Are you diabetic?

[Qjai]

WARNING!!!

If it runs in your family PLEASE check it out and if you are diabetic...PLEASE follow your doctors orders...

My grandmother is diabetic, has congestive heart failure, high blood pressure, her kidneys have failed, etc. I could go on. She forgot to eat one day last week and almost slipped into a coma. She said she felt ok until she went to get up and hit the floor and couldnt move. A friend called and she barely made it to the phone and could only muster up the strength to holla HELP. The friend was at work and couldnt respond so he sent his sister. She came in and found my granny lying on the floor making "sounds of death" she called them. 911 was called and they went through the necessary steps to return her blood sugar to a normal level (it had dropped down to 20, normal is about 75-80 I think). She is ok now (other than now being on dialysis (sp) three times a week and limited to a liter of liquid a day. All she can say now is listen to the doctors orders and take care of yourself before you need any doctors orders. I just wanted to share that. Oh, and as always God is always workin cause had it not been for a funny feeling her friend got that prompted him to call...she'd be dead today:eek:

Take care of yourselves people!!!

[seductive_tee]

My grandmother was and my aunt is....she is in need of a kidney.

Believe it or not, I had a dream last night that i was diagnosed as being diabetic.

[Brightness]

My grandmother was and I have a family tree that is just bogged down with illness quite honestly. I buried a cousin under 35, an uncle under 35 and another uncle under 30. That's all the incentive I needed as a teen to get my life and diet together.

That's why I'm so gung-ho on eating correctly and always have been. My family & friends used to tease me about not eating or being strange or not being Black because of my diet. Strangely enough, I have the last laugh on that but it's by no means funny.

Also, I only have one kidney. The other one was removed when I was 5-6 days old so I've had to be very knowledgeable about what I allow to go into my body and what will harm it.

[misha]

Diabetes runs in my family. I have been tested regularly since I was a child. I am also very careful with my children, I am afraid that because it skipped me, that one of them will have it.

[CLSmooove]

Diabete and Hgh Blood Pressure runs in my family reallllllllllllll bad...... My grandfather and most of his brohers and sisters and his children have died from it or have either one or will have it .... I have already been told i will more than likely have it since i am now borerline....

As a matter of fact.... I had cousin that died this past Friday Morning.... she had Diabetes, High Blood and a whole lot of other thngs wrong with her..... She had a blood vessel pop in her brain and it killed her..... She was only 46.... Everyone ought her mother woul go first cause she is really sick.....


Please Keep my family in your prayers

[Tastey]

Runs rampant in my family as well.

Thankfully I don't have it but my mother and my older sister both do as do several aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Like CL I am borderline so it's probably a part of my future.

[mystkev]

Diabetes, as well as, other illnesses are big in my family. I have been tested several times and I don't have diabetes, I try to watch what I eat and maintain a healthy weight.

I have a very sick mother that it seems like she's got a little of everything (Diabetes, Lupus, Fibromyalgia, some other disease I can't spell).

Well my mother and my cousin both have Lupus (http://aolsvc.health.webmd.aol.com/condition_center_content/lup/article/2945.404) and it is on the rise in Afican American Women (http://aolsvc.health.webmd.aol.com/condition_center_content/lup/article/1823.50646) . Lupus is an autoimmune disease, it's where your immune system attacks vital tissue and organs, causing damage to the body. My mother's kidney was leaking protein for a while, causing her feet to swell. It's a horrible horrible disease. My cousin used to have seizures in connection to her lupus.

[HulaSista]

diabetes, high blood pressure, congestive heart failure and cancer runs in our family.

*sigh* i need to join a health club and lay off the foods i am not suppose to eat (from a surgery 7 years ago).

i just got taken off salt and caffeine...

[Juicey1]

My daughter was diagnosed with diabetes in March. She is 17. I took her to the doctor because she had lost a considerable amount of weight, was tired all the time, urinating a lot. The doctor checked her blood sugar level and it was over 500. She immediately admitted her to the hospital where she stayed for 4 days.

The doctor sent her to a specialist who we see once every couple months. He put her on two other insulins in addition to the glucophage she is taking and her sugar level has been pretty good. My biggest problem is getting her to eat right. She is very picky, don't like any green vegetables except brocalli. Will miss meals, etc. Don't eat a lot of meats. We fight about her eating just about daily.

She told me I act like she is getting ready to die. I told her I am trying to keep her from getting to that point.

The doctor wants her sugar level to stay between 80 and 150. It was 130 this morning.

[KissableSexyShortStuff]

About two years ago I was also told I am boardline ... I was told to give up salt and caffeine. I shouldn't eat chocolate because it's a downer for me... But sometimes just can't help myself

[Brightness]

Is anyone doing anything PRO-active combat this or others illnesses? I mean. . .REALISTICALLY. . .using the knowledge not just possessing it?

Hate to say it but there's a lot of complacency in the Black community when it comes to health matters . . . that is one thing that really, really bothers me.

[mystkev]

Originally posted by Brightness+
Is anyone doing anything PRO-active combat this or others illnesses? I mean. . .REALISTICALLY. . .using the knowledge not just possessing it?

Certainly, I take my health seriously, considering my mother's health. I have a pretty healthy diet, I eat beef in moderation, no pork, drink my water, take vitamins, exercise, don't smoke, drink alcoholic beverages in moderation (I think I have alcohol every couple of months), I'm not really into sweets so that's not a factor.

My mother is very sick but it's not b/c of her diet, other factors contributed to her illnesses (born sickly, removal of her spleen at an early age (17), hereditary diseases). The other disease, found out how to spell it, is Sarcoidosis

From WebMD:
Sarcoidosis is a chronic disease that affects multiple systems in the body. It is characterized by the buildup of immune-system cells in organs. These cells form small groups called granulomas, which lead to inflammation of the involved tissues.

People who have it are often mistakenly diagnosed w/Lupus, but she says she has both. Sarcoidosis was the first thing that she was diagnosed w/and she was put on predisones which caused her to balloon up. Now what I've read is that Sarcoidosis can lead to diabetes. It is said that 40 in every 100,000 African Americans have this disease in comparison to 5 in every 100,000 white people.

My mother has never been one to cook a lot of fried fatty foods, and when she was able she was very active.

[MsMeelah]

Originally posted by Brightness+
Is anyone doing anything PRO-active combat this or others illnesses? I mean. . .REALISTICALLY. . .using the knowledge not just possessing it?

Hate to say it but there's a lot of complacency in the Black community when it comes to health matters . . . that is one thing that really, really bothers me.

Well the problem in our community is that when people try to pass the knowledge, people don't want to hear it. We are so used to going with the flow and believing whatever the Dr's tell us. Let me tell you something, the white man makes LOTS of money on these pharmaceuticals. They are getting rich off of our ignorance! We wonder why we are getting sicker and sicker and younger ages. We cannot expect to continue to the same things our ancestors did and expect different results.

[mystkev]

Originally posted by MsMeelah+
Well the problem in our community is that when people try to pass the knowledge, people don't want to hear it. We are so used to going with the flow and believing whatever the Dr's tell us. Let me tell you something, the white man makes LOTS of money on these pharmaceuticals. They are getting rich off of our ignorance! We wonder why we are getting sicker and sicker and younger ages. We cannot expect to continue to the same things our ancestors did and expect different results. People tend to be skeptical of new knowledge or things that go against what they've been taught to believe. Just plain stubborn. It took my mother a few years to get my grandmother to stop cooking w/lard but eventually she did.

The people in my family are more likely to not go to the doctor or not listen to doctor's orders. I know there's a lot of people that do that, they don't look at warning signs of illness and when they decide to go to the doctor their condition is terminal.

I think that as frustrating as it is to constantly repeat yourself to people, that you must continue, eventually you'll wear them down.