It’s time to make some changes in my life.
Recently, I found out I have diabetes. While I have been prediabetic for several years, it was still a shock. I equated diabetes with people who live unhealthy lives or are really overweight.
I got the call from my doctor’s office as I sat in the lobby at the prosecutor’s office, waiting to talk to Prosecutor Jodie Schumacher about indictments. I had to keep it together.
For the rest of the day, though, I felt completely deflated. Coming on the heels of more heart issues in December after having a heart attack in 2010, I considered my mortality once again.
When I covered the latest No Kings rally, a man came up to me and said, “Every time I turn around, something else is wrong with you.”
Jarring, but accurate.
I felt better after consulting with my new doctor, Angel Primm, in Ashland. My AIC is 6.5%, just meeting the threshold for diabetes.
“It’s just the start of diabetes,” she told me.
Any number between 5.7 and 6.4 is prediabetic. I had been between 6.2 and 6.4 previously. A1C measures blood sugar levels, showing the percentage of hemoglobin coated with sugar.
My 6.5% is considered to be under control to prevent long-term complications.
Dr. Primm told me to cut back on sweets and carbohydrates, and add exercise. I eat granola bars every day, but they’re fudge-dipped and have chocolate chips. Granola is in there somewhere.
I eat one with breakfast and then another at work. Before, I would often eat one for dessert, but that has turned into two in recent months and a third in the evening.
Dr. Primm thinks cutting back there might be enough to reduce my A1C out of the diabetic range.
My issue is I’m single and I don’t cook. I don’t even turn on the oven. It’s takeout for me.
While I go to fast-food restaurants, I get salads without dressing at Wendy’s and eat at Subway two or three times a week. I make an effort.
I don’t eat much pasta or potatoes — because I can’t cook — so I’m in decent shape there.
Walking is a must going forward
At this point, exercise should be a staple of my life. It’s my fault I don’t do more. In the two or three months before my annual summer escape to New River Gorge in West Virginia, where I hike the beautiful mountains, I walk at least three times a week to get ready.
My problem is I tend to drop way off when I get back from my trip. As I write this column, I have not walked since mid-July.
Ashland High School has a fieldhouse two minutes from where I live that is open to walkers each morning. All I would have to do is get up a half-hour early and walk before work, but I let the entire winter go past.
It’s time to hit the track at Community Stadium.
My two goals for the year were to stay healthy and not have any large, unexpected expenses. I thought I was 0-for-2.
At the same time as my diagnosis, my car was roaring like a tiger. It was something brake-related, and I was self-conscious about stopping at a sign or red light. I expected a sizable bill at the dealership.
But then I remembered my Shelby football buddy mentioned he could do brake work. The same day I got the call from my doctor’s office, he replaced the rear brakes, brake pads and rotors.
He didn’t charge me a dime, saving me at least $1,000. I don’t know how to repay him. There are still good people, and my friend is one of the best I know.
My other health concern involves something I love to do: sleeping. I read an alarming story in USA TODAY, our sister paper, about the dangers of excessive napping in older adults.
According to a new study, naps may be a warning sign of underlying conditions or declining health.
“While brief naps can immediately alleviate fatigue and improve alertness, excessive napping in late life has been linked to adverse health conditions, including neurodegeneration, cardiovascular diseases and even greater morbidity,” USA TODAY reported.
I sleep more than a cat. It’s not uncommon for me to pass out after work and wake up in the wee hours.
Weekends are even worse. After I eat breakfast and feed Katy the rescue cat, I love to go back to bed for about three hours.
After I get up and eat a snack, I often go right back to bed, especially when the NFL is not in season.
The study, led by investigators from Mass General Brigham and Rush University Medical Center, used data from more than 1,300 adults aged 56 and over for about 19 years. I am 59, though I don’t look it, despite that one grocery checkout woman who always asks if I have a Golden Buckeye card.
Dr. Primm seemed puzzled when I told her how much I sleep and ordered a sleep study to find out what’s going on.
While that is a concern, my heart issues and now diabetes are more immediate. As I said, it’s time to make changes.
It’s up to me.
Mark Caudill can be reached at 419-521-7219 or via X at @MarkCau32059251.
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Mark Caudill: Diabetes diagnosis doesn’t help overall health picture
Reporting by Mark Caudill, Mansfield News Journal / Mansfield News Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
