Having been a fifth grade teacher in Benton Harbor for 35 years, while raising two sons, and now her grandson, Emma Goodloe, 66, is used to being busy. So in April when she started to not feel well, and was forced to slow down, her husband urged her to go to the doctor.

“I had never felt so awful,” said Emma. “I was dehydrated but still going to the bathroom every ten minutes.”

Emma had an appointment set for the following week, but her husband urged her to go in that very day. After arriving and having some tests done, Emma was told her A1C levels were at 14.9% and her glucose levels were over 400 mg/dl. A normal A1C level is below 5.7% and a normal blood glucose level ranges from 70 to 130 mg/dl. Emma’s levels suggested she was indeed at a diabetic level and she was sent straight to the emergency department at Lakeland Medical Center in St. Joseph for treatment.

Upon arriving at the emergency department, her care team administered insulin and showed Emma and her husband, Herman, how to provide the shots she would need to take four times each day.

“I told them I wasn’t going to take shots for the rest of my life,” said Emma. “I couldn’t live like that.”