Michelle lost a kidney to cancer 20 years ago. Her blood pressure has been challenging to keep in a healthy range since. A busy life with little focus on healthy got her in trouble. In late December 2020, she ended up in emergency with blood pressure in the 200/150 range, extremely high, along with a blood sugar of 25. She was very sick. She had a second similar episode in January. At that time she was let go from her job. This turned out to be the best thing that happened as she now had time to focus on her health.
The RDPCN family nurse recommended she attend Diabetes the Basics as well as providing her with ongoing one-to-one support for a number of months. She also got connected to a weight management program, supervised exercise and Heartwise.
Fast forward to May 2021 and she has decreased her clothing size from size 20 to 14. Her blood sugar is now 7 and her blood pressure is in the range of 138/95. Great improvements!
She is back to work. She walks about an hour per day and she feels amazing! She has used the portion control plate to help improve her eating habits. She is eating way better and enjoying it. One thing she could not give up was Pepsi. She used to have at least 3 cans per day. Now she uses Diet Pepsi in much smaller volumes but she cannot get by without some Pepsi. Long-lasting insulin and using the Libre sensor have been great tools to help her live healthy. She feels very empowered, happy and healthy!!