Awareness

Monday, November 24th Sierra was diagnosed with Insulin Resistance (Pre-diabetes) which I thank God that this has been caught at her age now so that we can work on becoming healthy and being able to control it with out medication now before it is too far gone and turn into full blown diabetes. Sierra has always been checked every other year just because Diabetes is a disease that runs on her father’s side of the family. I know she has not been checked since we moved back to the Richmond-Rosenberg area unfortunately we were so wrapped up with controlling her allergies and asthma. The interest in getting her checked out started with a note sent home from the school nurse who noticed a skin condition called “Acanthosis Nigricans” which results in velvety, light brown to black markings that occur around your neck, armpits, etc. and she advised us to get her blood sugar levels measured. This skin conditions is a signed that your body is producing very high levels of insulin which means some day it will stop all together producing insulin your body needs this is when Type 2 diabetes comes into effect. After a total of two different appointments they diagnosed her with Insulin Resistance, normally your blood sugar level measures less than 100mg/dl (milligrams per deciliter) after fasting hers measured 105 the first test which is pricking your finger after fasting that morning. The second test called the OGTT (Oral Glucose Tolerance Test) ,where you fast drink this solution and they test you about two hours later, it was 123. At this time this condition can be controlled by diet and exercise. Although she is pretty active in activities like dance, and basketball we have to keep a set exercise routine and totally change our eating habits. I now more than ever actually have to plan the meals I cook and what she eats for the entire day and have to be very aware of what she is eating when we go out to eat along with actually asking her what she has eaten when she is away from me. We are currently seeing a dietician who is helping us with meal ideas and teaching Sierra she has to learn to make healthy eating choices because we are not always together. Of course we know changing our eating habits is hard enough for an adult so it is definitely hard for a ten year old. This is totally an entire family effort so we have to be on the same page to be able to encourage her to do this because she has no choice. We will make it through and change never hurt anyone. So keep us in your prayers!