My first guest post!!

An interesting email landed in my inbox the other day.  It was from Jim Reno of Raw Food Repair and he told me a little bit about his story.  He battled lymphoma a few years ago and won the fight.  Soon after, another battle reared it's head.  This time it was Type 2 diabetes.

He asked if I would consider publishing his story as a guest post.  I hesitated at first, mainly because I have Type 1 and consider this a Type 1 blog.  But I found it interesting to read about his journey and the choices he has made.  I hope you find it interesting too!

** Please note: The material below contains the views of the author, Jim Reno.  Before following any diet plan for your diabetes, be sure to consult your endo, CDE and dietitian to find the plan that is right for you. **


REVERSING TYPE 2 DIABETES IN TWO SIMPLE STEPS

Some Background First.

It was in March of 2006, way before I ever thought of a raw vegan diet, that I finished the last of a grueling 6 month chemotherapy protocol for my bout with lymphoma. I had noticed that when my monthly blood test was done prior to my body scans, the tech asked me if I was diabetic. I said not that I am aware. So after the chemo I scheduled an appointment with a D.O. (Doctor of Osteopathy) to see what was up. After more blood test he confirmed that I had type 2 diabetes. Ughh. I just got through one serious disease and now had another.

I was prescribed an oral medication and told that to “control” type 2 diabetes (there was no cure) was a three pronged approach. Daily medication, diet, and exercise. Since I only liked the last one, and only when I was in the mood, I continued eating as I had been and taking the medicine, with occasional exercise here and there. As you might have guessed, things did not improve. After about a year, I went to see the doctor again. He said my diabetes had progressed. He upped the strength of my daily medication, told me to go see the hospital’s nutritionist, and reminded me to eat well and exercise. The nutritionist only made matters confusing in my opinion. There were carbohydrate and protein levels assigned to each type of food, and the totals had to come in at a certain amount of each for 3 meals and 2 snacks each day. But worse, there was no emphasis on true nutrition. The main thing to be counted were carbohydrates. But it did not matter if they came from a banana or a can of soda. In theory, and often in reality, I could meet the numbers by eating processed junk food. This did not make sense.

I was kind of in a holding pattern for a while. Day to day things kept my mind off diabetes and I kind of loosely followed the rules laid out by the nutritionist. I occasionally kept a food journal and tallied my carbs, etc. All the while I was taking the medicine everyday and testing my fasting blood glucose each morning. It was always pretty much the same, between 130 and 140. After a while it seemed pointless to even test. Who wants to prick your finger everyday and pay good money in testing strips for the privilege?

It was not until surfing the net one day that I stumbled across Dr. Joel Fuhrman on YouTube discussing that type 2 diabetes could be reversed by proper nutrition. I wondered why the nutritionist didn’t tell me this. She just wanted me to prevent the disease from getting worse, not reverses it, I guess. I ordered Dr. Fuhrman’s book “Eating for Health”. He was very much into eating more nutrient dense foods and superfoods. Something inside me told me this was the correct way to eat. As I was watching some more of his videos, I ran across some videos regarding the raw food challenge. People were eating only raw fruit, vegetables, nuts, and seeds and telling of tremendous health and energy benefits. I had to learn more. In the meantime I started making green smoothies. Because greens (spinach, lettuce, kale etc.) are kind of a staple in the raw food diet, and because I was not particularly a salad person, this was a way for me to get enough greens!

Going back to the idea of the three pronged approached, I got it in my head that I did not want to do prong number one, daily medication for the rest of my life. That meant focusing more intensely on prongs two and three, which from now on I’ll call Steps 1 and 2. They are simple, not easy. But they are also not as hard as you might think, once you get the right frame of mind and develop good habits.

Step 1

Eating right. I decided to give the raw food diet a shot! This meant giving up meat, dairy, eggs, honey, animal products as well as cooked food. Quite a tall order. It still is, so I don’t claim to be 100% raw vegan. I allow myself a cheat here and there, but by striving to eat raw vegan, my diet has improved tremendously! I now mostly drink water, and a lot more of it. I drink at least ½ gallon a day and more in the summer. I start each day with a green smoothie and limit my fruit intake to one piece per day, which is often a banana or apple in my morning smoothie.

Step 2

Exercise. I exercise everyday. And I mean every day of the week. It is not drudgery because I do not do the same routines every day. Some days it is walking while getting errands done. This ends up being between 4 and 8 miles per day. It takes a while, so if you want you can save this for the weekends. Some days I jog, to really get my heart rate up. Minimally I jog for 2 miles and sometimes 2 and half or 3. It gets really boring after that and unless you are preparing for a race, I think the benefits diminish. Some days I do exercises such as crunches, curls, pushups, military press etc. I keep a floor mat and dumbbells handy. And on some days I work on my vertical leap. I follow jumping exercises from the ”The Jump Manual” and I am getting close to my goal of being able to jump up and touch the rim of a basketball hoop. I used to be able to do this in my early twenties, and figure if I can do it now, some 20 years later, it will be validation that exercise and eating raw food can keep you young and athletic.

Results

After about 2 weeks of eating on the raw food diet I noticed my fasting blood sugar was coming down. I took it upon myself to stop taking my medication. ½ doses at first, then after a few more weeks stopped altogether. This was without my doctor’s consent, which I do not recommend, but it is what I did. A month after I was completely off my type 2 diabetes medicine, I averaged my fasting blood glucose. It was 113. This is at the low end of “pre-diabetes” and I was very happy. Prior to my new lifestyle I was averaging about 135, while taking the medicine!

Several months later, I am still off the medicine and still averaging about 113. So I still have a tendency towards high blood glucose, but am not officially in the diabetic range (126 and above). In addition, I have lost 30 lbs and am feeling great. I did go to the doctor recently. He was very happy for me, and told me that if I keep up my current regimen there is no need for me to be on medicine. Yes, official from the doctor.

I am now looking forward to trying to lower my fasting blood glucose even more, by exercising harder, as well as increasing my green and superfood intake!

James Reno (editor)
http://www.Raw-Food-Repair.com

K.C.'s favorite cat toy . . .

I've bought here plenty of balls.  She'd got cat-nip mice galore.  She even has butterflies and lady bugs made of felt to bat around.  So what is K.C.'s most favorite cat toy of all?

That's right.  An empty drum from my Accu-Check Compact.  Of course, given the opportunity, she'd love to chance to swat around my pump tubing for a while.  I've managed to hold her off on that - so far . . . .

What does and doesn't offend me . . .

I'm fortunate enough to have a close-knit group of friends that I've known since the mid-80s.  We started hanging out when we all worked together at Stop and Shop.  Over 25 years there have been a lot of changes - far off colleges, weddings, kids, jobs, houses.  But through it all, our friendships have stayed strong.

Most of "the gang" at a wedding in 2000.

The latest person to be added to the fold is D's boyfriend M.  We love M, he's funny and sweet and a great addition to our group.  But it isn't always easy being the new guy in a group of friends who have been together since the days of crimped hair, day-glo clothes and Bartles and Jaymes wine coolers!  There is a lot of unspoken history there and I'm sure sometimes M feels hopelessly out of the loop.

A while ago we all went out for a night at our favorite casino.  As we settled into the deep velvet arm-chairs in the martini bar, the tech-addicted among us pulled out their phones to check for emails and texts.  I pulled out my meter for my pre-martini blood glucose check.  From across the table, M saw a gadget that was quite clunky by today's cell-phone standards and leaned over to L to snicker about how old my phone must be.  L told him that she was pretty sure it wasn't my phone, that I was checking my blood sugar.  M was mortified at the mistake.  Was I offended?  Heck no!  M had never seen me check my blood before, how was he to know?

A week later, we were all together again for a cook-out.  As the food was being grilled, I was busy punching my best SWAG bolus into my pump.  M walked by and blurted out "Girl, give the Tweeting a rest!  You are addicted!"  "Not Tweeting, M, I'm dosing my insulin with my pump."  To which M turned bright red and replied "Oh my gosh, I'm the biggest a$$hole going.  I can't believe I did this to you two weeks in a row." Was I offended this time?  Not in the least.  We shared a big laugh and a big hug and all was well.

I've known my best friend since kindergarten.  In sixth grade, we officially proclaimed ourselves "bestus buddies forever".  I'm part of her family and she's part of mine.

This is not an actual picture from the 80's - 

we're just dressed up for an 80's party.

A few years ago, we were at a Christmas party at her mom's.  As I sampled the fudge my best friend made, her sister - who is an ER nurse - marched up to me and said "How are you eating that?"  Was I offended this time?  You bet I was!  She's in the medical field, for goodness sake!  To be confronted by her and called out like that not only enraged me.  It made me so shocked and flustered that the best I could do was stammer on about carb counting and insulin dosing and blood sugar monitoring while my face turned as red as the Christmas trimmings.

Not everyone is going to know everything about diabetes.  I understand that.  If you mistake my equipment for some other gadget, that's fine.  If you politely ask if it's okay for me to eat something, I'll probably even let that slide.  But if you presume to know more about my treatment than I do and make comments that put me on the defensive, then you are just being rude!  I am not an idiot.  I've lived with the disease for almost 30 years and I'm healthy.  Give me a little credit, okay?

I wish every month was November.

You probably know by now that November is National Diabetes Awareness Month.  Every D-Blog I click over to is on board and working hard to spread the word.  But how many people outside the D-OC know that it's Diabetes Awareness Month?  I haven't seen any billboards.  No T.V. commercials.  No products on my grocery store shelves are sporting blue labels and pledging to donate to a cure.  My friends, there is still a whole lot of awareness that needs to be spread.  Here are some events I know of that are helping to do just that.

World Diabetes Day

November 14th is World Diabetes Day. The campaign this year is focusing on Diabetes Awareness and Prevention.  Be sure to proudly wear blue, participate in the Big Blue Test and take part in any activities going on near you.

ADA Stop Diabetes

Stop Diabetes is a new multi-year movement launched by the American Diabetes Association.  The aim here is to confront diabetes, fight diabetes and STOP diabetes.  Check out the site where you can join the movement.  You'll also find diabetes info, food and fitness tips and links to community events.  You can even share your diabetes story or video. For every story shared, $5 will be donated to the ADA.

EyeSmart

The aim of EyeSmart is to spread awareness about diabetic eye disease. I've seen many posts about the fear of going blind due to diabetes and that fear is not unfounded. According to the EyeSmart site diabetes is a leading cause of vision loss among Americans. Yet many of us are lax about getting our yearly dilated eye exam. I know I was, until my eye doctor found a leaky vessel in my eye in January 2008.  Since that time, I've been diligent about getting my eyes checked every six months.  Each time I go, the leak from the previous time has cleared up but another tiny leak is found.  So far, they are tiny enough to warrant nothing more than close monitoring.  My next appointment is already set up for March.  Are you ready to get "EyeCommitted" to saving your sight?  If so, click on the widget in my sidebar to find out more.
**Disclosure: I received this widget from a marketing agency.  As part of the eyeSmart initiative, a prize is offered to the blogger who generates the most awareness through their widget.  However, I am not posting the widget because I think I have a shot at the grand prize (although I would be thrilled to win).  I am posting the widget because I personally believe eye disease awareness and prevention is vitally important.**

What do you have planned to spread awareness and education this month? What interesting events and sites have you found?

It's MY Time . . .

and it can be YOUR Time too!!

As many of you know, this month is American Diabetes Month.  Over at dLife, a special initiative is going on all month called It's MY Time.  The goal is to encourage those of us with diabetes to reflect on the good things we do to manage our diabetes and to make small changes each week to improve the areas that need some work.

This week is about setting goals and getting motivated with three steps.

Step 1: Assess - Since starting on the pump in 2008 and the CGM earlier this year, I'm managing my diabetes better than I ever have.  I've got the lowest A1C I've ever had, and I'm hoping to see it holding steady when I go back to my endo next month.  But honestly, I still have areas of my management that need more focus and improvement.  I probably always will.  Diabetes has so many facets and factors that it often feels like a juggling act - with more balls than I can possible keep in the air.

Step 2: Make a List - For today, I'm going to limit my list to three good things and three bad things.  What balls am I keeping in the air?

• I've been focusing on healthy eating over the past few months - ridding our cabinets of unhealthy food and buying organic foods with better ingredients as much as possible.  Splenda has been traded for Stevia.  Chemical and preservative loaded treats full of High Fructose Corn Syrup have been swapped for better treats like Back to Nature cookies and Lara Bars.  Instead of eating Nurtri-Grain bars for breakfast, I reach for an organic banana.  Not only are my blood sugars benefiting, but I'm feeling better too.
  
• I test.  A lot.  Eight to ten times a day.
• I always wear my CGM.

And where have I dropped the ball?

• Logging.  I used to log everything . . . all the time.  Over the past few months I've fallen out of the logging habit though.
• Exercise.  I go in spurts where I'm really good about getting a work out in every day.  Unfortunately, those spurts only last a few weeks before I go back to being a slacker.
• Ignoring the CGM alarms.  Yes, I wear my CGM 24/7.  But sometimes, especially over night, I tend to ignore the low alarms.  I decide that it must be off and I'm not really that low.  Or that I'm on the upswing and should just wait for my blood sugar to come back up on its own.
  

Step 3: Prioritize - The last step is to pick one thing to work on improving each week.  I'm going to start with my biggest challenge.  EXERCISE  I had joined that Shred Challenge and did really well for the first week.  Seven workouts in a row.  But then I got sick.  I was stuck on the couch most of last week with barely enough energy to operate the TV remote.  Once a workout streak is broken I have a hard time starting up again.  But yesterday morning, I got a quick 20 minutes in on the treadmill.  This morning I'll do another 20, and my 45 minute ballroom-dance lesson is tonight.

So there you go.  That's MY Time.  How about YOU?  Are you ready to use this month to make some improvements?  Check out It's MY Time and come join the Community Group. Together we can do it, one small step at a time.