My 25 year old cousin died yesterday
from complications of Undiagnosed Diabetes.

He was overweight. He did not exercise regularly.

He did not get tested for Diabetes.

He was too young to die

This was preventable

Get yourself testesd!

He was with friends on the weekend and felt ok. On Monday and Tuesday he felt under the weather but just brushed it off as the flu bug. Wednesday morning the people he was staying with checked on him and he was so ill he could not get up. He was rushed to the hospital but his sugar level was so high that although efforts to bring it down were initiated, the dammage had already been done and he died of heart failure.

Travis was the first foster child of my cousin. He was blessed to have them for parents. He was a good child and a kind adult always there to help others. Family was important to him and even in later years when reconnected with biological family, he continued to be close to his foster family and continued to call my cousin and her husband "mom and dad". It is so hard for them at this time.

They told Travis numerous times to go to the doctor to get his sugar levels checked as his biological mother had diabetes. When a parent has diabetes, their children are automatically at 50% higher risk of also being diagnosed with diabetes. However at 25, Travis didn't think he needed to pay attention to these type of health concerns. In most cases diabetes can be managed with diet, exercise and/or medication. had he gone to the doctor, had he listened to his parents, he likely would still be here today.

PLEASE get yourself tested even if you are not overweight as diabetes is often undiagnosed and according to statistics up to 1/4 of the population has the disease without knowing it.

I'm so sorry for you loss. My dad has it & I'm all to aware of the dangers.

so sorry to hear of his unfortunate and unnecessary death. Thank you for caring enough to share this story and the accompaning warning.

d

Heather-
I'm so sorry for your loss...what a tragic story. Thank you for enlightening us all as to prevention. Much love,
Laura

Heather I am so very sorry for you loss you are in my prayers.

Heather, I'm so sorry for your loss. Much love to you and your family.

Thank you all for your kind words.

My reason for sharing the story is to hopefully prevent this from happening to anyone else. Dusty often talks about Diabetes, it's impact and ways to control it. He even has a support group geared toward Diabetes control and overeating. I don't have the link as I type this, but will add it to this thread.

Thanks again for your kind words and support.

thanks for the wake-up call. those of us with kids are sobered by this growing trend.
thank you for taking the time in your sadness to reach out to help others by sharing your experience.

Jennifer in NY

It has been approximated that there are 2-3 MILLION people with Diabetes and they dont even know it...

I think that number is about 10-20 million too low. It is a rampant disease that can strike very quickly. there are kids as young as 10 who have the disease!!!!! 10!!!

A heart surgeon friend of mine says that 3/4th of the people he operates on for heart disease are Diabetic or pre Diabetic....

Body type does not matter, you can be small or overweight, but overweight is much more likely to have the disease. Men with big bellies and love handles and women with big backsides or bellies are at the greatest risk...

Signs of Diabetes...

Weakness
Cold sweats at night
Dry mouth
Frequent urination
Intense hunger
If you fail to eat you become dizzy or disorientated...
Unexplained weight loss...ask Wade about that one...He was eating Kirspy Cream Donuts by the boxful and losing weight.. His body was not using the food because of Insulin resistance and he was urinating out all of the calories. Sounds good to lose weight, but you die quickly when this happens. The body literally starves itself to death because it cannot get energy to operate. Wade was lucky to live...

I am so sorry for your loss...you have my deepest condolences.

Heather your are making a difference to others by talking about Diabetes. That's a big part of getting this message out to everyone.

We always talk about heart attacks, strokes and Cancer while Diabetes just slips though the cracks. People will say death caused by heart attack but diabetes caused the heart attack.

Heather thank you for being part of Dusty's group and helping spread the word about Diabetes. I always encourage discussion and sharing as that is how we are going to all be aware of this horrible decease. Your loss of your cousin is heart felt and again I express my deepest condolences for this loss. At the same time support you big time on your message that you would like to get out to people about Diabetes.