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Nancy Found Her Problem and Her Solution

Joy Pape, RN, BSN, CDE, WOCN, CFCN

Feb 7, 2007

Knew all too well what unmanaged diabetes can do

Nancy was totally blindsided when she found out she had diabetes. A 56-year-old lab technician at the time, Nancy was doing some work in the lab. She tested her own A1C and found a reading of 7.3%.

“This happened during a time I was trying to lose weight. I was on a low-fat, high-carb diet, but I just wasn’t losing weight. I didn’t have the right information. I see now that one diet doesn’t fit all.”

Nancy wasn’t heavy until she started having children. She never lost her “baby fat,” not between the children nor afterward. Her husband told her that after 30 years, it was time to stop blaming the children.

“I gained weight with the pregnancies, but then I got so busy with them that I forgot about me. I ate to keep up with nursing, and as they grew I ate with them and like them. You know, eating pizza and all that. Even though I was running after them, it’s different than exercising. I didn’t find time to do that anymore.”

When the children were grown, Nancy wasn’t in the habit of exercising. Her job is quite sedentary, and, like most of us, she likes to eat.

Knowledge Is Power

Nancy works in the healthcare field, so she knew all too well what unmanaged diabetes can do. When she learned her A1C level, she knew she didn’t want to go down that road. She immediately contacted her physician, and together they got the ball rolling. She met with a diabetes educator and did some reading on her own.

The information about the glycemic index (GI) made sense to Nancy. She started changing her food choices, eating more low GI foods, and she started walking or biking one-half to one hour a day. Her weight slowly came down, as did her other numbers.

“I still have some more weight to lose. I’m motivated again to do a bit more. I’ll start going to my diabetes support group again. That always gets me motivated.”

Nancy’s Problem
She gained weight when she had her children. She never took it off.

Nancy’s Reason
”I knew what diabetes could do to me. My first grandchild had just arrived, and I wanted to be well enough to enjoy her.”

What was in Nancy’s Way
Nothing was in her way once she knew she had diabetes. She learns all she can and figures it out.

Method
Lower glycemic index food choices, and walking or bike riding one-half to one hour a day.

	Then	Now
Weight	180	162
BMI	31	28
A1C	7.3%	5.9%
Blood Glucose	Didn’t check	90 mg/dl–120mg/dl
Blood Pressure	176 mmHg/88 mmHg	120 mm/Hg/70 mm/Hg
Lipid Profile
Total cholesterol	179 mg/dl	118 mg/dl
Triglycerides	182 mg/dl	54 mg/dl
HDL	58 mg/dl	68 mg/dl
LDL	85 mg/dl	39 mg/dl

Categories: A1c Test, Blood Glucose, Diabetes, Diabetes, Food, Losing weight, Personal Stories

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Feb 7, 2007

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