JESSICA GRIFFIN / Staff photographer
Bernardet Cash and her endocrinologist, Dr. Mark Schutta, at Penn Rodebaugh Diabetes Center.
Team Bernardet
BERNARDET Cash was diagnosed with diabetes 14 months ago, which shook the 48-year-old from West Philly to the core.
"I was scared," she says. "I was so much into denial - and depressed for a little while - but then I said, 'This is part of life and you have to deal with it.'
"I'm a strong woman," Cash says. "You cry it out a little bit, then you get over it."
She had plenty of help. The American Diabetes Association advises patients that because of the disease's many intricacies, they'll need a team of health-care specialists to back them up. Cash has a village:
Dr. Charles Gartland
Her family physician in Darby
Dr. Gartland gave Cash a blood test to screen for diabetes as part of her annual exam last fall.
"I've never been sickly," she says. "I was shocked. "I get a physical every year, and I'm glad I went. It's good to check on yourself."
Dr. Mark Schutta
Her endocrinologist (diabetes specialist), seen with her top right
Besides overseeing her medical treatment, which includes insulin and pills, Dr. Schutta examines Cash's feet during routine visits every three months - a valuable precaution against diabetic complications.
Schutta, who is medical director of the Penn Rodebaugh Diabetes Center, also downloads information from her blood-sugar monitor to see how well she's managing her numbers. "I always check my sugar two hours after I eat to make sure it's level," Cash says. "It's normally good."
She considers Schutta her corner man. He's always ready to explain medical details to her and cheer her on.
"When I didn't know anything, he was just so patient," she says. "Now we don't have to spend a lot of time together. He checks my feet and tells me 'You're doing fine. See you in three months.' "
Kia Mellon, Kimberly
Olson and Frances Love
Three nurses at Penn Rodebaugh
Love led Cash's diabetes-education classes - a 10-hour crash course about diabetes and how to manage it.
She also taught Cash how to administer insulin, which unnerved her so much that she almost didn't go through with it.
