The Story of How Diabetes Transformed My Life

Camille LoParrino is a Health Literacy Coach and a former type 2 diabetic. In this two-part personal story of growth and perseverance, Camille describes how her diagnosis turned her life upside down. But she did not let it knock her down; instead, she made the best of every situation.

You have Diabetes! These were the scariest three words I ever heard in my entire life! I had an idea what this meant because I watched the changes my own mother went through two decades beforehand. I was instantly terrified about my own prospects with this condition. Of course, my biggest fear as facing an early death because my mom had died at 63 years of age from the sister condition of diabetes, and that is, she had a heart attack after being submitted to the hospital. Now what? Was I going to repeat history? I called my friends and screamed and cried for hours. They were actually able to calm me down by making me realize that things had changed a lot over the years and there was more information available now on how to deal with diabetes.


The Plan

So I had to make a plan. What should I do? Well, the first thing that came to mind was to quit my job. What could be more stressful than teaching in a New York City public school? Absolutely nothing. So I decided to quit my job, not die on the job, and get well instead. I called in, spoke to my Assistant Principal and told her I could no longer work there. I got a call back from the Principal who asked me to postpone my decision a few months so that I could prepare some of her needy students for the upcoming state reading test. Just knowing I would be leaving the toxic environment of public school helped me to relax and so I told her I would stay until the end of that school year.


The next thing on my agenda was to get a Health Coach to guide me in proper nutrition. I had met someone at my local gym who offered to work with me one-on-one and teach me what to eat, how much to eat, and even when to eat.

Another area of importance on my to do list was to add more days to the times I worked out at the gym. And each day I would go there to work out on the treadmill, and I included stretching and weight lifting activities to my regime.

The Transformation

After two months, I lost ten pounds, and my oral medication was reduced in half. Then, two months later, I lost another ten pounds and my medication was cut out entirely. At this point my A1c had gone down from an initial diagnosis at 8.9 to a new low of 6.3.


I think the hardest part about this whole scenario was not to continue to take the easy way out and eat out or take home My meals. Bottom line: the most difficult thing I had to do was to cook at home -- Yikes! I had to be one of the laziest people on the planet and enjoyed the comfort of other people cooking my food. However, I no longer had that luxury because now that I had diabetes I had to know exactly what ingredients were placed inside the soups, vegetables, meats, and fish dishes I ate.

I took a few cooking classes just to learn the basics fundamentals of cooking. I still watch cooking shows but this time I am armed with the information I need to know in order to adapt the meals, especially for low salt, better quality carbs, and no sugars.

I still cannot say like the chefs on these cooking shows do that I love cooking because I truly don't. I have, however, found quick and easy meals to prepare where I do not have to stand and juggle in front of a hot stove for too long. And surprisingly, I found that there are some tasty international cuisines out there that do not take long, are easy to prepare, and are even tasty too.

Read Part II here!


More Articles

With its slightly nutty flavor, chewy texture, and nutritional punch farro is an ancient whole grain worth a place in our pantry.

Farro...

Having diabetes is cause for concern, however it doesn’t mean that you need to eliminate all of your favorite foods from your diet completely....

With diabetes becoming more of an epidemic each and every day, being knowledgeable about the disease, its effects on the body as well as ways to...

If you’re a diabetic or live with one, it can be tough trying to figure out the best foods to eat because your priority is to control your blood...

In this post, I will show you the 10 best ice creams for diabetics.

When you think of sweetened foods that a diabetic shouldn’t consume,...

More Articles

If you’re living with diabetes, snacking is a necessity because going for more than 3-4 hours without eating can be detrimental to your health....

For diabetics, choosing healthy snacks can be a daunting task.

A good rule of thumb is to pick out snacks that are rich in protein, fiber,...

According to information available through the National Institutes of Health, there’s an estimated 462 million people in the world who are...

Eleven Clinical Studies

After eleven clinical studies and 300,000 participants, researcher Vasanti Malik and her team of researchers...

Diabetic women often have a harder time losing weight than non-diabetic women. A study funded by Jenny Craig proved that diabetic women have an...

Many recent studies have proved that magnesium levels are lower in patients with diabetes than in non-diabetics. This magnesium...

Fluid retention, also known as edema, is a problem that affects many diabetics, especially those with type 2 diabetes...

Some of us might be thrilled if we could manage our blood sugar by sitting in a hot tub or sauna, instead of working up a sweat biking, or using...

Cooking and baking with the ancient cereal grain sorghum has health benefits for people with diabetes, and those with weight control issues....

When it comes to certain foods, there are always questions as to whether or not a diabetic can have them without...

Matcha tea is a rich, creamy, full-bodied beverage with amazing nutritional properties that address several diabetes health concerns.

The...

Salads are good example of foods that type 2 diabetics can enjoy with relatively low guilt. With the right greens and other elements added, salad...

Remaining gainfully employed is important to many people. Those who live with any form of diabetes may find that some lines of work are more...

Learning that you have diabetes does mean making some lifestyle changes. One of the areas that needs attention is your diet. Most people find that...

One of the more challenging aspects of life as a type 2 diabetic is managing your diet. There’s often the temptation to avoid certain foods...