It was a just an ordinary day at the office with not much going on. I smiled and said a few hellos as I made my way through the maze of cubicles on my way to obtain my much-coveted second cup of coffee. Little did I know that in a moment my life would change forever. As I made the last turn before I hit the elevator bank I saw our receptionist, Carol, sitting at her desk testing her blood with a glucose meter. Carol shot a smile at me as she gestured for me to stop and summoned that I give her my hand so that she could test my blood. Startled, but not wanting to seem squeamish, I quickly complied as if it was no big deal.
Carol went to work daubing my finger with an alcohol swab and within seconds I felt a small sting of a needle. She then guided my finger to the meter strip. What happened next was an image that would be burned into my memory for a lifetime. The meter beeped softly indicating the test was complete as Carol slowly raised her eyes to meet mine. I could tell there was a look of concern in her eyes. Carol then asked me a couple of questions that seemed irrelevant at the time such as when was the last time I had eaten. She then stated that she would re-do the test. After repeating the procedure I learned that my blood sugar was 487, whatever that meant.
At the time I didnt realize that this number represented such a bad thing and was about 4 times the norm. I was instructed to schedule an appointment with the doctor immediately. The funny thing was that I had not seen a doctor in over 7 years! I did have a full physical when I turned 40 but other than an occasional cold I was never really sick. Within a couple of days I found myself...
New York, NY
