Weill Medical College of Cornell University, in New York. The video was simply a presentation of how to properly engage a patient and make a difference in his or her diabetes management. In some ways, it’s a “no-brainer.” You know, we all want to be treated with respect and caring. But this doctor does an excellent job of showing the difference in the kind of information—and compliance—we get from a patient when we follow the best practices. I highly recommend it.

I have to tell you right up front that I have good hypo awareness. So if you’re a diabetic with hypo unawareness, these tips might not work as well for you. You may need to be extra careful not to drop too low during exercise.

For me, I always make sure that I test my blood sugar before starting a cardio workout. If I’m below 90 then I’ll make sure I drink a little Gatorade before I get started. If I’m going out for a run, I know I don’t want to carry my tester with me for the whole workout. So I’ll must make sure I have some glucose gel or tablets in my pocket in case I drop low. I try to get my heart rate up to 80% of my max heart rate for at least 30 minutes. Then I follow that with a good cool down. I don’t stop moving until my heart rate is back to normal. Then I test my blood sugar and if I’m still in a normal range, I’ll have about 8 ounces of Gatorade and 8 ounces of water. Diabetes can be a pain, but it shouldn’t keep you from working out.

Two and a half months ago, I found out that I have diabetes. I have no family member with diabetes. I have no friends with diabetes. I felt very lost and very alone. One day I was online and I stumbled upon an online community built for diabetics. It was so unbelievable to me—right at my fingertips, I had a group of people who understood what I was going through. One of the first people who befriended me happened to be a woman named Belina. She was able to answer some of my “burning” questions about diabetes. But not long into our conversation, I discovered that English is not her native language. She was trying to translate all her information from French.

So today, I signed up for my first French class at our local community college. I’m so excited to learn at least the basics so that Belina and I can converse in either English or French.