Quote Originally Posted by JaneV2.0 View Post
Your friend is absolutely right. Diabetes--and metabolic syndrome* in general--is taken far too lightly, maybe because you don't see the damage it's done until you're in the thick of it, and it's totally or nearly irreversible. (Continuous glucose monitors are an excellent tool to demonstrate how your body metabolizes different foods, though they can be spendy.)
Since I've known most of my life that I am at high risk for diabetes I once asked my eye doc about the damage from diabetes. She was one of those awesome medical professionals that lives to help people be healthy and was always happy to take time to talk about my concerns. Her response was "JP, it's tragic. You can see the damage in the eye well before it damages their vision but by that point the damage is pretty much inevitable." And then went on to describe what actually happens in detail. I assume that essentially the same thing happens in people's toes, feet, etc. I have supposedly "good" health insurance so hopefully if/when it gets to that point they will pay for a continuous glucose monitor and the sensors that have to be replaced every few weeks. If not I'd likely pay out of pocket because I'd rather not end up like my grandmother. (At least not in that way. She was a wonderful woman who I'd be proud to emulate in plenty of other ways.)

And we shared a birthday, 74 years apart, so her 80th birthday party was, in my mind, my 6th birthday party! I think I've shared this here before but this was the picture of us that ran with the story in her local newspaper about the event. That birthday cake caused a shouting match between my mom and her oldest brother after mom told him "If an 80 year old woman wants a piece of cake for her birthday I'm damn well going to give it to her." Sadly grandma passed away from a heart attack three months later.

sixth birthday.jpg