I Felt Trapped

The worst part was, I was afraid that’s how I’d spend the rest of my life. You’ve probably felt that way before… scared that your diabetes is going to make your life worse and worse, until it finally decides to kill you.

But as miserable as I was, it was about to get even worse.

I’ll never forget that day in my restaurant’s kitchen.

My two best assistant chefs had been poached by another restaurant. I was understaffed, and it was a Saturday evening – the busiest shift of the week.

My stress was through the roof, my heart was pounding, and the kitchen felt hotter and more humid than ever.

I remember receiving an order for a medium-rare steak, and then feeling my knees go weak.

The next thing I knew, I was waking up three days later in the hospital, seeing my wife and 2 kids sitting around me, their eyes red and puffy from crying.

The room smelled like cleaning liquid, and I heard the steady beeping of the heart monitor.

When my wife saw I was awake, she threw her arms around me, then ran to get the doctor.

I’ll never forget how my son and daughter looked at me… like they were watching their daddy die.

My wife came back and the doctor came in.

He explained what had happened.

“You went into a diabetic coma,” he said. “A Non-Ketotic Hyperglycaemic Hyperosmolar Coma. Your blood glucose level was at 1,174.”

One of the new chefs at my restaurant had called 911, and some quick-thinking paramedics and ER doctors had saved my life.

Even today, I hate to think about what would have happened if I’d been alone that day. I’d be dead.

But believe it or not, that day was about to get even worse.

The doctor cleared his throat like he was nervous about telling me something.

“Because your diabetes is so advanced,” he said, “we’ll need to remove your legs. I’ve scheduled the surgery for this afternoon.”

It’s every diabetic’s worst fear: amputation.

“No!” said my wife. “Absolutely not.”

“I’m sorry,” the doctor insisted, “but we’ve got no choice. We can give him another 10 years to live, but we have to operate immediately.”

My wife got so upset she had to sit down, and my daughter started to cry.

Not only was I going to lose my legs, but I would only live 10 more years.

While my wife argued with the doctor, I got lost in my thoughts.

Amputation.