Are You Taking Care of ALL of You?

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By Stacy Koruba

I have remained extra vigilant over the last 10 months when it comes to keeping myself and my family safe from Covid-19 exposure. My husband and I work from home and my 18-year-old daughter decided to stay home and do all her college classes remotely this year. Our groceries are delivered or picked up at curbside check out, the same with our prescriptions. We do not ever eat out, do not socialize and many of our Doctors’ visits have taken place over the phone or on video. If someone comes to our door I answer with a mask. Our daughter has seen friends a few times over the past 10 months and each time she has done so she has quarantined from the rest of the house for 14 days after. I may be panicked or overreacting, however we adopted our daughter 3 years ago and have a small family. If her Father and I were to get Covid-19 and die she would have no other family. I am not willing to take that risk.

While I was busy making sure I was keeping us all “safe” I forgot some major things. Pre-Covid, we were going to the gym 5-6 days a week. Now that we are home all the time exercise has become nonexistent. We did keep up with it until the end of May and then the heat in Arizona made it difficult to do much outdoors. Fitness was the first thing that let slide. Worry and fear had set in and finding motivation was something all of us lost. The less active I was the more my energy levels fell and the unhealthier I began to feel. Stress was getting me down, which would set into depressive states and then I just wanted to sleep. I began to not pay attention to my eating habits, picking items that were quick instead of healthy. Poor eating habits made me feel worse which led to a vicious cycle of moodiness, more stress, depression, lack of motivation and loss of energy to do anything at all. I blamed it on Trump, I blamed it on COVID-19, I blamed it on the election and kept telling myself that I would feel better after Nov 3rd.

November 3rd came and went, and I still felt the same way physically and felt worse mentally. I told myself I would feel better after January but started believing that I would never feel better because everything in life sucked and most people in the world sucked as well. The mood in our home was pretty much the same, my husband was always filled with anger and depression and never felt well physically, and our daughter has slipped into the worst depressive state I have ever seen her in, and she has lived through a lifetime of trauma before this and did not respond in the same fashion. The changes we had made to keep us safe were causing many ill side effects. Being quarantined from everyone and everything and not doing anything was not the best option.

I had to go to my Doctors office for a yearly physical on Nov 23rd. I had not seen her in person since early February and it was time for some blood work. I have Type 2 Diabetes and have had since 1994. In the past I have controlled it with 2 medications and diet and exercise. My A1C test results in February were 6.8. An A1C test is a relatively simple blood test that gives a picture of your average blood sugar level over the past two to three months. The higher the levels, the higher your average blood sugar has been. If your A1C level is between 5.7 and less than 6.5 % your levels are considered in the prediabetes range and are really good for a diabetic. My average blood sugar levels last February were at about 140 daily. Not bad at all. My A1C on Nov 23rd was now 8.9! That means my average blood sugar was now about 200 daily. I had no idea because I stopped checking my blood sugar levels back in June. Type 2 diabetes is an easy disease to pretend you do not have. Unless you are extremely sick the symptoms are minimal and can be ignored and blamed on something else. It takes years for the damage from diabetes to happen, so without constant monitoring we can put our illness on the back burner. This is not wise because once the damage is done much of it is not reversible. Out of control levels can make you extremely tired, can cause depression, moodiness and anxiety and make it tough to be motivated to do much of anything.

I became so concerned and obsessed with keeping all of us healthy in on way that I completely gave up on other areas of my health. Stress causes hormonal changes which increase cortisol levels and lower levels of sex hormones. The levels of these hormones affect insulin levels. I allowed stress factors that were out of my control to contribute to raising my blood sugar levels. In the past I used to meditate and use self-hypnosis almost daily, as the months went by, I gave that up to stay up longer and longer just to worry more about things that I could not do a thing about. My sleep pattern became such a mess that I was staying awake until 5 or 6AM, sleeping for a few hours and then taking small naps throughout the day. I was never giving my body time to rest and recover. The rise in my levels was not completely due to eating foods with a lot of sugar or carbs in them because over the 10 months my eating habits are not what changed they most. The enormous increase was due to lack of physical activity, good healthy mental interaction, proper sleep schedule, poor attention to my medical issues and my allowing my life to become consumed with only the bad and none of the good. I was not providing myself with relaxation for my body or spirit or even proper medical attention. I avoided my Doctors office out of fear of Covid, when in the past I would have had blood work done every 3 months.

The thing I am more shocked about is that my husband went for his yearly visit a week later and just found out a week ago that he has Type 2 Diabetes. That explains many of the symptoms he has been feelings over the past 6 months that he contributed to depression due to Covid. A good friend has also just discovered that their levels are also very much out of control and they were just as shocked as I was to hear this.

The good news is that I have been able to get my levels under control very quickly with an exceptionally low carb diet, daily meditation, proper rest and positive affirmations. Covid-19 is extremely serious and life threatening. It has become something we think about, hear about and talk about daily. Please do not allow it to stop you from paying attention to the other important health issues in your own life. If you notice a difference in the way you feel see your Doctor, go for your check-ups and take care of yourself.

I still plan on quarantining and keeping us safe, I believe we need to find a way to incorporate exercise into our family life. We live close to the desert and can and should get out in nature as often as possible, just spending some quality time together as a family should help with the depressive mood we have been feeling. I also want to start cooking together more as a family, trying out healthier recipes we can all enjoy together. I need to change my mindset and see this extra time we have been given together as a family as a gift instead of a punishment and begin enjoying every single moment of it, because life is a treasure and every second you get should be cherished.

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