James Talarico reveals surprising way politics led him to get diagnosed withincurable disease
The newest US senator from Texas had a medical emergency a few years ago that was spurred by his political campaign trail — and it led to a diagnosis of a disease with no cure.“I was lucky to be alive.The nurses and the doctors in Williamson County saved my life,” James Talarico said in a recent CNN & Jubilee town hall.“I was perfectly healthy and I decided to do something a little unusual,” he said, recalling when he first ran for the Texas House of Representatives in 2018.
“I decided to walk the entire length of my legislative district … It was 25 miles, I did the whole thing on foot all in one day, all in the Texas heat, and I helped three town halls along that walk.”He wasn’t worried about his ability to do it, as he hiked in Big Bend National Park every year, he said.This walk was comparatively flat.“But halfway through the walk I started to feel fatigued and nauseous.
[I] actually threw up a couple times along the walk,” he said.“Somehow I finished it.
I went home.I figured I was dehydrated and I just needed a good night’s sleep.”But he didn’t wake for a full 36 hours.
His family took him to the emergency room, where nurses tested his blood sugar.After fasting, normal blood sugar would be under 100 mg/dL.Talarico’s was 900 mg/dL.“I was in a state of diabetic ketoacidosis, which leads to coma and death without insulin,” he said.
“I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes on the spot.” I was lucky to be alive.The nurses and the doctors in Williamson County saved my life.”Diabetes is a disease in which doesn’t make enough insulin or can’t use it properly.
That causes sugar to build up in the bloodstream instead of entering cells to be used for energy.Over time, that high blood sugar can damage blood vessels and nerves, leading to potential complications like heart disease, kidney disease, vision loss and nerve damage.While type 2 diabetes is more common in later adulthood and linked to lifestyle factors, type 1 ...