Christopher Braithwaite, 35, was a paramedic for seven years when he walked into the ER at Baptist Hospital of Miami as a patient himself, suspecting he had high blood sugar. But even seasoned hospital personnel were startled when his labs came back and his glucose reading was at 705.

"And the doctor said to me: ‘You are a walking dead man,’ " recalls Mr. Braithwaite, who had been feeling weak, constantly thirsty and urinating frequently.  “She said my blood sugar was probably in the 1,000s earlier in the day.  She said that anyone who comes in here with a blood sugar of 700 is usually unconscious."

That was April 22 of this year, when Mr. Braithwaite's already busy and traumatic life was upended further with a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes, and having to potentially face years of insulin injections and other medications to control his blood sugar level. Normal glucose readings for healthy individuals should fall within 70-100 mg/dL when fasting, and less than 180 after meals. A blood sugar reading near or at 1,000 usually puts a person into a diabetic coma or unconsciousness.

Most people diagnosed with type 2 diabetes don't "present so dramatically" as Mr. Braithwaite did, says Pascual De Santis, M.D., an endocrinologist with Baptist Health Primary Care, who is helping guide the paramedic through his post-diagnosis adjustments that include significant lifestyle changes, such as improved nutrition, weight loss and regular exercise.

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[Transcript]

[Video: Pineapple logo, Text: Living With Diabetes, Taking Steps Beyond Medication, soft, upbeat music]

[Graphic: Christopher Braithwaite, Patient] April 22nd was a day that I woke up it was a Saturday and I just felt really, really tired that day. [Video: Front of Baptist Hospital of Miami] I came to the conclusion that, you know, I need to go get it checked.

We went to Baptist Main, and they drew labs on me my sugar was 705. And the doctor said to me she says, you are walking dead man. She said your sugar was probably in the thousands early in the day. It was a lot to basically take in, because [Video: Tools for treating Diabetes] I had to go pick up all my medicine: Lantus, NovoLog, those are forms of insulin.

I basically said to myself, you know, this is your only option now, you can either you know, remain this way or you know try and change your lifestyle. So, that's what I did.

[Video: ‘Before’ pictures of Christopher] I was admitted to Baptist Main weighing 289 pounds in a three month span I dropped all the way down to 232.

[Video: Christopher out walking] With continuous exercise, a plant-based diet. It's opened up my eyes to the bigger picture.

[Graphic: Natacha Borrajo, R.D., Registered Dietitian, Baptist Health Primary Care] Every time I saw him, he was losing weight, he was really you know, taking it upon himself to educate himself, outside of what I had taught him. You know, really a plant-based diet, making sure he's getting a wide variety of vegetables, and research shows that the more plant based you can eat the healthier you're gonna be in the long run.

[Christopher] [Video: Pictures of Christopher’s family] Throughout this whole experience you know, I was thinking to myself you know, I don't want my daughter to see me deteriorate. I want her to see me, you know, grow, be there with her. Because, in most cases especially with type two diabetics, they tend to continue the same lifestyle and you feel like the medication is gonna basically maintain, you know, the sugars, you know, so, they'll eat what they want and take the medication.

[Natacha] Chris was ready to make the changes and then he had all that wonderful family support, which I think was just what added to his success.

[Christopher] Just educate yourself. You're gonna get whatever you put into it.

[Video: Connect BaptistHealthSF, light music]

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