The Chef Doctor
“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”~Hippocrates
Connie was overweight and diagnosed with diabetes mellitus commonly called juvenile diabetes at the age of nine. This young girl was intuitive, academically adept, and loved to prepare her own favorite dish, ramen noodles.
Connie was an only child whose mother was a passive parent. Although she provided everything the child wanted there were times when she did not provide the tender loving attentiveness that children need.
At the age of four, whenever her mom was busy reading one of her favorite novels on holding an extraordinarily long conversation on the phone, the child would prepare her favorite dish in the microwave.
As she grew, she developed a desire to cook and wanted to become a chef. At the age of seven, she often watched cooking shows and declared that she would become a chef. No, this is not a story of a mediocre child.
The child soon became ill because of her diabetes. There at the children’s hospital where she frequented, she fell in love with the doctors and nurses. Her love for children’s doctors is what influenced her desire to become a pediatrician.
The young girl grew into a beautiful teenager who worked hard to succeed in whatever she was charged with. Athletic and sportsman’s-like, she participated in a plethora of activities throughout her school years.
Despite her extra activities, Connie’s academic performance never wavered. She excelled in most of her classes and went on to progress between two grades, as a junior and senior simultaneously. Over the summer Connie studied and passed the necessary classes to bring her into senior class status. At the age of sixteen, she graduated high school with honors.
She was accepted into a nursing program at a local college. Although Connie would have to wait until her seventeenth birthday, which was that following January, to be accepted, she finished within three years. The nursing degree would aid her to go on to medical school.
Whenever she had time, she would prepare special diabetic meals for herself, her friends, and her family. Her meals of seasoned and blended veggies and meats with sauces exposed her splendidly talented cooking skills. All her meals were hitting the mark at delicious.
The young woman began to write down her recipes for various people who would ask how she prepared certain dishes. Soon she had more than thirty recipes from her delightful meal creations.
A friend suggested making her recipes into a published cookbook. At the time, diabetes in children was on the rise in the United States with the rates of new diagnoses increasing by 4.8% per year from 2002 to 2015.
It was perceived she would be successful in publishing a children’s cookbook for the ones suffering from juvenile diabetes. Who could be a better advocate for better eating habits than someone who had already experienced it?
Immediately after finishing nursing school, she realized more ideas and dishes still brewing inside her. Connie took cooking classes to become a chef.
The nursing degree took a back seat while she spent eighteen months in a high-end cooking school where she excelled in the highly-rated international school for chefs.
At the age of twenty-two, she had finished two schools with a publishing contract on her lap to publish her first children’s cookbook.
Two honorable offers were on the table for her. The nursing school offered an intern teaching position and the chefs’ international school was also romancing her to come work with them. Although undecided, the young woman was elated.
At the pinnacle of her life, she was struck down by existing diabetes which caused her to be hospitalized with kidney ailments. Sadly, she lost her freedom, having dialysis three days a week and moving in with her mother. Connie was heartbroken and wondered what shifted to bring her to that downfall.
She discovered, through all her work, that she had neglected to care for her ongoing condition. Through determination and focus, she successfully lowered her weight to the ideal pounds for her build and stayed on a healthy eating program designed just for her.
Dialysis was discontinued. Recuperating into better health, Connie maintained a diet and exercise regime that kept her healthy but felt she had missed a full year of pursuing her dreams during her time in recovery.
She was reminded by a wise woman who loved her dearly that she was not twenty-five years old yet, and had already achieved many of her life’s dreams; whereas many others may not see their dreams come to fruition before forty-fifty and sixty years in age. Encouraged to Never Worry. Let Mindful Gratitude be her Constant Companion, Consistency be her Balance and Choice be her spice of life. Connie promised herself to practice those morals.
“Good health and good sense are two of life’s greatest blessings.” ~Publilius Syrus
Connie released a series of healthy lifestyle books for diabetic youths.
She created a healthy-eating plan. Stressed the importance of exercise with diabetes, and included Mindfulness Treatment for Diabetes daily.
Dr. Connie T. Jackson, D.O., completed the internship at the age of twenty-nine and today practices pediatrics, cooks healthy meals for diabetics at “The Chef Doctor Cafe”, and lives freely, happily, and healthily.
“A sad soul can be just as lethal as a germ.”~John Steinbeck
