On Friday morning July 3, 2009, I met my brother for breakfast. Our plans for the day did not survive contact with reality.

After we finished breakfast and were standing at the cash register, I began to feel "funny." I felt a bit disconnected from reality and life was passing by like a movie I was watching rather than something in which I was present.

As we were walking to his truck, I told my brother something was wrong. I began to get tunnel vision, began to walk very carefully as if I might lose my balance, and had to try several times before I could grab the truck door handle
to open it and get in.

By this time my brother, a trained law enforcement officer, was very concerned and started asking the kinds of questions designed to see if the person you are encountering is oriented to time, space, date, etcetera. I think I got through some questions with appropriate answers but apparently my lack of expression and monotone voice alarmed him.

Then he asked where we were going. I knew that I knew the answer but I could not recall "Fremont Street" or respond except to say, "Uh, Uh." Then he asked me if I knew his name and the same thing happened.

So we are on the way to the ER. He asks if we should go to St. Joseph's and I was able to communicate I had no insurance so we should go to the County Hospital.

I did not realize it but apparently we went there very quickly. I was not afraid or in pain, just confused and a bit frustrated by whatever was goin on.

At the hospital I was able to walk in to the Emergency Room, but one look at my careful gait and the look on my face got me an escort to a cubicle. A swarm of folks hooked me up to lots of sensors, a saline IV was started and I was given some aspirin. They took blood, vital signs, etcetera.

I was recovering quickly and able to answer the doctors' and nurses' questions. Everyone was suspecting a minor stroke or heart problem. It was quickly clear that a heart problem was not likely but could not be definitively ruled out.

Then one result of the blood tests returned: I had a blood glucose over 400. This is way too high and they told me in some people would result in diabetic coma. Whoopie, I'm a Type 2 diabetic!

A carotid ultrasound was essentially negative, but some arterial plaque was found.. A echo cardiogram was scheduled, rescheduled, and finally pushed out a couple weeks because there were no signs of heart problems and the hospital
staff to do the testing were not available.

So 24 hours or so in the hospital, a few insulin shots, lots of saline IV pumped through my system, not much sleep, little edible food - and most not appropriate for a diabetic! , etcetera. In other words, a standard hospital stay.

I left with some advice and literature from a dietician, prescriptions,a last insulin shot, and appoints for a couple weeks out a the outpatient clinic.

So over the weekend I wrestled with my emotions [anger, sadness, etcetera] as I picked up my glucose test meter, lancet device for pricking my fingers, baby aspirin, and three other medications designed to help my bodies natural insulin,
reduce arterial plaque formation, and slightly moderate blood pressure.

I spent time online and in bookstores to learn about diabetes and its treatment. I monitored my blood glucose before three meals a day [its ranging from a high of around 240 before breakfast to a low of about 165 before dinner, and
apparently "should" be ranging between about 160 and 80].

My personal survival decisions: [1] keep monitoring the blood glucose, and [2] adopt a vegetarian diet [no animal products, plant protein, and fruits lower on the glycemic index]. Exercise is supposedly a good thing, too.

My personal guru for now is Dr. Neal Barnard. Of all the sources I have looked at, his book makes the most sense to me. Based on worldwide population statistics and studies for decades, doing your best to eliminate animal products
from your diet not only reduces cholesterol [the only significant sources of cholesterol are animal], leads to loss of weight, and can radically reduce and even eliminate the need for diabetes medication.

I will let you know how I progess from time to time.