Dear Nancy,
Been there, done that, still have the T-shirt. It's tough and shocking. My doctor was not as gentle as yours. He just said 'Here's what you're looking at: blindness, impotence, amputation, and death."
Charming. But...
It sure got my attention (my mother has it too). I was predisposed, but I also did it to myself. Lots of people are doing it to themselves right now. I was 70 pounds overweight, and while I was active, I rarely exercised. I made a deal with my doctor: if I could lose all the fat and build muscle, we'd hold off on the drugs and pinpricks for a few months. Of course, he didn't believe I could do it. But when I walked out of his office that day, I realized my whole life had changed in half an hour.
That was four years ago. It took me four months to get rid of all that fat. But the effort changed my body, it's relationship to sugar, the way it processes everything. No drugs, no pinpricks. I gained a little back when I quit smoking, which I'm trying to lose again. But I even got most of my good eyesight back. I had to cut out ALL carbs: pasta, bread, other sugars, and ALL fat: cheese butter, you name it. It wasn't a sacrifice: if I were dead, I couldn't eat any of those things anyway...
And half an hour of hard exercise every day actually made me feel better...
All this to say *you* CAN do something about this. Get slim, get fit, eat right: you'll be amazed at the change. No-one can garuntee you can avoid the drugs and the pinpricks... but your odds will be much, much better.
I wish I could tell this story to everyone on this board who's more than 30 lbs. over, since most of them will have exactly the same doctor's visit you and I have had. But then I'd sound like chicken little, so I guess there's nothing for it but to wait.
Best of luck on this new journey, Nancy. We love you, and lots of us are walking the same road...
Thanks,
Bill