In 1985, just before my 40th birthday, I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. To say that this was a life changing event is an understatement. Though, at the time, the full impact of that diagnosis was still years away.

I didn’t understand how diabetes happened to me — I was fit, exercised and thought that I ate the right foods. I later learned that I was at-risk from birth – a ticking time bomb!  This is because of a family history of diabetes (genetics), as well as weighing over 9 lbs. at birth, which is a risk factor for both baby and mother. I also have come to understand that many of the foods that were marketed to me as being healthy, both by corporations and the government entities that they helped to fund, were far from it. If I had known then what I know now, I would have been much more diligent in modifying my diet and eating more whole and unprocessed foods, to prevent and then better self-manage what has since caused me and my loved ones so much heartache.

My treatment began with diet control.  I was simply told to read nutrition labels and avoid foods that listed sugar as one of the first 3 ingredients – certainly, an over- simplistic approach. I then went into denial about having this disease, typical of many diabetics upon diagnosis. Not surprisingly, two years later, I progressed to requiring oral medication.

Still, I didn’t take my diabetes management seriously enough.  Within ten years of my diagnosis I began to understand and experience the consequences of my poor self-management of the disease.

In the meantime, in 1990, I co-founded Defeat Diabetes Foundation, a nationally registered 501(c)(3) non-profit, with my brother, Jerry, at the time an undiagnosed diabetic. In 1990 there was little reporting about type 2 diabetes, yet the number of people with the disease in the United States alone was a staggering 12 million Americans, and growing exponentially.

In 1995 I decided to do a major awareness event and began training to run a marathon (26.2 miles) each day for eight consecutive days, across the state of Florida. Running was my “exercise of choice” and I had run single marathon distances several times. And, although I was 50 years old and diabetic, I felt that with proper training I could accomplish this feat.

While training, I began losing weight, but attributed it to my ramped up workout schedule. I had lost about 30 pounds when I woke up one day in excruciating pain and my life was changed forever. It was severe diabetic neuropathy.  Coupled with the weight loss I was on a rapid downhill slide – with my diabetes totally out of control.

The severe pain and continued weight loss (ultimately 75-80 pounds) seemed endless. And, although under the care of several doctors and other health professionals, my life was at risk. I was bedridden for two years and there were many days that I thought would be my last. I faced a clear and certain sense of my own mortality.

Then, I started to understand the “bigger” role that I could play in the treatment of my own disease and learned everything I could about diabetes. I worked diligently with a team of dedicated diabetes professionals to understand how food and exercise affected my glucose levels, and formulate an integrated management approach. That and the daily use of insulin injections finally got it under control.

My recovery wasn’t without complications, though. Severe peripheral neuropathy in my feet and legs resulted in constant pain, balance problems and an eventual inability to run. I also continued to suffer from the other neuropathies common to many diabetics:  proximal, truncal and autonomic. Retinopathy also threatened my vision, requiring surgery on both eyes to stave off blindness.

As I began to regain weight and strength, I started training again. Unfortunately the damage done to my nerves had affected my balance, and I found myself falling frequently while running, constantly setting me back in my training regiments. I decided to make the mental and physical shift to walking, and from there I didn’t look back.