I think we can all agree that this is a logical question to ask: Why am I doing this?  There is one Simple Reason…

Because I care…  

I’m concerned about the treatment options for newly diagnosed Diabetics.  I want individuals to know what their options are when they receive the news that they are Diabetic.  I’ve been through the wringer with my Diabetes, and I’ve learned quite a lot over the last several years.  I hope to educate many of my readers who are not already Diabetic to help them choose a healthy lifestyle, and way of eating that will lessen the chance of being told they are Diabetic.  

Simply put, it is because I really care.  I have been a Pharmacist since 1993, and I have seen far too many T2 Diabetics go down the path of poor treatment and have poor outcomes.  I have been far more diligent in my treatment in the last several years, and have added more tools to my treatment toolbox, and thrown out a few that just don’t work.  My goal is,  through continued education that we can take a bite out of the ever-growing pie chart which represents the number of people affected by T2D. 

Did I just make a pie reference in a T2D post advocating cleaner eating?  Ok, I’m not perfect, sorry. 

So you were told you have Diabetes(T2D).

If you have been diagnosed or are have concerns that you may be approaching a diabetes diagnosis, there is hope, and there are reasons to mend your ways.  

I was recently reading on Facebook, in one of the many groups I am in, regrettably, I can’t recall which, so I can’t credit the person who triggered my lightbulb moment.   The question arose about “Curing” Diabetes.  Personally, I have chosen to believe that Type 2 Diabetes(T2D) is curable.  Many in the medical community have chosen to accept T2D as a chronic, progressive, irreversible condition.  I do NOT accept this. 

The question of removing the diagnosis from this individual’s medical record also arose…

I have been in the camp that if your test results which confirmed your T2D Diagnosis were no longer within the range to qualify one as having the disease, the diagnosis should be removed.  The poster’s line of reasoning went something like this:  Your body has demonstrated that you have the potential to enter a Diabetic Disease State, so therefore the diagnosis should remain.  However, that does not mean that you have to continue to exist in the Disease State of Diabetes.  For instance, Asthmatics are asthmatic, but not always symptomatic.  Alcoholics/Addicts are still addicts even if they abstain from drugs and alcohol. 

Demonstrating that you can exist outside of the Disease state of Diabetes is a great source of hope.  Hope is an incredibly powerful emotion.  When I think of Hope, I can’t help but think of people with Cancer.    

Because there is Hope

Hope is a word I directly associate with The American Cancer Society and Relay for Life 

Cancer patients and families Hope for the following:

1. We HOPE they get “all of it” when the patient has surgery to remove their tumor.  
2. We Hope that the treatment works.
3. The patient Hopes their hair grows back.
4. The patient Hopes that they are not too much of a burden to their families and friends. (They never are!)
5. We also Hope “it” doesn’t come back.
6. Most importantly, We all HOPE for a cure.

If you have a rare form of cancer, Hope is what you and your family cling to. 

Diabetes is not the same when it comes to hope.  We have many more options than just hope, yet not everyone avails themselves of those choices.  Sometimes that leaves me shaking my head…

Getting your Diabetes test results, particularly, A1C, to be outside of the range of Diabetes Disease State is much like getting Cancer into remission.  When I initially thought of comparing Diabetes to Cancer, I was extremely reluctant to.  We all know someone who has experienced Cancer, and to me, comparing the two, even superficially just felt somewhat wrong… 

A Tale of Two Diseases

I thought more, though, and there are definitely some parallels between the two conditions.

Cancer, left untreated, is fatal.  

Type 2 Diabetes, left untreated, is also fatal.

The current treatments for both conditions are largely hit or miss.

We do have treatments for some cancers which are very effective.  However, many are not, and the side effects of these medications are as bad, if not worse than the disease in the short run.  

Oddly, the same can be said for T2D.  We do have some medications which are effective, yet there are others which do little, or nothing to improve overall outcomes.  Additionally, those which do little to improve outcomes, are frequently filled with side effects, or they actually make your Diabetes worse in the long run!  There are even some medications out there, in regular use today, for T2D, which have the potential to CAUSE Cancer… 

One of two areas where the two conditions differ fairly significantly, is their respective causes.   Cancer sometimes seems to strike indiscriminately.  Why does one person get it, and another not?  Even though they may do the same things.  Smoking and Lung Cancer is a good example, not everyone who smokes gets lung cancer.  There are genetic factors, environmental factors, and a whole slew of other speculated reasons why someone gets cancer.  

Time…

The other difference between T2D and many cancers is, regrettably, the time each takes to wreak havoc on our bodies.  Some Cancers are extremely quick and merciless in the time they give the patient to remain with their loved ones.  Pancreatic Cancer is frequently ruthless in the short time between diagnosis and mortality.  Like some other cancers, T2D can take years and/or decades to do the damage which eventually leads to demise.  Is it more merciful?  Not hardly, since it takes as long as it does before the grim reaper comes a calling, one could argue that it is even more insidious.  Cancer at least looks you right in the eye and declares its intentions rather clearly.

For some cancers, we can discern the cause, others we can’t.  There is one cause for T2D.  Chronic high levels of circulating Insulin lead to Insulin Resistance.  For many individuals, these high levels of circulating Insulin are a direct result of what they eat. This is what happened to me.  I ate like a fool, consuming WAY too much sugar, sugary drinks, sugary foods, processed foods…  You name it, if it had carbs/sugar, I ate it or drank it, and way too much. 

Effects…

I watched as a dear friend was ravaged by cancer.  In the end, Cancer took his life.  I have Type 2 Diabetes.  If I don’t take care of myself and manage my condition to exist outside of the disease state, aka, keeping it in remission, it will kill me.  I know the loss I felt when my friend passed from Cancer.  I witnessed the effect it has had on the rest of us who were left behind.  My friend tried many different treatments for his cancer, sadly, they were not successful.  I know what I can do for my T2D, so I’m going to do my best to not barrel down the path to oblivion careening out of control with my Diabetes.

We may be just a few short years away from developing an effective treatment for more types of cancer.  Every day, we fight back against the threat of cancer, kicking and screaming.  Cancer  has a whole army mobilized against it trying to make it so that Cancer can’t take as many lives.  We can Hope that a major breakthrough occurs and we can check off another Cancer type as curable. 

Conclusion

Cancer and Type 2 Diabetes have one devastating thing in common, if you do not treat them properly, they will end your life.  I hate to be blunt, but it is as simple as that. 

When I mentioned above that there are reasons to mend your ways as a Diabetic or potential Diabetic, I didn’t exactly outline those reasons.  The reason I can’t outline those reasons are that they are individual, and personal to each of you.  If you are at home, or anywhere you are in proximity to people who care about you, look at them.  Imagine how they would feel if you were no longer in their lives?  I know that I don’t want my wife to have to confront that possibility, do you want to do that to your loved ones? 

-Todd

Please check out my other posts:

1. 5 Basic Rules for Cleaner Eating
2. To Fry, or Not to Fry…
3. Life as a Newly Minted Pharmacist

And my Recommendations Page!