MOLLIE'S STORY

My Diabetes Journey to Wellness



I’m the luckiest person in the world. Seems like a strange statement coming from a person with diabetes, doesn’t it? But it is very true. This is my story.

On June 28, 2007 I was out with family celebrating my niece’s tenth birthday. We let her choose what she wanted to do, which was miniature golf. I had been feeling off for several weeks – tired, sweaty, and thirsty all the time. Plus, I had lost weight.

I remember being especially hot that day. We had made it to the fifth hole when I started feeling lightheaded. Before I made it to the next hole, I collapsed. I came to shortly afterwards. I consider myself very fortunate because I had two of my brothers with me that day – one who is an EMT; another who has diabetes. They recognized my symptoms and tested my blood glucose levels. I registered a 555. My brothers told me that was way too high and insisted that I contact my doctor. I scheduled my appointment and was formally diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes on July 2, 2007.

My family doctor gave me very basic information on diabetes, a referral to a diabetes educator, and prescriptions for a meter, lancets, test strips, and Metformin. The Metformin made me so sick, I could not leave the house. My doc wanted me to give it a month to see if it would level out. It didn’t.

Over the next two years, we tried every drug on the market in an attempt to control my diabetes. Nothing seemed to work to bring down my numbers – and I had a reaction to everything. I finally ended up on a combination of an extended release Metformin, Glipizide, Actos, with Lantus in the evenings to get me to near normal levels.

As many of you know, that’s a pretty expensive cocktail. I am self-employed, and do not have prescription drug insurance coverage, so the cost of all these meds comes out of my pocket. I was always looking for ways to save on costs.

During this time I went through all the typical feelings of anger, depression, and feeling sorry for myself. I gained 90 pounds and felt horrible about myself.

One day while skimming through news headlines in the Wall Street Journal, I came across a news piece about a diabetes study that was being done by The Cleveland Clinic. I clicked on the link to read the article and that was when the excitement and hope began to come back into my life. The purpose of the study was to find which

option offered the best solution to the Type 2 diabetic: drug treatment; gastric sleeve surgery; or bypass surgery. Study participants would be randomized into one of the three groups. I had nothing to lose and a lot to potentially gain by participating.

I called the number listed in the article and answered the preliminary questions as I had
been on insulin for less than five years, I was considered a good candidate for inclusion in the study, but there were additional tests that I had to take and pass before I could be accepted – and I had to commit to being available for five years for participation in the study. A stack of documents (about an inch thick) was sent to me, which I immediately completed and returned. About a month later I received a call telling me that I had passed the initial cut and would I be willing to come in to meet with a study coordinator.

Over the next few months I went through a battery of tests: blood work, EKG, eye test, psychological testing, you name it. The worst was the stress test. Try doing that when you’re 90 pounds overweight. Any one of these could have eliminated me from the study. Fortunately that did not happen.
On October 28, 2010 I was randomized into the group to receive the gastric sleeve surgery. My surgery took place the afternoon of November 15. I had been told to expect to spend 2-3 days in the hospital afterwards. I was really hoping for only two days because my birthday was the 17th and who wants to spend their entire birthday in the hospital. The surgery itself took about five hours and went fine. I was up the next day and walking around. On Wednesday morning I was taken down to the X-ray Dept. so that they could take a picture of my new, improved, size-of-a-quarter stomach (they called it a pouch). I had to drink a liquid to contrast in the image. It did not go well. It made me sick and the image showed a leak in the pouch. I ended up staying in the hospital until Friday in order to allow time for the leak to seal.


My diet for the first two weeks after my release was milk with added protein. Then I graduated to jars of baby food. Everything with added protein. I had to take my time eating – at least 30 minutes per meal – otherwise I would experience dumping. I spent the Christmas holiday with family and decided that I was feeling well enough to eat regular food. It was a mistake to introduce regular food back into my diet before recommended. It made me sick. I strongly urge anyone who has this surgery to follow the dietary instructions to the letter when you are released.

I am now 3.5 years out from my surgery. I’m 80 pounds lighter. I’m off all my diabetes meds – no insulin, no blood pressure meds! I have to take a multi-vitamin every day and I take extra vitamin D. I feel better than I have in years. I have a second chance at the life I want to live and I intend to maintain what this surgery and The Cleveland Clinic helped me achieve.