Staying on Top

Staying on Top

Staying on Top
Even Heart Attacks and Retinopathy Can’t Keep Craig Cohen Down
Craig Cohen couldn’t get up, even though the fire alarm was going off
and all his colleagues were streaming out of the room. He had pain in his arm
and his lower chest felt tight. When co-workers came back demanding to know
why he didn’t follow alarm procedures, he told them he was just too tired.
One of them took him immediately to the hospital. He ended up with a quadruple
bypass. He was 34.
When
Craig awoke he had no idea what had happened and tried to get right up. The
doctors told him he could not drive or do anything for six months. He tried
to listen to their instructions but started going stir-crazy. “I had to
get out,” Craig says. He began walking and tried to go a little farther
each day. After four months, he was back at work.
That was 19 years and two more heart attacks ago. Craig, who has been managing
his Type I diabetes for 44 years, has never looked back. After the bypass he
realized that he needed to “enjoy life every day” and not worry.
He took stock of his life and decided there were so many things he wanted to
do that he just couldn’t spend time worrying. He used to get upset if
he had a disagreement with his boss, he says, but now he doesn’t waste
energy on that. “You say what you have to say and just move on,”
he says.
And move he does. He rides the biggest roller coasters, climbs the highest
mountains, rafts rivers, and celebrated his father’s 75th birthday by
taking him in a glider. Craig had wanted to be in the Air Force but couldn’t
join because of his diabetes. Now that exceptions are allowed for civilian fliers,
he plans to get his glider’s license.
Craig has always been active. He played racquetball and was in a competitive
baseball league before he had his first heart attack. But during that time he
noticed that he was unusually tired and short of breath. He mentioned the symptoms
to his doctor, who told him not to worry. After the attack, he found a new doctor.

“One
thing I have is great doctors,” Craig says. He’s been seeing them
since the 1980’s and calls them “great guys” who support his
active lifestyle. Their advice to Craig? Keep doing what he’s doing. Craig
recounts telling his cardiologist that he was planning another adventure. “He
says to me, ‘You know your limits, take your best shot,’”
he says with a laugh.
Craig keeps his diabetes in check by using a pump and “never, ever sitting
around.” He sees his Certified Diabetes Educator, Gary Scheiner (see p.
8), regularly to stay on top of management techniques. He also volunteers for
diabetes clinical trials and was in the first Diabetes Control and Complications
Trial from 1983 to 1993. He learned then that complications were reduced by
tight control. He also learned that he had diabetic retinopathy. His vision
is sometimes a little blurred, but he makes sure to have his eyes checked every
six months.
Craig is vigilant about his health. Years ago his doctor recommended cholesterol
and blood pressure medicines as a preventive measure to protect his heart. He
takes an aspirin a day and uses the pump to regulate his insulin. He watches
his diet carefully, though he admits that when he first got the pump he gained
weight. “I thought I could eat anything and just shoot up with insulin,”
he confesses. He now knows better. He calls the pump “a total lifestyle
change” that allows him to maintain his active life.
Keeping a positive attitude is part of his health plan. People ask Craig all
the time if he’s afraid to be active after three heart attacks. His answer
is no— he thinks his heart would have gotten worse if he had slowed down.
And now that he’s had three heart attacks and recovered, he’s fearless.
The second one came in 1994, and the last one in 1996. The treatment for these
was much more minor than for the first one; doctors catheterized his arteries
and used angioplasty once to insert a stent. It’s been a good dozen years
without an attack.
Craig’s sons Joshua, 27, and Ariel, 29, are companions in his adventures.
His younger son has had Type I diabetes since he was 4, but Craig says it never
deterred him from being active. Because his son was used to seeing Craig take
care of his blood glucose, the boy was not alarmed when he was diagnosed himself.
Craig encourages him to be as active as he can. One of their best trips, Craig
says, was white-water rafting on the Colorado River. “We hung on for dear
life but it was a lot of fun,” he chuckles.
As the operations manager for a busy trucking company, Craig doesn’t
have time to play baseball these days. But he’s looking forward to joining
a 55-and-over league in two years. He’ll make the time then.
In the meantime, he and his wife, Rebecca, attend the Adventure Expo each year
and dream about trips. The next big one will be to the North Pole. “We
found an outfitter who takes you on a retrofitted icebreaker boat,” Craig
says excitedly. Each year they take a family trip with their sons and Ariel’s
wife, Lauren. Last year it was Disney World.
So what’s next for Craig Cohen? “I’m still waiting to jump
out of a plane.”

About
the Author
Elizabeth Lunt, MS, has worked in publishing and libraries for many years. She
is the editor of Voice of the Diabetic and would like to hear your

comments about this article or any other in the magazine. Please send Letters
to the Editor to: Elizabeth Lunt, Editor, Voice of the Diabetic 1800
Johnson Street, Baltimore, MD 21230 or [email protected].