NOVEMBER 2020

By Kelvin Ruffin , C-CHW

My name is Kelvin Ruffin and I would like to share my diabetes success story while working with the Simple Steps to a Healthier You diabetes prevention program . I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes nine years ago . I have had all kinds of problems related to my diabetes , including neuropathy , vision loss , heart problems among other things . Most of them were because I did not know how to control my blood sugar . I had been to doctors , specialists and dietitians of all kinds . They would tell me I was overweight , and I need to exercise more . None of them explained to me what diabetes was or how it could affect your whole life . Everything I knew about diabetes and how to manage it was self-taught . I would find information on the internet or in magazines instead of from an organized class or professional . Boy was I doing a bad job at managing my diabetes by myself . My blood sugars stayed in the 200 mg / dl to 300 mg / dl range . I even overdosed on Oreo cookies . Yes , I said overdosed on Oreo cookies . I ate so many I went into a diabetes coma for 3 days with my blood sugar too high for the glucose meter to read it . HI , 800 + mg / dl is what the meter showed . The doctor said I was lucky to be alive . So , what changed you might ask ? Let me tell you .

In December of 2017 I was asked if I would be interested in working for Mount Carmel as a Diabetes Lifestyle Coach . In January of 2018 I started my new life changing career . I was still having a hard time with my sugars ranging from 140 mg / dl to 250 mg / dl . I started to facilitate this program in April of 2018 . At that time , my A1c was 13 %, I weighed 225 pounds , and I was NOT active at all . The Simple Steps to a Healthier You program is for Pre-Diabetes . I already had diabetes and felt like I could not facilitate this wonderful program and not live it myself . Seeing my first participants living and working the program inspired me . In that first cohort , I had 2 wonderful couples that were taking the program . Watching them support each other and push each other , made me see one key thing . Not only is eating well and being active important but having support is vital to a healthy lifestyle . For them I was support to a certain level , but they also had their spouse as support .

From then on , I engage my cohorts in my journey as well . I tell them my story so we can be support for each other . Most importantly , I encourage them to find a person to support them , push them and urge them to live a healthy lifestyle . I enlisted the help of my wife and