Having been a pharmacist for almost 40 years and a Certified Diabetic Educator since 2008, I have read innumerable articles from medical journals, as well as those within mainstream media, all of which draw the same conclusion:  The number of people diagnosed with diabetes is reaching almost epidemic proportions. But until I began educating my diabetic customers, I did not realize how beneficial proper diabetes self-management actually could be.

I would like to take this opportunity to share with you some wonderful new services that are now being offered at your corner Walgreens. Our pharmacists, working in conjunction with Certified Diabetic Educators (CDE), have begun to provide comprehensive diabetes self-management education and medication therapy management for our customers.

Our patients possess a wealth of experience garnered over years of living with and managing their diabetes on a daily basis. It is our charge as educators to transform that base of knowledge into a working template for daily diabetes management. As we all know, no matter how well-controlled a patient is today, tomorrow is a new day with new challenges. Add to that the vast amount of information literally at a patient’s fingertips and without proper guidance, we have a recipe for disaster. A simple Google search for diabetes yields over a million results – and information overload for the patient in search of answers.

For these reasons, I and all of the other Diabetic Educators at Walgreens spend a majority of our counseling sessions listening to our patients. I have found that most of our patients arrive feeling angry, confused, overwhelmed and having little hope of successfully managing their diabetes. By listening to their problems, questions and frustrations, we can tailor a patient-specific management plan. It is our overall goal to equip our patients with the tools to successfully manage their diabetes. Additionally, through regular visits to one of the seventeen Diabetes Centers of Excellence from Fort Pierce to Miami, we are able to keep our patients equipped with the right tools to successfully manage their diabetes.

If you are a patient with diabetes or even suspect you may have diabetes, you owe it to yourself to let us help. None of this is difficult. It is because you live with this disease 24/7 that it just feels so overwhelming. To get started just ask your local Walgreens pharmacist.

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