Diabetes
Wow, it has been a while since I've posted. I found out that I have diabetes just like the rest of my family. I don't think anyone -- parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents or my brothers have escaped the diagnoses. Even though I knew it was a possibility I still did not believe it. For the first month I didn't take my medicine or check my blood. Finally after talking to a diabetes educator I started to do what I am supposed to do. I also found out that I have moderate kidney damage or Stage 3 kidney disease. This is caused by diabetes and blood pressure problems I have had for years.
One of things I have learned is that it takes about 3 months after diagnosis to learn what you need to learn if you are actively seeking information and 3 more months to get things under control. My diabetes educator is really good at making sure I know all about my diabetes. She also told me that just because others in my family have had bad side affects doesn't mean I will. So I am working at educating my self and keeping my diabetes under control.
I get a lot of info from the Diabetes Association. http://www.diabetes.org/
and from the website of my glucose monitor http://www.abbottdiabetescare.com/adc_dotcom/url/home/en_US
There is also a magazine I get called Diabetic Living http://www.diabeticlivingonline.com/