All the symptoms have knocked on the door of my body.

Several months ago, I noticed a tingling sensation on the bottom of both feet. I thought and attributed this to being overweight.

Then came the yeast infections in my groin area. I thought and attributed this to simply getting old.

I had one bout of a boil sore.  At first, I thought this was a large pimple. But it fested into a large sore. I took a needle to it and this released the puss and blood. For three more days it bled and released fluids. I kept it clean and bandaged it.

I noticed I was getting tired more often, and my sleep habits changed to 3-5 hours at a time. I thought and attributed the fatigue to working third shifts for nearly a year.

Having to urinate more frequenly: I thought and attribted this to feeling thirsty and consuming more drinks.

The dry and itching skin of my forarms was thought to be attributed to age.  But, I noticed this became frequent and over the counter ointments were useless.

I noticed that my vision would go through cyclic changes. For two or three weeks, far-sighted objects would be blurry and I no longer needed reading glasses. Then the reverse back to normal, I needed reading glasses, especially for viewing the video display and far-sighted objects were again clear.

Diabetes is now on my mind 24/7.

Diabetes is a serious health problem and changes have to be made to accomodate my condition.

Exercise has become a daily task.  Walking, stretching exercises, and the weight lifting is next.

I've considered playing tennis again, but I don't know how my knees and feet will hold up.  It's been nearly 13 years since I last held a racket. 

I can remember how competitve and the desire to win would supercede my injuries, but the aftermath pain was sometimes overwhelming, especially the sore knees.  That's the main reason I gave up playing 6 days per week and active on three different leagues.  I also captained two of the teams.

I now exercise in moderation, knowing not to push myself into serious pain.  Sure, I get some soreness in muscles that have not been exercised for years. But, I now take care in how much exercise is good for me without dropping out of breath or regretting it the next day.

Changes have also taken place in my diet, what foods to consume and what foods to avoid. Salads, brown rice, skinless chicken, lean beef, vegetables (I love Italian cut greenbeans), wheat based (whole grain) pasta, and low-fat yogurt have become mainstays in my daily diet.

Changes have taken place in the type of vitamin pills. The new pills include Omega-3 (fish oil) and Alpha Lipoic Acid. The vitamin-c chewables has become one of my favorite candy; this helps neutralize harmful free radicals.

I try to keep stress to a minimum, this includes avoiding confrontational issues at work and at home.  At work, one person is trying to convert me to Mormonism.  That's another subject for another day.

One of the major changes is how I have viewed my photographic work.  I have become very serious about learning photoshop at a professional level. This has become a wonderful outlet to being creative and enjoying this endeavor with others of like mind and ambition.  I have joined several meet-up groups in the Atlanta community.

Having diabetes has made me consider my mortality.  Changes include the attitude of "what is the best use of my time" if I have only 6 months to live.  It has made me realize what things to concentrate on and what things to avoid.