Managing Type 2 Diabetes Takes Time: ‘You’ve Just Gotta Live Day by Day’
Key takeaways:
Roger Hare, a 48-year-old New Jersey accountant, has lived with diabetes since 2019.
He thinks of Type 2 diabetes as a numbers game and tries to limit his carbs to less than 35 grams a meal and less than 15 grams per snack.
He’s motivated by his 7-year-old daughter and dreams of someday walking her down the aisle.
A decade ago, when he was in his thirties, Roger Hare remembers feeling invincible.
He rarely went to the doctor. Even when his doctor told him he had prediabetes, Roger didn’t worry too much about it.
If he wanted Wegmans ultimate chocolate cake (his favorite from his local supermarket), he’d give in to his craving. If his wife had pregnancy cravings for Oreos, he’d stock the pantry.
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Then, a few years ago, he started feeling lethargic. He was thirsty all the time, had a dry mouth, blurred vision, and excessive urination. At lunch with his cousin one day, he mentioned his symptoms. His cousin, whose husband has Type 1 diabetes, told him it sounded like he had classic symptoms of diabetes.
Roger saw his family doctor for bloodwork and learned his fasting blood sugar was 283 — an alarming level. He had Type 2 diabetes. But Roger was in disbelief. He thought the numbers must be wrong.
‘A numbers guy’ counts his carbs
Roger, a 48-year-old New Jersey accountant who calls himself “a numbers guy,” went to the grocery that night and steered clear of the chocolate cake.
“I almost had a nervous breakdown,” he says. “You realize that everything you’ve come to know about your eating, and about your life, is turned upside down.”
(Photo by ©BrakeThrough Media)
For an hour and a half, he picked up items in the store and read labels, thinking, “Can’t have that, can’t have that, can’t have that.”
He called his cousin and told her his news.
“I said, ‘I don’t know what to do,” Roger recalls. “She said: ‘This is what you're going to do: You’re going to limit your carb intake to less than 35 grams a meal and less than 15 grams per snack.’”
“I am a simple guy,” Roger says. “I can get my head wrapped around that.”
He began tracking everything.
Motivated by his daughter
Roger and his wife have a 7-year-old daughter.
That’s who he was thinking of when he sat down with his doctor to come up with a plan for diet, exercise, and medication.
“She asked me, ‘Will you be able to sustain this?’” Roger recalls. “I showed her a picture of my daughter and said, ‘Do I have a choice?’ I finally realized that if I want to see my daughter walk down the aisle when she grows up that I need to change.”
With some lifestyle changes, Roger lost 40 pounds. Some of his changes are simple. When he cooks, he adapts recipes to use healthy ingredient substitutions or less sugar. Instead of rice and potatoes, he fills his plate with healthy vegetables. He started going to the gym and walking after dinner. He stopped snacking in the evenings.
He takes metformin in the morning and at dinnertime to help control his blood sugar, and he takes Lipitor for cholesterol, as a preventative medication for his heart.
These days, Roger likes to go outside in the evenings and take a walk with his daughter.
“I try to live in the moment,” he says.
Letting people know they’re not alone
The pandemic took a toll on Roger’s routine. He didn’t get to the gym as much as he did when he was first diagnosed. He and his wife had to juggle work and caring for their daughter at home. He sometimes slipped into his old, unhealthy eating habits.
Recently, they’ve had other health issues. Roger’s wife had a stroke in May 2022 and is now back at work. Roger’s also back at sticking to his health goals. But bouts with COVID-19 hit them, too.
“What I've learned is you just gotta live day by day,” Roger says. “I don't live with any regrets.”
He volunteers for the American Diabetes Association to let others know they are not alone. He encourages people to find someone to lean on to help hold them accountable, just as people did for him.
“A lot of people don’t know where to begin,” he says. “I just encourage those people to reach out. It’s one day at a time. You didn’t get in this position overnight, and it’s not gonna change overnight. To me, it’s baby steps.”
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