b'Dr. Wilson, its personal. Her medical journey startedfor all that Ive done, but Im prouder of him and who with caring for her grandmother who also struggledhe has become. The Lord says to treat our bodies like withdiabetes.Afterhergrandmotherpassed,Dr.a temple, and thats what Im set out to do. I want to Wilsonknewshewantedtobecomepartofthelive to 100 and be as healthy as I can possibly be, said solution.Byrdic. I want to make a difference in the life of people like Don Byrdic, said Dr. Wilson. This type of programDr. Wilson knows that Byrdics outcomes can be the wasntaroundwhenmygrandmotherhaddiabetes,same for anyone who puts their mind, body and heart but now that it is, I want to help as many people asinto this type of lifestyle change. I can from this chronic disease. The program is two-foldlearning and applying. Don has done both andDontoldmeoncethatIwasagodsend,saidDr. were so proud of him, said Dr. Wilson. Wilson.Thatmadeahugedifferenceformeand Illneverforgetthat.ItconfirmstheworkIdois AfterByrdicstartedalcoholanddrugaddictionpartofmyministry.Itallowsmetogivebackto preventionprograms,headoptedthephilosophytomycommunityandhopefullymakeanimpacton do this one day at a time.someone elses journey. LifeisallaboutdecisionsandIusedtomakeParticipation in Prisma Healths Diabetes Prevention horribleones,saidByrdic. Now,ImproudofmyProgramcomesmainlyfromprimarycareprovider progress,butthiswasntjusteasilygiven.Ihadtoreferral,butanyoneinterestedintheprogramcan do it on my own, one day, one hour, one minute atcall803-296-CAREorvisitPrismaHealth.organd atime.Before,Iwoulddreadmyday,butnow,mysearch for diabetes prevention program. The program faith keeps me motivated. I want to do more for Him,begins every six months (with limited availability) and more for my fellow man each day.requires physical assessments and readiness screenings. Theprogramiscoveredthroughinsurancewithno AfterByrdicsheartsurgery,hisPrismaHealthadditional cost to participants. cardiologist told him his new heart valve could give himatleast20moreyears,aslongashestopped smoking.Thatwasatoughone,Byrdicsaid,butJoin Prisma Health oneheknewhecoulddoifheworkedhardevery day. Thosechanges,plusthefamilyhistoryofheartfor WellFest 2022 diseaseanddiabetes,ledByrdictoPrismaHealths DPP in September 2021.and start your path Iwasalwaysaprettyactiveperson.Ienjoyedof healthy living!walkingandworkinginmyyard,saidByrdic.It was how I ate, or didnt eat, that caused me trouble.YoureinvitedtojoinusforWellFest2022 Id put a lot of sugar in my coffee, eat ice cream everybeginning May 20. WellFest is a free two-day day and only eat a couple large meals a day. I didntvirtual health and wellness event designed to understand that by eating smaller snacks through thehelpresidentsoftheMidlandsandUpstate day and cutting out the sugar, that I could reverse mytakecontroloftheirpersonalwellness. chance to have diabetes. WellFest features physicians and motivational Byrdicbegandrinkingmorewater,increasinghisexpertswhoinspire,answerquestionsand walking to at least 5 miles a day, removed sugar andinteractwithyoutofindyourownpersonal milk from his coffee and stopped eating his favoritepathtoahealthylife.Participantswillalso ice cream on a regular basis. He said he never cookedenjoy other interactive components, live chat, for himself before this, but now he does. Hes learningavirtualexhibitorfairandgiveaways.Visit how to read labels, use the grill and drink as muchPrismaHealth.org/WellFest. water as he can. Byrdicsresultsarepositiveandencouraging.Not only did he begin to lose weight, his risk for diabetes decreased.Hisoutlookonlifebegantoempower himselfandothers.Mysonisamotivationand inspiration for me. My son tells me hes proud of me IMARA23'