Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 34, Number 1, 1 January 2017 — Diabetes diagnosis inspires successful weight loss journey [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Diabetes diagnosis inspires successful weight loss journey

By Blaine Fergerstrom Little health complaints had been bugging me for years: high cholesterol, high blood pressure, acid reflux, sore neek, two frozen shoulders, swollen and discolored ankles, itchv feet and

sometimes sharp pains in my feet. Then in March 2013, I ripped an Aehilles tendon while playing tennis and it took far longer than expected to heal. At the time, I was on maintenance medications for the cholesterol, hypertension and acid reflux, and had been for years. In September 2015, I contracted shingles. The medication I was given should have knocked out that problem quickly. Instead, I found myself back in at my physician's office five months later to eomplain that the shingles had never gone away. Physician's Assistant (PA) Sheylean "Shey" Roylanee puzzled over why the infection had stuck around so long. She pored over my medical records looking for a elue, checking my age - 63 - height, weight and asked about family with diabetes (yes) and my nationality (Portu-

guese, Chinese, Hawaiian, English and Swedish). All those factors put me smack dab in the middle of the diabetes target group. After a quick blood test, she announced that I had Type 2 Diabetes. My blood glucose was at 170 and my Ale level indicated my average blood sugar level was 7.6. A follow-up 10 days later confirmed it. I got marching orders: Watch what you eat, limit carbohydrate intake to 130 grams a day or less, cut the sugar, and exercise. At 5' 10" and 263 pounds I needed to lose 20 percent of my body weight (52 pounds), rounding off to a target of 210 pounds. I made a pledge to PA Shey that I would address

this problem and eome back a different person. My next appointment was in three months. I picked up the diabetes medication and blood glucose testing supplies right away, then headed to the bookstore and purchased two books on diabetes.

I also jumped onto the iPhone app store and shopped for diet and diabetes apps, settling on MyFitnessPal by Under Armour for diet tracking, One Drop for diabetes information and tracking and Nike Running to track my exercise. All of these apps feed into Apple's Heahh app where I ean enter my weight daily, along with blood pressure and blood glucose, and ean eheek a heahh dashboard with all my vitals. I had been wearing a FitBit Charge for a while, but in November got an Apple Watch. Both of these devices track your heart rate and help track your steps and exercise. MyFitnessPal has full nutritional information on over 5 million foods and meals, including many Hawai'i restaurants (Zippy's) and favorites (squid

lū'au, kalua pig, poi, lomi salmon, laulau, poke). One Drop keeps track of my blood glucose readings, logs all walking and exercise and pulls info from MyFitnessPal about carbohydrate intake. And Nike Running uses my phone's built-in GPS to track my

walks. After loading the apps, I went for a three-mile walk, posting the result on Facebook, along whh my commitment so I couldn't back out! And I kept going, walking a few miles nearly every day, and logging everything I ate in the MyFitnessPal app, and makina sure to loa

my weight, blood pressure and blood glucose every morning when I woke up. Three months later, I returned to the doctor's office. They took my weight, blood pressure, and drew blood for the Ale test. Several minutes later, PA Shey entered the room, beaming: "Blaine, that's incredible! Your blood pressure, cholesterol and Ale are all NORMAF!" My post on Facebook that day, May 10, 2016: "Three months ago, Feb. 10, I got the news. You have Type II diabetes and are classified obese. A1C 7.6, high blood pressure, high cholesterol. Fose 20% of your 263 pounds body weight, or else. Checkup today, May 10, A1C 5.5 (normal), weight down 36 pounds (15 percent of body weight, 227 pounds), cholesterol normal, blood pressure normal. *BAM!* That's a mie drop! And I'm still not stoppin'!" Since then I've had to buy all new clothes. I went from size 44 pants down to a loose size 36, and my shirts went from XXF to XF. Suits went from size 54

to size 46. As of Dec. 6, 2016, the weight is down to 192 (71 pounds lost). I still walk 3 to 5 miles several times a week and still watch my diet, passing on the carbs. Fast month, I walked the Honolulu Marathon 10K (six miles); in February I'm signed up for the Great Aloha Run (eight miles); and in April I'm signed up for the Hapalua half-marathon (13.1 miles), the same week I turn 64. ■ Multimedia consuītant Blai.ne Fergerstrom has heen sharing his weight īossjoumey on sociaī meelia, inspiring others to take control oftheir own heahli

Upon receiving a Type 2 Diabetes diagnosis, Blaine Fergerstrom started watching his dietand ramping up his exercise. The top photo shows him (far right) after losing more than 20 percentof his weight. The bottom photo shows him (far left) before he took control of his health. - Photos: Courtesy of Elaine Fergerstrom