Diabetes Support Group meets monthly in Longfellow

Living with diabetes can be discouraging, but a support group can provide an encouraging community

The Longfellow Support Group is led by four women: (left to right) Bev Young, Anita Martinez, Mary Ann Crolley and Carol Engelhart. It meets monthly at the Hiawatha School Park building from 6:30 to 8 p.m. (Photo by Tesha M. Christensen)

 

by Tesha M. Christensen

Living with diabetes can be very discouraging, according to Longfellow resident Mary Ellen Crolley. She should know. She’s had type 1 diabetes for 37 years. For the last three, she’s had an insulin pump and continuous blood glucose monitor.

“To stay healthy with this disease requires more effort than most diseases, more self-care,” Crolley explained. “It's hard work, and you have to keep it up year after year, so it's easy to get discouraged.”

Three and a half years ago, Crolley began helping co-lead a Diabetes Support Group that meets on the second Wednesday of each month at Hiawatha School Park from 6:30 to 8 p.m.

“It's helpful to share encouragement with taking care of diabetes,” observed Crolley. 

“We encourage each other to exercise and eat healthy. Also, it's good to see the same people every month; it feels like community.”

Crolley was asked to help lead the group by Carol Engelhart, a certified diabetes nurse specialist who works at Health Partners – Riverside. “I started the group with Mary Ann Crolley, Anita Martinez and Bev Young because I saw a need for a continual monthly support group in the South Minneapolis neighborhood,” explained Engelhart. “I am passionate about people getting the help they need to stay healthy with diabetes.”

She added, “I asked people who have had leadership experience in community groups, teaching community education classes, church or their work to be co-leaders. A support group does not work well unless there is a core group of leaders who have the disease assisting in leading it. It also really helps to have a diabetes expert.”

WHAT A MEETING LOOKS LIKE

The group is for those with diabetes and also for their loved ones. Attendees range from pre-diabetes, gestational diabetes, types 1 and 2.

Each meeting starts with a check-in time that includes both an introduction and something of interest. “Attendees can share what is going well or not going well in their daily lives with diabetes in a confidential group experience,” said Engelhart.

She stressed, “Everybody’s journey is their own.”

During check-in time in July, she reminded attendees to listen and accept each other’s stories. “We are all listening to each other. We are all there for each other,” Engelhart remarked.

The group frequently has professional guest speakers, including a dietician and an endocrinologist. Currently, Engelhart, a diabetes nurse specialist, is in the middle of a two-part educational series on “Juggling It All.” The July meeting focused on “How Your Body Metabolism” works normally and how it works with diabetes. It included information on the body, food, monitoring targets, and more.

The second meeting on Aug. 13 will include information on the latest medications, the standard medications, an emergency plan and a circle of support to stay healthy. 

Other topics at meetings have included:

-        How do you eat or pack a healthy lunch?

-        What would you do to treat a low blood sugar?

Anybody can suggest or request topics.

“The educational meetings are top-notch,” stated Crolley. “I recently learned from an endocrinologist why some foods raise my blood sugars more than expected.”

 “We have speakers and Q&A time, and we have time to talk amongst ourselves,” observed Anita Martinez. “Often we divide up into smaller discussions groups according to how we treat our diabetes; for example, a small group using insulin pumps or insulin injections, one using various oral medications, and one focused on diet/exercise.”

When her blood sugar is high, Trisha VanErt’s 18-month-old Black Labrador Faith alerts her by nuzzling her chest. It’s one of the ways VanErt is managing her diabetes. (Photo by Tesha M. Christensen)

INSPIRATIONAL AND HELPFUL

Martinez was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes 38 years ago. When the group began, she lived in the Minnehaha neighborhood of Nokomis East. 

“It helps me to know that there are others facing the same and similar challenges as I am. It's interesting and inspiring to hear how others handle things,” Martinez observed.

TOWARDS GREATER HEALTH

 “It takes commitment and usually support of others to stay on track with a healthy lifestyle for diabetes,” said Engelhart.

According to Engelhart, a healthy lifestyle includes choosing activities that decrease stress, such as yoga, reading, and quiet music. Daily movement such as walking, swimming, biking, chair exercises, and gym classes are also important. There are free or low-cost senior classes available through Longfellow Seniors, Nokomis Seniors and the Minneapolis Community Education Department. One of the most important lifestyle choices you can make for healthy living with diabetes is eating natural, healthy foods from the farmers market and the grocery produce aisle, she pointed out. Portion control is critical. Avoiding regular pop with high fructose corn syrup, baked goods, deep fat fried foods, candy and chips is equally important.  

“What is truly contributing to diabetes today is high fructose corn syrup,” said Engelhart. For many years, people thought that low-fat diets were the answer, but then everyone ate too many carbohydrates and put on weight. “Weight is the issue,” said Engelhart. That makes the amount a person eats very important.

She pointed out that if a diabetic ate a controlled diet, their own body might be able to handle the sugar they take in and they might not need as much medication.

Regular meals are important, a way to avoid the “glucoaster,” as Martinez labeled it.

Engelhart pointed out that there are two common symptoms of undiagnosed diabetes: thirst and lack of energy.

“We are here for you if you have diabetes and want help to live healthy!” said Engelhart.

To learn more, contact sponsor Longfellow Healthy Seniors at 612-729-5799 or email carolengelhart@gmail.com.

-30-

TIPS FOR DIABETICS

• Carol Engelhart: Juggling it all is hard on your own. Find the help you need to live a life in healthy balance of exercising, health eating, and reducing your stress in addition to the help from your medical clinic.

• Anita Martinez: Keep on trying to do the best you can. If you think you are too much or too many carbs, just try again at the next meal. Move as much as possible throughout the day, and remember that house and yard chores and playing with the kids count as exercise, too. During any and all holidays, remember that it's a holiDAY, not a holiWEEK or a holiMONTH!!!

• Mary Ellen Crolley: Find a way to exercise that you enjoy. Find a buddy to go on walks with, or bike or swim, or take a movement class, or try a competitive sport. It doesn't matter what, it matters that you do something to get your heart rate up.  Scary movies don't count.