Karen Stewart and Allison Veeder, ARNP, discuss a patient's chart by aliedwards

Ten years ago, Tom* stepped out of the shower and noticed a small blister on the back of his ankle above his sock line.

“It looked like I had burned myself on something, but I knew I hadn’t. They kept coming back, like blisters you get when you have a really bad sunburn,” Tom said.

Eventually, those blisters made their way around to the front of his shins and formed an array of sores from sock line to mid-shin. Despite his concerns about the sores, he did not seek medical attention, chalking the sores up to his being slightly overweight.

Two years after the first blister appeared, Tom felt increasingly sluggish. One day, he laid down for the nap. He woke up two days later, just as policemen were walking up the sidewalk to his house to check on him per a request from Tom’s mother. She hadn’t been able to get ahold of him for a couple days and was getting worried about him.

“I remember watching them walk up to my door as I was leaning up against the door frame. I was too weak to stand up on my own. I had been in a coma the last two days.”

An ambulance took Tom to the hospital where he was diagnosed with diabetes and hypertension (high blood pressure).

“I almost died. I was so close to just laying down in my house and going back to sleep. I almost told the policemen to go get their guys, and I’d be laying on the ground when they got back.”

After being diagnosed, Tom sought out medical attention and began on a rollercoaster course to health.

"It scared me. I didn't realize I was that unhealthy. I was so, so weak," Tom said.

After years of switching between different medications and adjusting his diet, Tom’s diabetes is under control. Dedicated to getting healthier, Tom began coming into HCHC almost every day for weeks to test his blood sugar and receive diabetic education from HCHC’s Diabetes Care & Prevention program.

While Tom has come a long way in getting healthier, he realizes he isn’t done yet.

“Diabetes is one of the things we’ve conquered. I still have to get my blood pressure down.”

I talked to Tom as he was sitting in an exam room getting his blood drawn. He had just finished talking to the doctor and was preparing to sit down with HCHC’s behavioral health specialist, then the Diabetes Care & Prevention coordinators, and lastly with HCHC’s Wellness coordinator.

“I’m your star patient. Everyone here wants to talk to me. I should have my picture up on the wall or something.”

*patient's name has been changed