Diana Griffin of Pinebluff and Shirley Odom, who lives outside Aberdeen, are among that number.
Griffin has a long family history of diabetes. Both her father and her brother died of complications of the disease while they were in their 50s. She herself has had several heart attacks, the first when she was only 29 years old, and is sure that they were related to her long struggle with diabetes.
“I have had diabetes for probably 30 years,” she said.
Odom, on the other hand, didn’t know what was causing her fatigue and foot and leg pain until an annual checkup revealed diabetes.
“I had had trouble with my legs, and my feet were feeling numb,” she said.
Like about 90 to 95 percent of the 13 million diagnosed Americans with diabetes, both Griffin and Odom have Type 2 diabetes, a condition in which the body fails to use insulin properly.
Another 5 to 10 percent have Type 1 diabetes, which results from the body’s failure to produce insulin, the hormone that unlocks the cells of the body, allowing glucose to enter and fuel them.
While a dangerous disease in itself, diabetes is a risk factor for a variety of other conditions that can affect the eyes, the feet, the kidneys and, as Griffin knows too well, the heart. She had corrective heart surgery last summer, but is now “doing great.”
As Odom knows, diabetes often goes undiagnosed because many of its symptoms seem harmless. Thanks to diet, exercise and monitored medication, her diabetes is now under control, but she continues to suffer the effects of residual nerve damage in her right foot and leg.
“I hurt so bad I couldn’t exercise to begin with,” she said.
Both Griffin and Odom participated in FirstHealth’s Diabetes Self-Management Program, a comprehensive educational program that includes components that are tailored to the individual patient’s specific needs.
According to Phyllis Simmons, a registered nurse and a certified diabetes educator, the program begins with an hour-long individual assessment with a nurse and a registered dietitian, continues with nine hours of group instruction and concludes with as-needed follow-up sessions.
“We cover basic facts about diabetes, blood glucose self-monitoring, good nutrition and what to eat, heart smart exercises for improving blood sugar control and medications and how they help,” Simmons said. “Then we move on to short-term and long-term complications and how to prevent them, as well as sick-day management guidelines and community resources. It’s a very comprehensive program.”
Depending on their personal situations, patients may also get individualized instruction in diabetes management, blood glucose self-monitoring, insulin instruction and multiple daily injection regimens.
While a physician referral to the program is required for insurance reimbursement, patients can also self-refer.
“Medicare, Medicaid and most private insurance companies cover our programs,” said Program Director Denise Pavletic, “but no one is turned away, regardless of their ability to pay.”
Odom’s primary care physician referred her to the program, and her cardiologist strongly encouraged her to participate. She learned while attending sessions that diet and exercise are key to diabetes self-management.
“Watching your carbs and exercising,” she said.
Odom’s diet now includes lots of leafy vegetables and a little meat.
“Mostly chicken, if I eat meat,” she says. “Fish is good, too. I grill everything. I don’t fry anything, and I eat a lot of vegetables.”
She also walks — “the best thing you can do if you can,” she says — and has enrolled in a Sittercise program at Aberdeen Lake Park.
“It works you from your head to your toes,” she said. “You’re tired when you get through, but you feel much better.”
Odom’s condition is now so improved that she recently started to do without the cane that she had come to depend on because of the problems in her legs and feet. The retired day-care kindergarten teacher credits the Diabetes Self-Management Program with giving her the knowledge and incentive to control and manage her condition.
“I would advise anybody to take that management program,” she said. “It’s real good.”
Griffin also encourages other people with diabetes to take the Diabetes Self-Management Program. She said that her condition was uncontrolled for many years and that she suffered serious complications as a consequence.
“If you don’t take control, you will have complications,” she said.
Like Odom, she, too, “learned how to take care of myself and to exercise.” And she, too, is watching her diet and counting her carbs.
Griffin, who has since completed FirstHealth Cardiac Rehabilitation and volunteers as a patient advocate with that program three days a week, says that the Diabetes Self-Management Program taught her a lot, especially about what she didn’t know about her disease.
“What astonished me was the knowledge that I didn’t have,” she said, “the things that I could actually do to change the course of my life.”
She suspects the same is true for most people with diabetes, and she encourages them to take advantage of the opportunity to take control of their situation.
“I actually learned how to take care of myself,” she said, “and I feel better than I have in years.”
FirstHealth’s Diabetes Self-Management Program is available in Moore, Hoke, Montgomery and Richmond counties. The phone number for more information on the program is (800) 364-0499.
