08 Oct Why Tom Hanks Revealing He Has Type 2 Diabetes Is A Good Thing

Tom Hanks revealed to David Letterman last night that he has Type 2 Diabetes. For Type 2 diabetics like myself, this might just be a good thing..although I would NEVER wish for anyone to have type 1 or type 2 diabetes.

Although type 2 is reversible with weight loss, it is not always so easy the case. Hanks was advised that if he could get back to his High School weight, he would no longer have Diabetes. His high school weight was 96 pounds so Hanks feels he will be living with Diabetes for the rest of his life.

After New Years a few years ago, I swore I was going to cut out soda and other bad things and just drink fruit juice drinks. Those are good for you right? Wrong. I was having leg pain and went into a doctor’s office. 2 days later, the doctor is saying I have diabetes type 2 as my blood results came in with a blood sugar level of 419. A normal sugar level is around 80-105. I am mostly around 105 but on stressful days it has been up to 150 or above.

I have to stab my finger about 2-3 times a day and the needles and blood strips needed for that are priced beyond ridiculous!

For someone who has lived with type 2 diabetes for the past 11 years and started suffering diabetic neuropathy in March of 2012, it has been beyond frustrating. The neuropathy is in my feet so I cannot stand for long periods of time anymore. In July, I went to see my favorite musical artist Prince, and I was regulated to a couch by the sound board, so my days of being towards the front row are now over it seems. I have worn shoes only 4 times since that July date, preferring to just wear flip flops.

I attended a wedding last week and one of the groomsman was demanding i wear dress shoes to the event. I declined and said I will be wearing black sneakers to the wedding. He said “OK but 300 people will be wearing dress shoes.” I replied “That’s fine and I wonder if those 300 other people have diabetic neuropathy.” and left it at that. I wore the sneakers to the wedding dropping 1000MG ibuprofen to make it through the wedding without incident. While everyone was doing shots, I declined. They thought I was someone’s designated driver but in actuality, the alcohol makes my sugar levels rise to where I feel even more pain in my feet and body.

No one understands why I eat before I work out and after. Needing the food so my blood sugar does not drop while working out and needing to eat after for some of the same reasons.

I am not a healthy diabetic. You have to afford to eat healthy and that is an expense I just cannot afford. Everyone always has ideas to make that happen and it is easier outside of the box to see that way instead of inside of the box.

I used to sleep 2-3 hours a day and take a nap here and there. That attributes mostly to the dark circles under my eyes. In the past couple of years, I need that 8 hours of sleep or a I just cannot function properly. It is not something I am used to and I feel my energy drained all the time. I take glipizide and metformin along with other vitamins to help me with the silent disease called Diabetes.

I would have ignorant people say only black people get diabetes with the Kool-Aid they drink or Hawaiin Punch. No fool. Diabetes is color blind. Diabetes is a silent killer that the ailments you are going through just are not visible to the human eye. I walk slow not because I am a slow walker but I can no longer walk fast.

I used to walk/jog/run 5 miles a day. That is how I stayed in shape and burned stress off. I can no longer do that without not being able to sleep for days because I would be in so much pain. It would be that bad.

The last time I got a haircut, the hairstylist had a sign on her station that said donate $5.00 to find a cure for type 1 diabetes and get $50.00 worth of coupons. When a diabetic cause is separated by type 1 and type 2 instead of just a cause for Diabetes, it is frustrating.

This is why I say Tom Hanks having Type 2 Diabetes is a good thing…for diabetics, especially those with type 2. He could bring attention to it. Attention to this silent disease and it’s ailments.

Tom Hanks is a good guy. He is one of the most liked actors in the world, if not the most. He is someone I can see will not be silent with what he is going through. I hope not. Something tells me he will not be and for all the type 2 diabetic sufferers in this world, it is a good thing Tom Hanks has diabetes to get the message out.-DocFB

Diagnosis: I would never wish Diabetes on anyone. It sucks. If you are someone who likes food, you can forget about having a majority of your favorite food anymore. Hopefully, you can afford to keep your diabetes in check with diet. It is not cheap. Trust me.

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