Bonner General hosting open house on diabetes
Look around. If you’re in a room with four people, one of you either has or will have diabetes.
To be precise, 26.9 percent of U.S. residents 65 and older have the disease and almost a quarter of a million people under the age of 20 do, too.
Another statistic to be aware of is that more than 7 million people have diabetes but have not been diagnosed.
So, whether you have it, think you might be at risk for it or know someone who does have it, Bonner General Hospital is having an open house at the Brown House on Monday, Nov. 4, from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Mark your calendar to attend — go on, do it right now — to learn more about the disease, how to keep it in control and what’s new in treatments and diets.
Bonner General Hospital’s certified diabetes educators, Audrey Buck and Leah Erban, will be on hand to answer the multitude of questions that you might have. Also, if you’re interested in hearing how one man has conquered his fear of diabetes treatment, show up at BGH classroom (that’s in the hospital next to the cafeteria) at 10 a.m. for an informative lecture by specially trained member of the A1C Champions program, Steve Wille.
Wille was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when he was 38 years old and, according to the informational flier, immediately began to feel sorry for himself.
“At first I only did the bare minimum that was necessary to monitor my care,” he said. “I didn’t like having to discipline myself to take injections at certain times, and stick to a strict meal plan.”
In order to live a full life despite his diabetes, Wille changed his habits and now eats a healthy diet, exercises and monitors his blood sugar levels frequently. Besides being an active stepfather, grandfather and owner of two golden retrievers, Wille spends his free time playing recreational ice hockey, gardening and playing the guitar.
“I love being a part of a group of people with diabetes who want to share their experience and knowledge of the disease,” he said. “If I can maintain control of my diabetes then others can, too.
“I don’t have any special or magical powers; I just use the resources that are available to me.”
Erban and Buck both encourage everyone to come learn about the myths and facts of diabetes. “We want to see everyone,” Erban said, “especially those we’ve never seen before. We want to know where they are and, more importantly, for them to know where we are so we can help them.”
Diet, exercise and oral medications very often do a good job of controlling diabetes and going on insulin is not inevitable. Nor, does going on insulin mean staying on it for life. If you have diabetes, your treatment plan is designed specifically for you. There’s no cookie cutter therapy, everyone is different, Erban and Buck said.
They also said that complications can be avoided. With the proper diabetes treatment patients can escape kidney disease, blindness, foot ulcers and amputations. It’s all about getting blood sugar under control and keeping it there.
“Going on insulin to control your blood sugar is a good thing,” Buck said. “This isn’t the medicine of thirty years ago. People think everything bad is going to happen to them, but that’s not the case if they take care of themselves. If I was diagnosed with diabetes, I wouldn’t have a problem going on insulin on day one.”
All right, let’s recap. Steve Wille will be speaking at Bonner General Hospital’s classroom (520 N. Third Avenue, Sandpoint) at 10 a.m. The Open House is at the Brown House, next to the Healing Garden just north of the hospital from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. At 1:30 there will be an insulin support group meeting, so be sure to hang around for that. Got it? Be there. If you need more information call Audrey Buck or Leah Erban at 263-1441.
Kathy Hubbard is a trustee on Bonner General Hospital Foundation Board. She can be reached at 264-4029 or kathyleehubbard@yahoo.com.