SEARHC - What's New - Dinah Aceveda learns about how vital self-care is for diabetes

Dinah Aceveda learns about how vital self-care is for diabetes

Dinah Aceveda of Kake has been managing her Type 2 diabetes since 1991, but last year she learned a hard lesson about the importantance of daily self-care.

Dinah said her diabetes had been "pretty well managed" for nearly 20 years, but chaos ruled her life last year and affected her diabetes. A community family service worker at the SEARHC Kake Health Center, Dinah was stressed out trying to finish her bachelor's degree in social work from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Then her son, William, had liver failure and Dinah and her husband put their lives on hold while William was in an Anchorage hospital for a month and a half before he passed away on Feb. 22, 2009.

Dinah admits she didn't take care of her diabetes in 2009. "I just didn't care. It wasn't my priority for self-care," Dinah said. "I had been so worried for my son, and then for the six months after he died I was in bereavement grief. I received my wake-up call in October, when I had a slight stroke due to my uncontrolled diabetes."

During the time she didn't manage her diabetes, Dinah's hemoglobin A1c results went from 7 percent to 9 percent (good control is less than 7 percent). Dinah also developed nerve damage in her left leg.

Since her stroke, Dinah is optimistic about getting her blood sugars back under control. Her A1c already is down to 8 percent and her goal is 6.5. Dinah has been eating healthier meals and she’s taking every opportunity to walk. She also finished her degree, so she no longer has the stress of school, and her grief is less intense.

Dinah said her problem was she didn't express her grief, and "talking and crying is the best healer of grief and reliever of stress. There always is someone out there willing to listen. Don't hold it all in because you don't want to bother anyone. Don't wait until that wake-up call comes with the reality of your diabetes." Dinah's glad the SEARHC Help Line (1-877-294-0074) just launched, and she would have used the line to talk through her grief had it been available last year.

"It's important to remember that good control takes place at home, not at the doctor's office," Dr. Julien Naylor said. "Diabeetes isn't a once-a-week problem, you have to be in control every day."

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