I was diagnosed back in 2001 and it was crazy when I first found out. I was doing a lot of urinating, having to go to the bathroom like every 20 minutes. I remember one night laying in bed and it was like I was having an out-of-body experience
Diabetes And Me
There’ve been so many things said about me in my lifetime that rumors and gossip don’t even really phase me. I had to clear up some things a few months ago about my health so I wanted to do a blog about diabetes and how serious this disease is.
I was diagnosed back in 2001 and it was crazy when I first found out. I was doing a lot of urinating, having to go to the bathroom like every 20 minutes. I remember one night laying in bed and it was like I was having an out-of-body experience; I could see myself sleeping.
When I first went to the hospital, the doctors said I was supposed to, like, be in a coma because my blood sugar was over 1600. They couldn’t believe it was that high, saying most people would either be dead or in a coma. It seemed like I could barely walk, like I weighed 300 pounds.
All this had gone on for about a week before I went to the hospital. When they checked me in, that’s when they found out I was diabetic. I didn’t take it seriously at first. It took me having to go to the hospital 2 or 3 times before it really sunk in. I was in denial.
I just didn’t want to accept that I had diabetes but my family really clamped down on me. If you’ve ever seen the movie Soul Food that’s how my family is, we’re real tough and we were raised to be that way and take care of each other.
When my grandmamma died, our family came together: my mama, my aunties, all my family. It took all their help to make me do right and realize that I had to make some changes, and [realize] how serious diabetes was and that it could take my life. And ever since then, I’ve been pretty good.
My daddy is diabetic and we just found out my mama has it too. I try to exercise, drink plenty of water, and take vitamins but lately I’ve been so busy on the road that I don’t do all that stuff as often as I’d like but I do the best that I can.
My work schedule affects my diabetes a little bit because when you’re traveling as much as I do, there’s not too many places to stop off and get a good wholesome meal and sometimes I end up just eating whatever.
But I’m about to [change] my rider that I need to have special meals prepared for me when I do shows cause I can’t be eating crazy.
Diabetes is not the end of the world, but it’s a lifestyle change and that’s hard because you’ve been stuck in your own ways for so long— eating and doing whatever —and it’s hard to change that up. To me, water is the most important thing when you’re a diabetic but it also takes time.
When you first find out, it’s hard but in time, you learn to accept change and just take one day at a time; small steps. I think once you start eating right and get into a workout habit and staying focused, you’ll get through it.
Staying as healthy as I can is priority. It’s about longevity and having a quality life because you can loose limbs or even go blind from diabetes. That’s something people don’t really know, you can lose legs, toes, feet, have kidney problems, heart problems. Anything I can do to help raise awareness about diabetes, I will be there.
Everybody knows at least one person that has it, so it’s like when we participate in events, walks and things of that nature, we’re really helping somebody we care about and ourselves cause you never know when it can affect you.
Shawty Lo will be participating in the American Diabetes Association “Step Out: Walk to Fight Diabetes” walk in Atlanta on September 20th. For more information on sponsoring Shawty Lo for this walk or for more information on Diabetes, please log onto: www.diabetes.org/stepout
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