"My blood sugar used to be really high, to the point where I was in the hospital. That hurt an awful lot."

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When did you realize you were borderline diabetic?

I was in my twenties. I brushed it off cause I was young and you know, it doesn't seem like it's affecting me then. So I just played it by ear and it honestly was working out for me until I got arrested. When I came home, December 2022, I almost went into a diabetic shock because I had pancreatitis.

That hurt an awful lot sitting in that hospital bed and them telling me that. Thinking back, if I just took the time and actually did my research at homework, maybe I wouldn't be in this situation, but I mean, I'm here now. So once I got out of the hospital,  they set me up while I was in there, recuperating and recovering. They brought in people to teach me about insulin and everything that was going on. I talked to the nutritionists and they were explaining to me about the different types of diabetes, like type one and type two. 

And the only real question I had for them was is this a permanent thing? Once they put me on the path, I got my own personal doctor, and we sat down and we talked and I honestly, I met every requirement he asked me for.I knew I was starting down a better path. He told me my A1C at the time when I first  linked up with him and we started this path, he told me it was like  12. It was either 12.7 or 13.7,  but he wanted to cut it down. 

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What changed in your life after that?

I've seen him last year a total of maybe three, four times and each time my A1c was going in the right direction. I went to the function. My A1C then was 6.1, but I still wanted it lower. I've been making sure that I've been getting back on my workout tip, trying to stay healthy.  Relatively cut out all of my junk food, you know, but we all got our little,  you know,  Y'all got that one thing. 

I feel like I did a drastic change. I mean I'm not drinking sodas. I'm drinking a lot more water. I do drink gatorade, but I only drink that like every spare moment. It's only because it has electrolytes. So it's a nice little teaching Kind of sort of healthy for you, but I definitely try not to overdo it with that.

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What made you want to change your habits?

Honestly, the one thing that really made me take it seriously was the fact that I know that  it's not just me. Like I really have to live for other people. I have three kids on top of everything. So I gotta make sure that I'm taking care of myself. They need me and I need them. So I gotta take care of myself. 

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What advice would you give others in your situation?

My only piece of advice would be once you sit down and think about it, there's always somebody, somebody always has somebody that's willing to listen, as long as you're willing to open up and talk about it. Everybody needs somebody, if you're feeling confused or whatnot, just try to reach out to talk to somebody.

Don't wait till it's too late.  Please get checked out. If you know something about your family history, and you know something is a possibility, you might want to get it checked out.

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What did you think about the program?

I also really liked the program. The most impactful thing of the program was Coach Crystal. We always talk and we had a lot in common as far as anime and she really motivated me when I told her about how I wanted to get back into the workout thing. She even took that a step further, she taught me these breathing techniques that the Marines use. And honestly, I've been using it and it's been helping me stay calm and certain things. My kids, they will test you nowadays, but that breathing technique definitely helps me out and I couldn't thank her enough for that. The program was definitely helpful in a lot of ways, as long as you were willing to put in the effort.

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