Larry's Diabetes Story

I was born on November 16, 1955, in New Orleans, Louisiana.

As a child, I suffered from headaches, blurred vision, and disorientation diagnosed as migraines. Looking back, I may have experienced symptoms of low blood sugar (hypoglycemia).

My mother and grandmother both had type 2 (insulin-resistant) diabetes. According to healthcare professionals, I had a genetic predisposition to getting the disease. I have LADA (Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults), a form of type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes.

During my youth, I eagerly embraced New Orleans’ culture of overindulgence in most aspects of my life. In 1969, I started partying like there was only today and no tomorrow. I continued my party-all-the-time behavior for the next couple of decades. I was a bad boy.

People warned me that my wildly uninhibited lifestyle would catch up to me. In 1987, it did. Many healthcare professionals dispute the impact of lifestyle on developing insulin-dependent forms of diabetes, such as LADA. I have a different point of view.

My symptoms started abruptly and included frequent urination, unquenchable thirst, and rapid weight loss. In the beginning, I refused to acknowledge that I had diabetes. I resisted medical attention and tried to self-manage my diabetes by exercising and starvation dieting to no avail.

Finally, one fateful day in 1987, my wife carried me into a hospital emergency room weighing only 113 lbs. with a blood sugar level greater than 800 mg/dl. According to the emergency room doctor, my death was hours away.

The anger and depression associated with my diagnosis lasted for months. I remember coming home from the hospital several days later and cursing and throwing things around like a crazy man. I was not a happy camper. But I was lucky. I had someone in my life who was supportive, positive, and patient. 

Thanks to my wife, C’Artis, I was able to move on. Because of her, I am alive and able to share this book.

To Your Health!

Larry Dupré, DSCA