Prevent Diabetes EKY is a storybank and resource for Eastern Kentuckians who are working to prevent or control type 2 diabetes. Scroll down for stories & info, or tap the menu above!
Diabetes Prevention Resources by County:
Did you know? It is possible to slow—or even prevent—type 2 diabetes. Even if it runs in your family. Taking steps to reduce your diabetes risk can also help lower your risk of complications from other serious illnesses (such as COVID-19), and there are folks right here in Eastern Kentucky who want to help. Click on your county above for information on:
local offerings of the National Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP),
Diabetes Self-Management Education & Support (DSMES) classes,
Farmers’ Markets & other wellness programs, and more.
And click here for more information & resources on prediabetes and type 2 diabetes from the Kentucky Department of Public Health.
Clips from our Storybank:
Where I worked in the healthcare field... I [would] see records all the time of diabetic patients, and the complications that they have. And I’m saying to myself—I don’t want to be in that bed! You know, I don't want to get to that point.
- Emily Jones Hudson, Perry Co.
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I have had so much success with my A1C coming down— it's been a godsend!
- Melissa Moore (left), Perry Co., on diabetes education classes & support groups she's participated in through Appalachian Regional Healthcare (ARH)
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You don’t eat what you want, and [just] take your shot of insulin. That’s just not the way you control it! You just have to realize, I’m not going to let this control me. I’m going to get ahold of it. Because if you don’t, it will control you.
- Pat Hays, Knott Co.
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It was 48 hours, almost 3 days, without insulin, and without medicine, and without food. My mind was racing like a racecar. And my body... I just wanted to sleep.
- Tedd Link, Knott Co., on managing his diabetes in the aftermath of the 2022 Flood
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One day [after the flood], I finally was just like, everyone stop what you’re doing— I’m just making soup... and so even that felt like such a decadent meal, because it was hot. Because it was home-cooked. Because it had vegetables in it.
- Willa Johnson, Letcher Co.
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Because the symptoms are often hidden, you might not even know it! In fact, the federal CDC estimates that some 1 out of every 3 Americans has prediabetes right now, whether or not you’ve been diagnosed.
If you have prediabetes, your A1C (or “blood sugar”) levels are high enough that you’re at real risk of getting type 2 diabetes within a few years—unless you can make some lifestyle changes. But it’s not too late to make those changes, that can slow down—or even prevent—type 2! Even if it runs in your family, diabetes is not something that you just have to accept.
Click here for a quick quiz to see if you might be at risk for prediabetes, and click here to learn more about the National Diabetes Prevention Program, a small-group, evidence-based lifestyle change program offered at health departments & clinics across Eastern Kentucky.
Emily Jones Hudson (Perry Co.)
Melissa Moore (Perry Co.)
Pat Hays (Knott Co.)
Insulin Needs—and Insulin Heroes—After the 2022 Flood
Eating Right in a Crisis: Willa Johnson (Letcher Co.)
