Bill Bedwin is motivated to maintain a healthy lifestyle after eliminating severe leg pain and keeping his diabetes in check.
He started off 2013 by being rushed to a medical clinic because his sugar levels and blood pressure shot up. Bill began experiencing pain in his legs the following month and was referred to several specialists by his family doctor, Dr. Andrew Spak.
Dr. Spak also recommended that Bill meet with Mary Whale, an Edmonton Southside Primary Care Network geriatric nurse. Mary arranged for Bill to be admitted to the Glenrose Rehabilitation Centre within 24 hours of her home visit.
He spent a month in rehabilitation and it was discovered that six of his vertabraes were not functioning properly. Bill had a successful surgery to repair this damage and the pain in his legs disappeared.
The Glenrose staff worked on improving Bill’s diet and blood sugar levels. He was able to decrease his insulin to only taking it once in the morning and lost 30 pounds.
“I’m quite happy how things happened so fast. My wife is so proud. Now that my doctor and Mary Whale came and helped me, I’m really proud what Mary did,” says the 74-year-old.
Since then, Bill enrolled in Moving for Health, an eight-week supervised exercise program for patients living with chronic diseases.
He wants to stay on this new path.
“I’m motivated. That pain in my leg was so bad. When it first happened, my balance was off. I started falling forward,” says Bill. “Then Mary came over and I went to the hospital. Now things are great!”
