When I was a younger, I lost a very dear grandparent to the consequences of diabetes. It was painful to watch as the years rolled on and he would lose more and more parts of his body by amputation due to the spreading of gangrene. First it was a toe, then a leg, another leg and then the thighs. By the time of his death he was without lower limbs and had been in a coma for a length of time. Heart wrenching to say the least.
As I grew up I was always aware of the problems with "sugar" and was always on the look out for the tell tale signs. I would learn in my adult years through my own research of family history that diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure were the leading cause of death within that lineage. Once I got into my twenties and later on throughout my thirties I began to see them. Slowly but surely, the physical signs of diabetes crept up into my life.
I began to take matters more seriously and made big changes in my life regarding my diet and exercise. It all made a huge difference. I was never diagnosed with the illness but I was a close runner up to it. I display many of the signs of a diabetic but have yet to be called one. It is a struggle for me every day to stay on the right path with my health because, the truth of the matter is that I just wanna do what I wanna do and eat what I wanna eat. However that is not the choice of wisdom, considering what is up against me. So I press on!
Which is why I was delighted to find out about Divabetics, outreach for women. "It is a non profit organization that introduces diabetes education with a 'glam more, fear less' Philosophy to help women at risk and affected by diabetes to look at their diabetes in new ways" * from the site*
This organization was inspired by the late r&b legend Luther Vandross, founded and created by his assistant Max Szadak. Divabetics hosts Divabetic glam makeovers in various cities of the United States along with providing a encouraging programs on their website for all who are in need. They have great team of educators and health care professionals ready to assist you to be all that you can be whether you currently have diabetes or are looking for preventive care.
I think it is a wonderful concept and hope that more will look into this great resource. We each only have one body and unfortunately we are not always kind to it or vice versa. However, it is never too late to make changes. I will end with this great affirmation that I saw on the website, which by the way, they have several affirmations that are so inspiring.
"I AM A DIVA WHO KNOWS MY FIRST PRIORITY IS ME"
*November is national diabetes month. Help spread the word about prevention and treatment with someone you love*
Take care...
That sounds like a fab group with a top-rate mission. I also loss my grandmother to the complications of diabetes. She had spent so many years taking such good care of herself, but it went downhill fast as she got older. She was 83, I think, when she passed from complications. She went to sleep (coma) and I had to make the decision to let her go. I had to make the decision long distance after speaking to her pastor who said don't let them amputate her leg (they were thinking that would bring her out of it 'cause she was having complications). He said she was no longer "there." God that was hard.
ReplyDeleteI haven't posted about the National Diabetes Month, but I am going to look into this group. I try to take good care of myself and hope that this is not something I have to deal with since I have other medical issues. Thanks for the post.