There is hope! Diabetes may be a progressive illness, but it can be managed and managed well. And doing that can push off the traditional (and well-known) complications for years and years.
You simply have to want to be the master of your diabetes. I know that might seem really hard right now, but I would recommend taking a deep breath and diving in. You'll need to change what you eat (but if what you're eating is making you sick, it's easier to change). You may need to manage time or money a little differently to make sure you have time to exercise or to prepare (or buy) what you eat. You may need to work on changing your view of food (for many people there is a significant social component to eating).
It may not be easy or immediate (I will admit some aspects of changing my attitudes toward food and my health were not a snap for me). But there are many many people living just fine with diabetes. You can be one of them.
One piece of advice: do not let yourself be railroaded into the medical system. Not to sound conspiratorial, but there seems to be a machine into which most healthcare providers feed new diabetics. The battery of tests your doctor mentioned may be warranted in light of other medical concerns of yours. But there seems to me to be a weird emphasis on protocols that treat every diabetic the same, a distinct lack of interest in investigating alternatives to the way things always have been done, and a heavily-marketed world of products made specially for diabetics, many of which are unnecessary ("diabetic candy") and some of which even are injurious in the long run.
Another piece of advice: when you see the "diabetes educator", smile and nod a lot and disregard anything (s)he has to say. Don't waste your time telling that person you're going low-carb or keto; you'll hear all kinds of old information and horror stories about how difficult and dangerous that is. All I have to say, though, is that looking at my next-door neighbor and friends of mine and DW's, all of whom did just as they were told, have (in some cases, had) the traditional complications of diabetes. It's easy to get the impression that there's more money in managing the disease than there is in addressing it sensibly and inexpensively (think of all the insulin and Janumet they haven't sold me).
I'm going on 2-1/2 years of "normal" A1cs with just diet and exercise. I never tried medication; didn't even want to start with it. My doctor offered to put me on Metformin right away but I wanted to try without it first. Success; no Met needed. That may not last forever and there won't be any shame in starting on it if/when I need to, but I figure the fewer meds I'm on, the better off I am.
Typical eating day:
Breakfast: 2 eggs and 2-4 ounces of bacon/sausage/cheese (build up the fat without overdoing the protein)
Lunch: mixed green salad with 4-5 ounces of protein (often fish because it's good for me and DW is not a huge fan but sometimes leftover chicken or pork roast or...). I may put some salad dressing on to bump up the fat level but not if the protein came with enough fat of its own. Sometimes some pork rinds or nuts for crunch. Sometimes I'll have, say, greens (collards, spinach, etc.) with some protein. Or a sandwich wrap with the bread replaced by lettuce leaves or a keto wrap.
Dinner: typically another 3-4 ounces of a protein and a couple of cups of a side vegetable (greens, string beans, etc.). Sometimes a leftovers soup assembled to clean out the fridge. There are Web sites and books with low-carb and keto recipes, too.
I'm not (never was) much on desserts or sweet stuff so I don't miss them much. I can snack on a little piece of cheese or a handful of nuts or some pork rinds. But, as Jane mentioned, you're better off eating well at meals and skipping snacks if you can. The exception may be eating some sort of snack before bedtime as it may help you manage your blood glucose better. But that will come later
If you choose that route (I won't say it's a bad choice), know that:
1) those medications expect you to be eating a certain amount of carbs at every meal. Reducing your carb intake while on these meds (or insulin) may cause hypoglycemic incidents, which can be very serious. You'll have to reduce your doses or stop taking the meds; it will be complicated to do that at the same time your body is getting used to differing insulin production/resistance levels. Both low-carb and exercise levels will change the effect of insulin so don't try to manage too many variables at once.
If it were me, I'd try to get two weeks meds-free while you start with diet and exercise. Even if the doctor insists on giving you the Rx or even the pills themselves, you don't have to take them. It'll be cleaner to try to manage your diabetes without the meds. One thing which could help is to keep a record of your blood glucose readings (after you wake but before you eat food, before each meal, and one and two hours after your first bite of a meal). This will tell you what your blood glucose is with the new steps you're taking and will be a negotiating tool for use with your doctor.
2) once you start taking the meds, there may be a fair amount of resistance from your doctor to discontinuing them. Some doctors won't have the time or interest to help you manage titrating doses down as your body's use of insulin improves. Again, try not to become part of the machine.
Hope that helps!