Your body is a temple. — 1st Corinthians 6:19
In keeping with the monthly theme and as a reminder of how type 2 diabetes works, I thought it wise to remind everyone during this Thanksgiving week to proceed with caution. November is National Diabetes Month – let this column remind you. Pay special attention to your diet and physical activity.
My worry about what happened to my mother is why I won’t stop talking about it. Losing my mother in such a brutal way transformed my future. It felt like cause and effect for me. I felt compelled to begin teaching large numbers of people, through newspapers and radio, about the causes and effects of type 2 diabetes. Mom’s story went around the world. By searching on Google, I found his story online in many countries around the world and in different languages.
After studying, learning, and teaching about type 2 diabetes 24 years ago, and becoming an official “ambassador” for the National Diabetes Association, and helping others through the media, my life has never been the same.
My mother suffered for 12 years from type 2 diabetes and many complications from this disease. None of his family knew what was happening and we didn’t even understand a little bit. Amputee of both legs, several major strokes, high blood pressure, kidney failure. We finally lost Mother Fannie Estelle Grant on Christmas Day 2000, the year I graduated with my bachelor’s degree in communications. It was like what the David Ruffin song says: “My whole world was over, the moment you left me!” »
Five years later, it was time for me to graduate from graduate school, Trinity University in Washington, DC. “Your Body is Indeed a Temple” was the subject of my master’s thesis, which discussed the creation of an educational campaign on this specific topic and my plans to take this campaign nationally. When I graduated, my national campaign theme was to be “Stop Fanning the Flames of the Diabetes Epidemic.”
Dr. Mello, chair of Trinity University’s first communications graduate group, told us, “I look to each of you to create campaigns that are real and can one day become national!
Dr. Mello, I am proud to announce that my campaign is now national, published by the National Newspaper Publishers Association and Black Press USA! Additionally, before COVID-19, my company hosted wellness circles at Trinity University’s O’Conner Auditorium on Michigan Avenue, and at my church, All Nations Baptist Church here in Washington, D.C. . These workshops were aimed at low-income residents who have diabetes and high blood pressure. I am proud to have been selected by AmeriHealth Caritas DC. This exciting training ended for me and a few others due to COVID several years ago. However, I continue to use my radio show and this newspaper column to spread this message. As the song says: “If I can help someone along the way, then my life won’t be in vain.” »
The mother lost both of her legs to amputations and suffered kidney failure and several strokes, with the first major stroke leaving her paralyzed. She ended up at Howard University Hospital, and that’s when they discovered she had type 2 diabetes. Our family lived together, we worked in business together, and now we We were going through this battle for life together with our mother.
Throughout our lives, we were fortunate to become successful businesswomen, doing exactly what our mother encouraged us to do. We have had great success in the media, publicizing several major events such as Georgia Avenue Day, which brought together 100,000 people, corporate sponsors and celebrities; two presidential nominations, Republican and Democratic; two DC mayoral inaugurations and three DC Council member campaigns. We have become close with several DC politicians, all of whom we will love forever! But now it was time to get this message out to the masses, and that, my friend, is what I will continue to do for the rest of my life!
Not understanding what had happened to Mother, we wondered if we could have done things differently. We didn’t know how an improved diet with extremely limited amounts of sugar, a significant reduction in carbohydrate intake, and regular physical activity could have made a difference in his life. Now that I have learned from his doctor, research, the National Institute of Health, Johns Hopkins and the American Diabetes Association and others, I have shared this good news with you!
For those of you who refuse to follow the rules, type 2 diabetes can be associated with serious complications such as losing a toe, foot, leg, etc. Additionally, it leads to premature death, as in my mother’s case.
On the other hand, by taking steps to reduce the likelihood of such devastating effects, you will be a winner!
Enjoy your Thanksgiving meal using healthy and tasty recipes!
Lyndia Grant is a speaker/writer living in the Washington, DC area. His radio show, “Think on These Things”, airs Fridays at 6 p.m. on 1:40 p.m. (WYCB), a Radio One station. To reach Grant, visit his website, www.lyndiagrant.com, email lyndiagrantshowdc@gmail.com or call 240-602-6295. Follow her on Twitter @LyndiaGrant and on Facebook.
