Hi. My name is Ryan and I’m a diabetic.

This is not a twelve step program, but in some ways it feels like one. Diabetes is not a disease in quite the same way alcohol is, but like any chronic disease, managing it on an ongoing basis is a huge challenge.

I learned I had diabetes in 2002. I was way overweight–265 pounds on a 5′10″ frame–and I wasn’t feeling well. A few months before I had noticed acanthosis nigricans, a dark patch on my skin that looked like it was dirt but wouldn’t wash away. It eventually did go away with a little better management of my sugars.

I had always been overweight. In 2002 I was 34 years old and no one knows how long I had been a diabetic. I likely had the “overweight” version of Type II diabetes–what’s called non-insulin dependent or adult onset diabetes.

Just about all diabetics have a genetic link. My dad, who had passed in early 2002, was also a diabetic–but since he never went to the doctor, no one knew. Until he had a stroke.

So, I had diabetes. It was time to do something about it.