 |
| Diabetes Mellitus is a lifelong condition that causes a person's blood sugar level to become too high. |
“You have diabetes.”
Those three words continued to ring right into my ears from the time I got my
blood work up to the time I went to see an endocrinologist. I know it wasn’t
that bad, it wasn’t cancer but it felt like it was. I’ve got no one else to
blame but myself—my poor eating habits, my being a lazy couch potato for years
and my being an emotional eater. Yes, all these years, I’ve taken my health for
granted.
I have type 2 diabetes. Diabetes is a lifelong chronic condition that affects the body’s ability to use energy. For non-diabetics, the sugar and carbohydrates in the food we consume are transformed into glucose which the cells absorb in the bloodstream with the help of the hormone called insulin. But for diabetics like me, it’s a different story. Since we don’t produce or do not have enough insulin in the body, we can’t absorb glucose, which in turn creates a build-up in the blood and often leads to more serious illnesses or complications.
It was in 2015 that I first learned I had diabetes
mellitus. Prior to that, I wasn’t aware I was diabetic. In fact, I accidentally
found out about my health right after my right eye bled and I started seeing
“floaters.” It turned out I already had diabetic retinopathy. I had my damaged
eye undergo two laser treatments/pan-retinal photocoagulation treatment.
Unfortunately, the retina on my right eye has been severely damaged and is
already irreversible.
