West Calcasieu Cameron Hospital Certified Diabetes Education Program

Lake Charles, LA (KPLC) - According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 in 10 Americans have diabetes and the results can be life-changing.

As we observe National Diabetes Month, there’s a local hospital that’s aiming to improve diabetic health.

“One day I was driving up I-10 in Lake Charles, and I actually went blind.”

That was the moment Jarmon Williams knew there was a problem.

“When I got to the urgent care, they checked my sugar and they told me my sugar was above 1000,” said Williams.

That’s when he found out he had Diabetes.

“I came to the hospital and it took about two days to get my sugar down to a normal level,” he added.

For Brent LeVon, he started showing symptoms.

“I was using the restroom a lot at night, and I was constantly thirsty,” LeVon said.

While they each share their different stories, to me about their diagnosis, both shared a program that’s helped them over at the West Calcasieu Cameron Hospital.

“We want to kind of empower them to be more self-empowered as to take care of their diabetes because it is a daily management process,” said Certified Diabetes Care Education Specialist Cynthia Chantlin.

They call it the Certified Diabetes Education Program, as Chantlin explains, it’s divided into two parts.

“When they come in, they will meet with me first, the dietician, and we’ll talk about meal planning,” she said. “And we really try to individualize it.”

The second part, meeting with a nurse in their diabetes specialty team.

“She’ll kind of go over how to talk about the risk that you may have involved,” he said. “She’ll talk about taking care of your eyes, your feet, also how to check your blood sugar and kind of what your number should look like,” she added.

A program that Williams explains has educated him on the subject.

“She started to actually educate me, she actually broke down the food group, which should be on the chart somewhere behind me, she broke it down and helped me understand more.”

For Levon, he had this to say.

“I do recommend this program for anybody and whatnot, just not for themselves, but for their family, you know, make sure they’re, they stick around for a long time for the kids and grandkids.”

If you are interested, you will need a referral from your primary care doctor.

West Calcasieu Cameron Hospital also has a free diabetes support group.

For more information, you can call the hospital at (337) 527-7034.

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