Gwen Rodenberger

Monticello, Indiana

Gwen Rodenberger Before

Gwen Rodenberger After

I was diagnosed with diabetes in June 2005. I weighed close to 300 pounds and was suffering from runaway infections that led to my diagnosis.

At first I felt like I had received a death sentence. Too many members of my husband's family have lost limbs and lives to the disease. I decided I would be the best diabetic ever. I read everything in sight. I learned to eat right, began exercising and have lost 92 pounds.

I celebrate life now by taking adventures. I've slept in the ice hotel in Quebec, walked the Mighty Mackinac Bridge in Michigan and climbed part of a mountain in Montana with two other diabetics and an asthmatic.

I no longer need medication. Others aren't as lucky as me. And I have days when I lust for carb-heavy meals or struggle with why my blood sugar is what it is.

Let's stop diabetes. Whether we modify the American diet, make exercise more convenient and fun or find medical means to stop it, let's stop it forever.