espite our best intentions, some of us—even some of us with diabetes!—might not be going to the doctor *quite* as often as we should.
And this could be for so many valid reasons! Maybe you don’t have transportation. Maybe you can’t take the time off work to get in for an appointment. Maybe you can’t afford the copay. Maybe you don’t quite trust the doctor… the list goes on.
But as Emily Jones Hudson, of Hazard, Ky., shares in this story (push play above to listen, or click below for a full transcript), having a history of diabetes in her family, and having worked in the healthcare field herself, is all the motivation she needs to find a way to stay on top of her diabetes, with regular doctor visits, checkups, and screenings.
Because, Emily says, she knows well what diabetes can do if you leave it unchecked:
In this piece, an excerpt of a conversation between Emily and Tiffany Sturdivant (of the non-profit organization Appalshop, in Whitesburg, Ky.), we hear about the importance of getting yourself to the doctor for regular checkups and screenings if you have diabetes. But we also hear about how it can still be hard to manage your diabetes, even if you’re motivated: sticking to a diet plan; finding self-discipline— it can all be tricky! But it’s all still possible.
EMILY JONES HUDSON (EJH): Well, diabetes ran on my dad’s side. He had to take insulin. I think on his mother’s side, it was really bad. And I remember the last surviving family member at that level, he went blind. Amputations… you know, the whole bit. So, my dad had diabetes. My older brother had diabetes and he had to take insulin.
I have diabetes and I don’t have to do insulin. I try— I try not to get to that point where I have to have insulin. But my dad, several of his siblings had diabetes.
TIFFANY STURDIVANT (TS): Okay. So you say yourself you have diabetes. So, I want to ask you about your relationship with your health care provider, about going to the doctor. My mom, she was diabetic before she passed away. And, you know, she was one of those who, you know, ‘I’m gonna take care of myself. I ain’t gonna listen to you, because I don’t trust you.’ So my mom was like that.
EJH: And I think that’s the attitude in a lot of the older generation. Me, where I worked in the healthcare field, that gave me a different perspective. So with my diabetes. I wasn’t afraid to go to the doctor, you know? I willingly went to the doctor. And usually when I went to the doctor, and they do their little gathering of information, I’m the one doing all the talking, telling them everything! And we could have switched roles.
And so, I guess I was more aggressive, and proactive in, you know, getting help. And then there comes the dividing line right there. You can be proactive, you can go and seek the help and so forth—but then it’s what you do with it. Are you going to follow that diet plan? And a lot of people, our folks, have a problem following the diet plan. Because we love to eat those foods! And then if you have hypertension on top of that…
And I have hypertension. It runs in my mom’s side of the family. I remember going to the doctor one time and seeing the dietitian, and she was telling me what I—I want to say it this way—can’t eat because of the sodium, can’t eat because of the sugar. And then I’m saying, ‘Well, what can I eat?!’
TS: My mama was saying the same thing! ‘You’re telling me everything I can’t eat. Well, hell, what am I going to eat?!’ My mama was saying, ‘I can’t eat nothing!’ Like, Mama, you can eat something, now. It’s all in how we prepare it.
But you’re saying, because of your experiencing health care, it opened your mind up to saying, ‘Alright, it’s time for me to go to the doctor. I know something’s going on, I’ve gotta go.’
EJH: Yeah, because, you know, I 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. But it’s hard! It’s hard.
TS: Tell me some of the hardships.
EJH: Well, you know, the diet thing. Because it takes discipline. And discipline is hard! People have a hard time with discipline. So it’s something that you really have to practice. And learn to say no.
For example, I love potato chips, but they’re not good for me. Because of the carbs, and the salt, the sodium. But, I will treat myself to potato chips on the weekend. So, you kind of bargain that way. And at one point I said, because, you know, a big bag of potato chips, I’ll sit and eat the whole bag. So I said, okay, I’m going to get one of those boxes of chips as individual [bags]. I ate one bag. I ate another bag. Before you know it, I’m eating three or four bags! I said, now wait a minute! It defeats the purpose. So, discipline is something that’s really—and that goes in all areas of life, discipline.
But I’m glad I don’t have to do the insulin. Another thing is checking your blood sugar, consistently. And I get pretty busy, and I forget. So, I know I don’t take it as much as I should. But that’s an important part of it. So being consistent with that kind of a thing.
TS: Well listen, thank you so very much for taking the time just to talk with me; to share with us a glimpse into your life. We really really appreciate it, thank you.
