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Are you a Type 2 Diabetic?

Don't let it get you down help may be on its way!

Two years ago I learned at a routine visit to the doctor that I had developed Type 2 Diabetes. The disease "runs" in my family; maternal grandmother lost two legs due to diabetes; one aunt on the brink of blindness due to the disease; one uncle lost a leg. My doctor recommended that I begin taking Avandia, which I took until May 2007.

I maintained a good diet and exercised regularly mainly using a treadmill or walking for about an hour per day. Both, I found, were somewhat boring. So, I added biking to my regimen, alternating the three.

On my way to the doctor's office last May I heard the news on my car radio about Avandia causing heart attacks and strokes. I mentioned that to my doctor, who was unaware of any issues with the drug. I told her that I had just heard it myself on the way to the office.

All of my blood work tests were fine. I was a fit 170 lbs., at 5'11" and generally was feeling fit, but after I left the office my thoughts kept drifting to that news broadcast.

Two days later I threw all the remaining medication away and vowed to keep my diabetes under control with diet and exercise alone. I did not discuss this with my doctor first. My next examination was scheduled for just under three months from that date, in early August.

I abandoned my walking and my use of the treadmill, concentrating on biking for no less than one hour a day, weather permitting, however living in Florida seldom a day goes by that I'm not able to get out on the bike.

I began by taking a nature trail that is a bit more than five miles one way. With several "offshoots" of the trail, I was able to bike for about 12 miles, which took roughly an hour and 20 minutes without having to look at the same scenery until my return trip to my starting point.

That satisfied me, but not for long. It was too boring, seeing the same scenery day after day, so I began biking from my home to a park in an adjoining city about two miles from my home. From there I took to the streets, biking up one street and down another. It was far less boring being able to watch the progress of new homes being built, take a 10-minute break to watch landscapers and get ideas for my own property or just take a 5-minute break for a friendly chat with someone who had waved "hello" to me.

I began taking my digital camera with me on my daily treks and I have numerous shots of gators, feral pigs, bobcats and even Florida panthers (they really don't

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