{"id":289,"date":"2021-11-26T08:08:44","date_gmt":"2021-11-26T08:08:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.isb.edu\/healthcare\/?p=289"},"modified":"2025-12-31T09:24:19","modified_gmt":"2025-12-31T09:24:19","slug":"diabetes-awareness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.isb.edu\/healthcare\/2021\/11\/26\/diabetes-awareness\/","title":{"rendered":"A long road to diabetes management"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\">\u00a0<span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span lang=\"en-IN\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span lang=\"en-IN\">November is the National Diabetes Awareness Month.\u00a0As someone who has been battling with the disease\u00a0for\u00a0a few years now,\u00a0I wanted to write about something that has bothered\u00a0and affected\u00a0me throughout\u00a0my journey\u00a0with\u00a0this\u00a0complicated\u00a0disease.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span lang=\"en-IN\">I still remember sitting\u00a0outside my gynaecologist\u2019s office, for my annual check-up,\u00a0holding\u00a0an\u00a0envelope the nurse had just handed over. The envelope had\u00a0my\u00a0investigation results from the\u00a0morning.\u00a0My mind went blank when\u00a0the\u00a0doctor said, \u201cEverything except your blood sugar is alright.\u201d\u00a0At first, I thought it was because of the\u00a0ice cream I had had the previous night.\u00a0But when\u00a0I saw my\u00a0three-month average\u00a0HbA1C\u00a0at\u00a08.8\u00a0(unlike the normal range of 6.5-7), several questions popped in my head.\u00a0\u201cHow is that possible? Can I trust the results? Are these\u00a0really\u00a0my results?\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<p lang=\"en-GB\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span lang=\"en-IN\">As the doctor started\u00a0telling me about\u00a0various treatment options,\u00a0my world came crashing down.\u00a0I was\u00a0only\u00a036, a mother\u00a0to eight-year-old twins\u00a0and\u00a0a certified diabetes\u00a0educator.\u00a0The fact that I\u00a0failed to\u00a0identify\u00a0the signs beforehand made the diagnosis even worse.\u00a0I\u00a0did not have any symptoms by then, at least\u00a0none\u00a0that I noticed.\u00a0Eventually, I snapped myself out of the shock and started thinking.\u00a0I weighed 80 kg,\u00a0almost\u00a020 kg excess as per\u00a0my\u00a0ideal weight, I had a long history of PCOS and\u00a0had\u00a0been on-and-off\u00a0medicines\u00a0for over 15 years. We had\u00a0just\u00a0relocated\u00a0from the UK to India and were\u00a0establishing\u00a0a new hospital. Stress levels were at\u00a0a\u00a0peak\u00a0and\u00a0food habits changed\u00a0for the worse\u00a0due to\u00a0extended working hours and limited healthy options.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span lang=\"en-IN\">I was diagnosed with Type-2 diabetes.\u00a0It was ironic that I did Masters in Diabetes with the hope of creating disease awareness and education programmes to prevent the disease but ended up being diabetic myself.\u00a0Where did I go wrong? The denial made me retreat to a very dark phase in life.\u00a0Insecurities, self-doubt, and loss of self-worth were so intense that years of relevant education and experience did not help. Imagine the plight of someone who is clueless about this disease.\u00a0I experienced first-hand how it slowly damaged\u00a0my\u00a0body and\u00a0my\u00a0spirit. It took me three\u00a0years to find the energy and will to fight it and get control of my life and health.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span lang=\"en-IN\">Last year, I tested positive for Covid-19. My weight was 87 kg and steroids for Covid treatment tipped the sugar levels I had been\u00a0maintaining\u00a0thus far. Soon after, I started having neuropathic pain in both legs.\u00a0Depressed\u00a0shrouded me completely and\u00a0the pandemic restrictions\u00a0confined me to home. My energy levels were at an all-time low and I\u00a0was\u00a0constantly angry at myself and at everyone around me. In early 2021, my HbA1c rose to 13.5! I was shattered.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span lang=\"en-IN\">I knew I had put myself at risk by refusing the help and support I needed. It was at this time that I decided to pivot and manage both\u00a0diabetes and hypertension. I started logging daily readings and decided to talk\u00a0about my diagnosis\u00a0openly. Alongside,\u00a0I focussed on healing, healthy diet, lifestyle changes and tried to lose weight. I also started\u00a0complying with\u00a0the recommended medication\u00a0religiously.\u00a0Things have\u00a0now\u00a0started to look up but what I have lost in the process is time. It took me four years to come to terms with the disease and make peace with it.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<p lang=\"en-GB\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span lang=\"en-IN\">The number of patients having access to diabetes education and awareness in India is limited. Those who are lucky enough concentrate mostly on the physical changes that happen in the body and\u00a0on\u00a0how to fight those changes. What\u00a0remains\u00a0the most critical yet least talked about aspect of diabetes is #mentalhealth of the\u00a0patient, who is\u00a0finding\u00a0it difficult to accept a new diagnosis and\/or struggling to cope with the disease for years. Studies have shown that\u00a040%\u00a0of diabetes patients suffer from depression. As alarming as it may sound, unfortunately, this is not being addressed properly by the healthcare providers.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span lang=\"en-IN\">I was lucky\u00a0I eventually found the will to take control of my\u00a0life,\u00a0but\u00a0this\u00a0is not\u00a0true for everybody suffering from this disease.\u00a0Diabetes can be\u00a0prevented and managed with lifestyle changes and a healthy diet. But what is also important is the mental health of the patients who might be in complete shock,\u00a0denial,\u00a0or depression.\u00a0While\u00a0more\u00a0people are talking about various efforts to fight diabetes in India,\u00a0it\u00a0is important to focus on\u00a0counselling.\u00a0Let us\u00a0try\u00a0to understand the real fears of these patients and help find solutions through holistic delivery of the services needed for both physical and mental wellbeing.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span lang=\"en-IN\">There is a real urgency to deal with the global rise in diabetic\u00a0patients more efficiently and curate education and awareness programmes\u00a0customised\u00a0to patient groups based on their language and culture,\u00a0new\u00a0care delivery models to prevent, identify and treat diabetes\u00a0and its complications.\u00a0I am hopeful that my journey at\u00a0the\u00a0Indian School of Business\u00a0will help me\u00a0find solutions and contribute to\u00a0these endeavours.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong><em>This article is authored by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/smitha-chowdary-kankanala-432570136\/\">Smitha Chowdary Kankanala<\/a>,\u00a0MD, Indo-British Hospital, Vijayawada &amp; AMPH Co 2022 student and edited by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/vandanayadav15\/\">Vandana Yadav<\/a>, Manager, Max Institute of Healthcare Management, Indian School of Business.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a0 November is the National Diabetes Awareness Month.\u00a0As someone who has been battling with the disease\u00a0for\u00a0a few years now,\u00a0I wanted to write about something that has bothered\u00a0and affected\u00a0me throughout\u00a0my journey\u00a0with\u00a0this\u00a0complicated\u00a0disease.\u00a0\u00a0 I still remember sitting\u00a0outside my gynaecologist\u2019s office, for my annual check-up,\u00a0holding\u00a0an\u00a0envelope the nurse had just handed over. The envelope had\u00a0my\u00a0investigation results from the\u00a0morning.\u00a0My mind went [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":423,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[12,21,33],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>A long road to diabetes management - Max Institute of Healthcare Management<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.isb.edu\/healthcare\/2021\/11\/26\/diabetes-awareness\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A long road to diabetes management - Max Institute of Healthcare Management\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u00a0 November is the National Diabetes Awareness Month.\u00a0As someone who has been battling with the disease\u00a0for\u00a0a few years now,\u00a0I wanted to write about something that has bothered\u00a0and affected\u00a0me throughout\u00a0my journey\u00a0with\u00a0this\u00a0complicated\u00a0disease.\u00a0\u00a0 I still remember sitting\u00a0outside my gynaecologist\u2019s office, for my annual check-up,\u00a0holding\u00a0an\u00a0envelope the nurse had just handed over. 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