The prevalence of blood sugar issues
with pre-diabetes and diabetes has been increasing
in part due to weight issues, being overweight
and obesity. Just because it is kind of part of our culture
to eat big portions and maybe, especially
during the pandemic, not get out and go to the gym
or get out and be more active.
And so people who have always been sedentary
usually remain sedentary in this type of situation.
Project Lifestyle Change was a program that was created
over 10 years ago to help people that are at high risk
for diabetes to prevent them from developing it.
It's a program that takes people that have
pre-diabetes, which means your blood sugar levels are
higher than normal but not yet in the diabetes range,
and brings them into a year-long group sessions
where they learn all about healthy eating,
exercise, goal-setting.
And it's really a long-term, year-long, followup
where they get support from the group
from the health care staff to help them make changes
in their life to prevent themselves
from developing diabetes.
The great thing is there is no cost to participation
because this program has been generously sponsored
by the Westlake Foundation and Rush Oak Park Hospital.
First learned that I was a pre-diabetic
through my endocrinologist, Dr. Cunningham,
in the Rush Oak Park facility.
I was kind of shocked that I was a pre-diabetic
so it was a kind of a wake-up call, I guess.
Dr. Cunningham said that she had this program that
she thought that I could benefit from.
And I said, "Okay, well I'll try that out
"and see because I don't want to become a Type-2 diabetic."
I learned that I had pre-diabetes
through my yearly physical.
I had blood work done and my doctor let me know.
I was totally in shock.
I went home and called other members of my family
and said, "Could you believe it?
"I, I weigh 120 pounds, I'm diabetic?
"Pre-diabetic?"
So then I was lookin' online
at different things to eat and stuff like that.
And I came across the CDC advertisement
about these classes.
It's run through group sessions
and you meet weekly in the beginning
and then it goes to monthly after that.
And in these classes or group sessions you not only get
support from the health care providers that run them,
but also the other people that are in your group.
You'll get to know these people, you'll get group support.
You'll learn a whole lot about healthy eating,
about exercise, stress management.
And one of the things that we do is set goals every week.
I learned quite a bit just through listening
to the other people who had issues
and they were tryin' to lose weight.
I learned about Keto.
I didn't know anything about that
until I heard the ladies talkin'
and I learned how things was workin' for them
and how it wasn't workin'.
Somebody would say, "Oh, I fell off the wagon today."
And then some other person would say,
"Well you know, there's always next week,"
so it was always encouraging.
And just that whole atmosphere and to know that, you know,
you're not takin' this journey alone.
And the instructor always, you know, pumping you up
and congratulating people on their weight-loss
or their numbers going down.
Even after a year, that group has grown so close together
because it's the same group of people you're meeting
with every week or every month, or every quarter.
And they really learn a lot from each other.
They provide support to each other.
They hold each other accountable.
So, many times people will want to continue on
and say can I come back and do another year-long session.
So people really do like it.
My A1C was 6.5 and after one year,
I lowered it down to 5.8.
Before the COVID, I had lost about 11 or 12 pounds.
My A1C went down from 6.2 to 6.0.
And my recent blood work, my A1C down to 5.8, now.
I got to lose two more points in my A1C
before I can be out of the pre-diabetic range.
So 5.8 is pretty good, but 5.5 would get me
out of that range, and that's my goal.
We've had really great success.
For the people that stick with it,
many people, their A1C levels come down.
Some people no longer have pre-diabetes that they
get their blood sugars into a completely normal range.
It's really important for patients to maintain
a regular followup with their primary care physician
and to get regular labs.
Some people haven't followed up during the pandemic
because they're scared.
But Rush still offers tele-med and you can come in
and get your labs when you feel comfortable.
But just to kind of stay on top of your health
during the pandemic, just because having blood sugar issues
does increase the risk of a lot of things:
increased risk of heart attack, stroke,
kidney problems, foot problems, amputations,
nerve problems, circulatory problems, as well as infection.
After every class the instructor would always say
now remember, you know, this is up to you.
You can, there's a fork in the road, here.
You could do what you're supposed to do
and prevent the diabetes or you can take the other path
and you will get diabetes.
It's going to benefit you.
I mean, give it a try.