I'm returning to these pages, after being gone a very long time. I've been diabetic since 1997, and in February of 2007, I found the cure of all cures when I went to live in China with a Chinese Herbal Medicine Doctor.

It all seemed so perfect until the end of 2013, when I discovered my Chinese TCM Doctor wife that I brought here from China and married, was poisoning me with liquid herbal concoctions she was adding into my drinks and foods. That began a fast downward spiral in my health, and for all of 2014, my overall health deteriorated and it was a battle not to die. Every diabetic related complication returned with vengeance. I went from almost 7 years of controlling with just diet and exercise to maximum oral meds and insulin.

My blood pressure went through the roof, and I found myself in an emergency room on January 9th of this year. They kept me overnight with a diagnosis of unstable angina. in the following morning, they performed an angioplasty surgery and removed a 95% blockage in my LAD artery (the widowmaker). To top that off, the week going into that surgery I also developed the nastiest cold I ever had in my life and this was the first time I had been sick since 2007.

During 2014, needless to say, we separated and started a divorce process. I went into the deepest funk, a dismayed spouse could ever sink into. The stress led to depression, which led to not caring about my health. From August, 2014 when I began to do daily BG monitoring, I never had a reading under 300 and saw over 500 almost daily. I went into the deepest denial and I ate every wrong food imaginable, and even when seeing my BG monitor topping out at 600, I was in such denial that I never admitted myself into a hospital, and my response became to grab another beer, daiquiri or pizza, or etc....

From early 2007 to late 2013, or thereabout, I managed my diabetes with diet and exercise alone. Amazing, how a person that helps you find a right path can take that path away from you. I can't go into complete details on how I got poisoned and why, and I'll sum it up with, she married me for the green card, but it was a lot more complicated than that.

Anyway, I'm now diagnosed with diabetic neuropathy in my eyes, Ischemic Heart Disease, Insulin Dependent diabetic, and I went from years of keeping my weight under 175 and as low as 155 to now having topped out at 202, but as tough as this battle has been to regain my foothold mentally and spiritually, I finally turned the corned this past weekend. I put myself on a temporary raw vegetable diet, and I've already dropped 7 pounds, got my blood sugar in normal range, and blood pressure is fine. I've begun the healing process and I can see some kind of progress each and every day.

I stopped drinking as of Saturday, and my attitude to it all is acceptance that I brought most of my problems on myself, and that I should have sought professional medical help a lot sooner. I look at it like this: "I'm done with all that"... I cannot continue to live in denial and expect to keep living.

After the first month on all raw vegetables, I'll evaluate where I am and if I feel my progress was sufficient, I might add beans, tofu and certain grains to my diet. At some point I might add an egg for protein, but my focus will continue to be on a raw vegetable diet, continue to lose weight, continue to monitor my BG.

On the exercise end of things, I started walking and I've been taking some very long walks, and I plan to start at the gym as soon as I feel up to it.

I did learn a lot about managing diabetes and improving overall health and I let it all go in one lousy year, and it was a big mistake to not keep things together, but I am where I am and I'm done with the denial now....

I hope being here again, will help me refresh my memory on all the things I and others had learned in managing this dreadful disease known as diabetes. I hope there has been some magic cure all, found and posted in this forum, but mainly I'm here for the support all of you who are also fighting the good fight can give me.

I beat it once, I can hopefully do it again. On Sunday, I found within myself a new determination, and I need to hold on to that.