« I get kind of emotional when I talk about Langs. I think community is important to the whole thing.”

Douglas doesn’t know exactly when he became a diabetic. He was diagnosed during a pre-op blood test for a hernia operation. What followed was ten years of uncontrolled disease management which left him with unending thirst, sleepless nights, and pain in his lower extremities which made movement difficult. His doctor put him on anti-depressants. Last January he could barely walk.

“I guess because I felt so bad maybe he thought I was depressed.” explains Douglas. “I wasn’t depressed because of that, I was depressed because my body just wasn’t working right and I was in a lot of pain.”

In desperation he changed doctors. His life was quickly transformed. “Six weeks.” says Douglas incredulously.

“It’s all new. Like I say, in January I couldn’t walk without assistance and then I met my new doctor in February. In March I began to feel better and she said ‘it’s time for you to go to Langs.’ In my doctor’s opinion every doctor that has a new patient with diabetes should be sent to Langs (a Community Health Centre based in Cambridge, Ontario) for an education. She’s a firm believer in Langs. I was reluctant to go to tell you the truth. I missed the first couple of appointments.” admits Douglas sheepishly.

During his first session Douglas sat in a room full of other diabetics and realized that the nurse who was facilitating wasn’t just spouting stats and information. The session was interactive.

“You instantly bonded with everybody in the room because they’re all there for the same thing and that’s when you realize, hey I’m not alone here.”

After the first visit he couldn’t wait to go back. The Langs team worked with him to get his medicines on track. They ‘hooked him up’ with a foot doctor and with Christine the nurse for a one on one. A coach phones him once a week. He took a course in nutrition. Currently he is using a chart to monitor his medications. In the past he had no baseline for meds. The best thing says Douglas is how Langs contacts his family doctor. “It’s like going to the same office.” he marvels.

“They have a great track there that I’m going to use when the weather is poor. I’m gonna join one of those pole walking classes. I can phone up anybody if I have any questions. I went to see Kyle the foot guy and he looked at my feet and gave me some creams and so forth. And I never had anything like that before. I feel like a king.”

In addition Douglas joined a Langs study group, not because it would help him specifically, but with all the struggling that he went through and continues to go through, he wants the information he contributes to help others down the road.

It’s so nice to have that support group behind you cause it’s a nasty disease to fight on your own.”

Douglas wants people to know what a lifesaving experience Langs has been. His life has already improved immeasurably but he’s going continue to go because he’s sure there will be stumbling blocks along the way.

“In January I couldn’t walk” says Douglas with wonder in his voice. “I needed help to get in and out of the car. I couldn’t make the stairs. And now I actually walk from my place of residence to Langs which is like about four kilometres. I enjoy the walking so so much cause walking is new to me. I feel like I just got up out of a wheelchair. It’s like a miracle.”