In December 2022 I was diagnosed as a Type 2 Diabetic. It took a few weeks of being in a dark place before I

took ownership of my response to the diagnosis.

My response was to make the Life Style changes that allowed me to be free of medication by November of 2023.

Maintaining the Life Style changes since November has been the next challenge I am dealing with, and will be

writing and creating books and videos about. For now, let’s concentrate on July 2nd.

I met with my doctor for her to educate me about why I was taking the Blood Thinner and Blood Pressure medications I am.

You can browse the internet and find out what a medication is, but why I would be taking it and not another needs a doctor to explain.

After that was dealt with we started talking about Diabetes.

She made the point that Diabetes is a condition that will always be present.

It is not like the flu or a broken arm. Once the flu has passed and the broken arm has healed you can say: “I had the flu” or, “I had a broken arm.” You cannot say “I had Diabetes.”

Being off medication just means I am a Type 2 Diabetic that manages their condition through diet.

This was interesting because I was confident in owning my response to my diagnosis, but I had never owned my diagnosis itself.

Because I would always be a diabetic, I had to own it.

After some focused medication sessions where owning my diagnosis was the focus, I came to terms with this fact.

Some people may say that owning the diagnosis has to come before owning the response.

I argue no.

The response, the Life Style changes, has to come before owning the diagnosis.

The Life Style changes confirmed the approach and my understanding of my condition.

My message is that if you have Type 2 Diabetes, own your diagnosis and your response to it.

Use Focused medication to guide you through this second period of ownership.

Be gentle with yourself as you practice and focus on something unique and

special.

Photography: Mark A. Ashford

Music - Epidemic Sound - Between Dreams - Jon Björk

Referral Link: https://www.epidemicsound.com/referral/x4pe9m/

Link to all my works - Click here—https://linktr.ee/markaashford

Thank you.