Years ago, Dad was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. This wasn't surprising since it runs rampant in his family. For a time it seemed that he was able to manage it effectively with diet, but lately new health complications have brought diabetes back to the forefront. These are scary times for him, especially since he's seen diabetes devastate friends and family members.
As it happens, I'm writing a dissertation on diabetes care. Through numerous interviews with diabetes educators, many hours of professional talks and seminars, and compulsive reading and viewing of everything I can get that will help me understand the field of diabetes care, I now find myself in a good position to help even if I am not a health care professional.
On a recent trip to visit Dad, we were talking about the situation and the difficulties he's been having with making lasting lifestyle changes. Like a lot of working men, he works too many hours for too little pay. He also has little control over his schedule, which makes it difficult to eat on a regular schedule or to even get into doctors offices for follow up. He doesn't have the luxury of a well-defined lunch break with a table, chair, microwave, and refrigerator. And what is he supposed to eat, anyway?
He wanted me to write a book for how to manage diabetes as a working man, but since if I do that my dissertation won't get written, I've decided to start this blog instead. I am writing for my dad, but it is really an open letter to anybody who is grappling with managing diabetes on a tight budget and around long, physically demanding work days.
The "working man" isn't just men. They're the people whose work and living conditions make it difficult to control their blood sugar. I hope that what I write here will help them.
No comments:
Post a Comment