In December 2021, Ana went to a local emergency department when she started having trouble breathing and walking. She was also constantly thirsty no matter how much water she drank. She was diagnosed with diabetes and started on 50 units of insulin.
 
Ana, 36, had been treated at the Albrecht Free Clinic, now Lakeshore Community Health Care, in West Bend in 2018 for gastritis and an ulcer. She went back to the clinic to help manage her new diagnosis and began seeing Robert Gibson, MD, who confirmed her type 2 diabetes diagnosis after further testing. He encouraged her to make changes to her diet and exercise regularly.
 
Initially Ana was disheartened by the idea of changing her lifestyle, but she was inspired by her grandfather who reversed his diabetes by changing his diet. So she got to work on her health. As soon as she made diet changes, her blood sugar went down, and monthly visits with clinical pharmacist Tamara Struebing, PharmD, provided guidance and encouragement in making additional lifestyle modifications.
 
Because of her lifestyle changes, which included walking every day, limiting sugar and carbohydrates and not eating after 8 p.m., Ana has lost weight and her A1c has dropped from 11.4 to 5.3, which is in the normal range. She no longer has to take diabetes medication because her diabetes is now in remission, and she only has to follow up with her physician every six months.