Diabetes and Me
St. Vincent De Paul: A
great way to get help - A great way to help people!
This is going to be a longish post.
So if you don't want to read it through, just please, do me a favor and make a
donation to St. Vincent De Paul. You are helping me and you are helping others
in need. This is a charity you can believe in!
When Obamacare (The Affordable Care
Act) was implemented, I really was happy. I had a sticker on my car and it
read: I LOVE Obamacare! I took some flak for it a couple of times, but I was
all for it. I had no idea that the program would abandon me and cast me into
some serious doubts about my nation, my self-worth and my future!
I had no idea that many, many
Americans would be left out in the cold when it came to medical insurance. How?
Because first of all many "Red" states refused to take the Obamacare
money or even use the insurance marketplace system the program set up. The
states were allowed to make changes to the original law or to reject it
completely. This left those of us in the Red states without a real marketplace
that had low prices. When I signed up the Federal government wanted me to pay
out $360.00 a month for the cheapest insurance Arizona had to offer. That was $100.00
more than my car payment! Like many in the now apparently dead Middle Class, I
had a job which forced me to take shorter hours so they didn't have to pay for
medical care. There was no way to move into full time. Arizona has few Unions,
so there was no Union health insurance. I made too much money to get Medicare
or Medicaid and could not go on Arizona's health insurance called
"Access" because my wife, being on Social Security and also
unemployed at the time, still made too much money per month.
Meanwhile my diabetes had (after 14
years of not seeing any doctors or being on any medications), decided to kick
up. I had been diagnosed in 2001, Jan. 1st with blood sugar levels at about
485. I had insurance through my wife's job at the time. I was put on
medication, given counseling, and I began a diet and exercise regimen that
drove my blood sugars down to normal. I weighed 280 pounds. At 5'5" this
was 130 pounds overweight! So I began biking everywhere, eating half my meals
and saving half for later, getting into cinnamon, Tahitian Noni juice and other
alternatives. I then of course lost my insurance when my wife lost her job. So
without any doctor's supervision I did on my own what they said could not be
done. I exercised and dieted my way to health. I lost 140 pounds! I did have a
few retinopathic spots in my eyes. But overall I was doing well.
Unfortunately without a way to
keep testing for sugars (the test strips back then alone cost $90.00 without
insurance, the drugs were over $600.00!) I was unable to check my progress. But
I felt good, had no symptoms (constant thirst, constant urination, no energy,
open sores, etc. etc.) and so I figured I may have beaten it. Just last year I
began using Stevia as a sweetener. For some reason I began to have some
tingling and feeling loss in my feet and hands. I bought a diabetic test kit
on-line and found my blood sugars had once again risen to over 400!
It turns out, by the way, that
Sugar Free does not mean "no sugar." The body takes sugar free sugar
substitutes, takes the alcohol molecule off of them and turns them to sugar
anyway! So sugar free cookies, candies, sodas, etc. all turn to sugar anyway!
We cannot ever be free of sugar because every living thing lives on, and is
fueled by, sugar. So the Stevia (which was cut with another unnatural
sweetener), may have even impacted my liver to make me produce MORE blood
sugars! As the body becomes starved for sugar due to low insulin production, it
makes the liver collect sugar and dump it into the blood stream. The kidneys
help by not taking out most of the sugar and recirculating it back to the
liver. Then when the liver can handle no more the sugar is deposited onto
organs, blood vessels, nerve sheaths, anywhere the body can stash it. Results:
Bacteria LOVE sugar, so they begin to eat the nerve sheaths away and you get
neuropathy. They corrupt the blood vessels so you get diabetic lesions. The
body builds new blood vessels where it doesn't need them, like the eyes, and
you get bleeding that causes retinopathy! Eventually the buildup of sugar
corrodes something important and you die.
So I began my personal regimen as
best I could again, lowering my blood sugars again, but they never got lower
than 275. And then they slowly began to go up. I tried homeopathy, bitter
melon, you name it. Nothing worked. Even my homeopathic doctor from India said
I had to get on insulin immediately!
Insulin? You don't even want to
know how much that costs with no insurance. I tried to get on Obamacare two
more times, but it was always the same, pay out $360.00 per month for the
world's worst low-ball insurance or basically die. Because a doctor will NOT
see you anymore in America if you have no insurance. Period. I know. When my
wife, between jobs, cut her head badly in a fall, I took her around and no
doctor would even look at her, even in urgent care! I'd heard that Emergency
Care could be provided but some people were billed five thousand dollars or
more for a shot or some stiches! So now I was scared. To me insulin was a
lifetime thing. It was hugely expensive. And it must be prescribed by a doctor.
Or so I thought. So I was feeling very much like my community, my state and my
nation were in no way concerned with my health or anyone else's. It was all
about the money. I had lost my job as well by this time. All I had was
unemployment and that was a mere $160.00 per week. Still Obamacare demanded I
sign up and pay $360.00 a month. I was at a loss. Struggling with fear of dying
or worse...yes worse...being hospitalized with a stroke or heart attack, the
debt from which I would never get out from under. I already had $30,000 in
student loans for a degree that never helped me get a job once! An illness
would destroy me. Full Time Jobs were gone since the crash in '08. All there
was was part time, low pay jobs which sucked up everything in gasoline and time,
not to mention killing your self-esteem.
As a last resort I tried to get on
a diabetic clinical trial. I went to downtown Phoenix only to be told that my
blood sugars were so damned high for so long that I needed to be on insulin
immediately, and that no way would they put me in a study for a drug that works
on diabetes unless my blood sugars were lowered. (OK, you tell me how that
works? If your blood sugars are already normal, how can they tell a drug would
be working to lower them!?) So instead of being the perfect test subject. I was
rejected. The Dr. at the clinical study said he had once volunteered for the
diabetes clinic at St. Vincent De Paul medical center in downtown Phoenix. He
said I should try them since I was getting no help from anyone else. I went
home and called them up. The lady on the phone was really abrupt and harsh.
Still she finally consented to get me an appointment...I had no idea what I was
in store for.
The next week I drove downtown, to
a very bad section of town, to find the St. Vincent De Paul Medical Center. It
was basically filled with homeless and Mexican people. It was where they came
to get services, food, doctoring and some free supplements and medications. I
felt out of place, and yet, what else was there for me? I was about a hair's
breadth away from being out on the street myself, since my wife had lost her
job and had no unemployment. Luckily her last job had paid well and she was
able to save enough to keep us going. Still I was worried sick. The way I had
been treated on the phone was not sitting well with me. I was asked to fill out
several forms and medical documents. However in no time they ushered me into
the clinic and took my weight, height, blood samples, blood sugars (385) asked
me my regimen, what I ate, did I smoke, how was my eyesight, etc. etc. I was
actually getting more care in that few minutes than I had originally got from
doctors 14 years previously! I was impressed the nurses were efficient,
smiling, happy...Then one of them called in the doctor's assistant Stephanie.
She was a young woman studying to be a doctor and volunteering time. She was
very nice and gentle with me. Helped me calm down a lot. I told her I had
problems with anxiety, nerves and depression. She led me to a small doctor's
room and had me sit down. Just as I entered I saw a tall, Black man in a
hysterically day-glo green Grinch outfit! He had his Grinch head on the table
beside him. He had his head in his hands and seemed really upset or depressed.
"Poor sap." I thought, "Probably got himself into a gig where he
had to be the Grinch for a day and had a breakdown or something..."
I waited for about twenty minutes.
Stephanie came back in, saying she would bring in the doctor shortly. She then
asked me a series of questions about my life, health, well-being, etc. I asked
her about her life as well. She seemed so kind and helpful. Only three months
and she would become a doctor herself. She loved St. Vincent's and loved her
volunteer work. Finally she stepped out. A few minutes later I overheard a
conversation about from the guy in the Grinch outfit saying that he was really
upset, that he hated office parties, was forced to be the Grinch because he
refused to be Santa. He hated Christmas and was pretty down. The door opened up
and in steps the Grinch, with Steph behind him saying, "David, this is Dr.
Lee. He'll be seeing you now."
I nearly lost my teeth! I had to
stifle my laughter. Of course! I was now going to be tended to by the Grinch
Who Stole Christmas! (Seriously this type of thing is my weird life in a nut
shell! And I do mean Nut!) He shook my hand. I had to tell him what I thought
and had overheard. He just laughed. Asked me some more questions, told me what
my blood sugars were and that he was going to immediately put me on insulin. He
had this space-age pen device, showed me how to use it. Asked me to show him
what I had learned and I got my first dose of insulin right there. He thought
it was odd that it hurt going in. He said he'd tried the "insulin
pen" on himself and hadn't felt anything. (Oh well, that's me,
hypersensitive.) But it was not that bad and I said I could do this without
trouble, having had to give myself testosterone shots for a long time...(I had
Low Testosterone as well, with no way to get that except in Mexico, but that is
another story for another blog).
After a few moments of conversation
Dr. Lee had Stephanie check my feet for neuropathy. Then they scheduled me with
an appointment with the Dietician and an optometrist! All this was free. And
the doctor prescribed Metformin and Statin, even though he said my cholesterol
was well within normal limits. He described about how I might get some stomach
troubles with the Metformin. However I was sure it wouldn’t bother me too much,
as I had taken it many years before. The Dr. then said goodbye and Merry
Christmas and Stephanie led me back to the clinic staff who told me that I was
to watch my diet and good luck. Then I was told to sign up for free insulin!
Free? Not only that but now I found out WalMart sold insulin for $24.00 for a
thirty day bottle, over the counter! Their diabetic supplies were super low
priced, including those once hugely expensive testing strips! WalMart, my
nemesis and the nemesis of all that is good in this world, was now, after ruining
my life years back when I worked for them, going to save my life with cheap
insulin! I was scheduled for the diet clinic and the optometrist. I then looked
in their give-away bins. Holy Crap there must have been a couple of thousand
dollars' worth of vitamins, minerals, probiotics, supplements, Breathe-Right
strips and a number of other goodies! We came away with what seemed to be at
least $200.00 worth of supplies! What an unbelievable day! My stress rolled
away, my worries died and I was at last at peace. Obama didn’t help. The
Republicans didn't help. The State of Arizona didn't help. Only St. Vincent De
Paul's was there to help me. I am forever grateful and they will remain my
personal favorite charity.
If you have medical problems and it
seems there is nowhere to turn because you have no money, call up the St.
Vincent De Paul Society at: (602)
261-6868 and set an appointment. Give as much as a donation as you can to these
kind, generous and talented people truly doing God's work.
Within one week, by the way, my
sugars went from resting 400 to 100! Within two weeks I was within normal sugar
levels for my body weight, etc. I had no other problems and I found out through
the optometrist that my eyesight was not as bad as I suspected it would be. A
lot of my fears were assuaged because I was finally, after so many years, able
to see a doctor. One who wasn't in the business of pushing needless meds or
agendas set by insurance companies. They call about once every two weeks to
check up on me and my progress. I've never had a doctor's office do that. I
really feel that they care for me. My diabetes is under control. I am now
living a normal life, eating normally, sleeping better, and enjoying life more,
thanks ONLY to St. Vincent De Paul!
