My Friend Melissa Hates Diabetes

I mean, Melissa is straight-up relentless when fighting this disease; and she’s winning! Melissa George, DNP Peach Tree’s Diabetes Program Director has been systematically aiming both barrels of her personalized healthcare and education program on our patients with the most uncontrolled high blood sugar levels. Patients routinely present to Melissa’s Diabetes Prevention and Care Program with extreme hyperglycemia and have HbA1c test percentages of 11, 12 or 13!

(Education Corner: The hemoglobin A1c test gives a picture of the average amount of glucose in the blood over the last 2-3 months. Nondiabetics will have an A1c result less than 5.7%, diabetics have A1c levels greater than 6.5%. “What’s so bad about high blood sugar anyway?” When your blood sugar spikes, it is causing an inflammatory response that damages the lining of your arteries that leads to atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries). Atherosclerosis is very destructive to the fine vessels of the eye, kidneys, heart, fingers and toes which is why diabetics suffer from vision loss, kidney and heart disease, strokes and infections of the extremities leading to amputation.)

What a life-changing event it must be to be part of Melissa’s program when you struggle to live with Type-1 or Type-2 diabetes. Her comprehensive approach includes patient education, medical treatment, insulin management and regular testing to track their progress. Melissa’s is able to design a personalized diet, exercise and medication program for each patient to make
lasting changes to their health. She is that coach we all need in our corner when
things get out of control.

The proof of Melissa’s success is found in her patients’ test results. Within three months of working with Melissa’s program, her patients have shown dramatic reductions in their A1c levels. Patients starting with stunningly high A1c levels of 13, 12 and 11% now have levels between 6-7% proving they are correctly reducing their high blood sugar spikes and learning to live with this chronic disease. By keeping their A1c levels in a normal range these patients dramatically reduce their risk of kidney disease, loss of

I loudly applaud Melissa George for her effective and caring co-management of Peach Tree’s diabetics with their primary care provider. This model continues to prove its efficacy as it saves and changes lives each day.