“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>When Rosetta Keeton of St. Louis goes for a walk on her lunch break – at St. Louis ConnectCare, it is a time for prayer, silent reflection and clarifying her thoughts. At least one of her prayers has come true – she doesn’t have to take insulin to control her diabetes. “font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px;”>
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Keeton said she didn’t have any symptoms that she could identify. Her diagnosis came following a routine visit.
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“The doctor said to me, ‘I can give you some pills or you can take insulin,’” which Keeton says kind of freaked her out. “She said there was a new kind of insulin I could take where I would only have to inject myself only once a week. And I said, ‘Well, what if I tried diet and exercise?
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“She said, ‘Well, you could try it.’”
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>This conversation scared Keeton into action. A year-and-a-half later, she is 40 pounds lighter and manages her condition with exercise and dietary changes, including portion control.
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“I feel better than I ever felt,” Keeton says.
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>The inspiration to take charge of her life with diabetes comes from her friend, Rosita Lewis, whose personal introduction to being diabetic 10 years ago almost cost her life. She had some classic symptoms of diabetes – tiredness, frequent urination – and her employer sent her home to see a doctor because she looked very ill, but Lewis chalked it up to a hectic pace from working for an airline.
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>You could call it “good looking out” on both sides.
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Ironically, it was Keeton who became alarmed when Lewis wasn’t her usual self during a phone call the day she was sent home. Keeton made a life-saving and life-changing decision to send in reinforcements.
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“When I didn’t make sense on the phone, she called my family to let them know somebody needed to come see about me,” Lewis says. “In the meantime, she came. When she came – she took my blood sugar and she could not get a reading.”
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Keeton borrowed a meter from a relative to use for this emergency. She couldn’t get a reading because Lewis’ blood sugar was off the charts and the meter she used couldn’t register a blood sugar higher than 300 mg/dL – but neither of them knew that at the time. “font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px;”>
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Lewis wound up spending a week at Christian Northeast Hospital. “font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px;”>
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Normal blood sugar level is generally between 80 and 100 mg/dL, though it may vary some from person-to-person.
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Having a blood sugar level over 400 mg/dL is very dangerous and the American Diabetes Association advises people to go to the hospital when their blood glucose level is at 500 or higher.
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>The health care team at Christian was surprised Lewis was conscious and was able to walk with assistance into the hospital. Her blood sugar level was indeed life-threatening.
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“mso-spacerun: yes;”> Lewis says. “Normally, people are in a coma or they die when it’s that high. So, All I knew was that during that week, I just kept reading my bible and watching my eyes go back and forth … being able to see and not being able to see.”
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Lewis was required to take high doses of insulin for a while to bring her blood sugar under control.
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>After she was released from the hospital, with the advice and encouragement of former St. Louis gynecologist, Randall Tobler, M.D., Lewis got busy – walking to lose weight and changing what and how she eats. “font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px;”>
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“I did everything he said to do – exactly how he said to do it,” Lewis explains.
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“That included eating smaller, multiple meals, like oats for breakfast and making sure you have some protein but in a healthy way… portion control, but not to a point where you are hungry.”
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>She satisfied her hunger with nutritious foods and started making lots of salads and eating fresh fruits.
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Lewis lost about 50 pounds. “font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px;”>
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“Since then, my high blood pressure is finally normalized to where it’s normal with medication,” Lewis explains. “And today I am still not taking [diabetes] medication. In fact, I immediately stopped taking meds after I started with Dr. Tobler, which was like two or three weeks after I got out of the hospital.” “font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px;”>
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>The two Ro’s, or “Ro-Ro” as they call themselves – are determined to keep medication at bay.
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>When Keeton brought her blood sugar down to normal levels, her doctor’s office celebrated with her. “font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px;”>
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“mso-spacerun: yes;”> I was so happy – they put a star on my hand – they walked me all around the clinic. I was the ‘Patient for the Day’,” Keeton says. “I was so excited and so happy, and immediately after that, it became immediately hard to control my blood sugar.” (A1C is a blood test that reflects the blood sugar over 3 months. An A1C of less than 7% is considered well-controlled diabetes and over 8% is poorly controlled.) “font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px;”>
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Hard, but she is doing it anyway. “font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px;”>
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Since being treated for diabetes, Lewis has run three half-marathons. “font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px;”>
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“I also learned that one of the things that drives your diabetes crazy, along with your blood pressure, is stress,” Lewis says. She left the airlines and has a rewarding career at St. Louis Community College – Florissant Valley. “I now love what I do every day.” “font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px;”>
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Both Keeton and Lewis are advocates for managing “self” to manage health.
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“I made a conscientious decision – I won’t do meds” Lewis says. “I am going to be well because of the way that I live.”
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Diabetes is something Keeton no longer fears. “font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px;”>
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“I know that if I treat my body right, then diabetes probably won’t kill me,” Keeton says.
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“And so, I am not afraid of diabetes anymore. I know that diabetes is what I have and I have to manage it.”
