A shot at health
After struggling to control his own disease, Charles Ray III now helps other diabetics afford medical supplies
By MEGAN JONES, STAFF WRITER
Published in The Cary News Nov. 13, 2003.
In 1979, Charles Ray III was a high school track runner in Roanoke, Va. At 17 years old, he should have been at the top of his game, at the front of the pack, but after finishing his leg of the 440, he would need 30 minutes to recover.
He finally had to tell his mother that something wasn't right. Ray was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, caused by the decreased ability to produce the hormone called insulin. Insulin is needed to covert sugar, starches and other food into energy used in daily life. When the pancreas doesn't produce insulin, it can't "unlock" the cells of the body, allowing glucose to enter and fuel them.
Ray would have to exercise, watch what he ate and give himself daily insulin shots for the rest of his life — or risk circulatory problems, heart disease, blindness and even death.
"I was crushed," Ray said.
He didn't know it then, but the doctor's diagnosis would provide an avenue for him to help hundreds of people around the country getting their own crushing news.
Now 41 and a grill cook at MacGregor Downs Country Club, the Apex resident is head of a foundation that provides supplies and equipment for managing diabetes to people who can't afford them.
His association has helped nearly 400 people around the Triangle and nation.
"It does good work," said Linda Riggins, a diabetic who found the Charles Ray III Diabetes Association when she was pregnant and worried about the health of her unborn baby. "I am very grateful for them."
According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), approximately 17 million people in the United States, or 6.2 percent of the population, have diabetes, which manifests itself in three major forms. Type 1 results from the body's failure to produce insulin. Five to 10 percent of Americans diagnosed with diabetes have this type.
Type 2, often referred to as adult onset diabetes, results from insulin resistance, a condition in which the body fails to properly use insulin, combined with relative insulin deficiency. Approximately 90-95 percent of those diagnosed with diabetes, about 16 million Americans, have type 2, which is thought to be influenced by obesity, a high-fat, low-fiber diet, physical inactivity and a family history of the disease.
Gestational diabetes, the third type, affects 4 percent of all pregnant women — about 135,000 cases in the United States each year.
Behavior is key
Though it can't be cured, diabetes can be managed. People who have it need to keep certain factors in check — namely blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol.Blood sugar, often tested by pricking a finger and touching a droplet of blood to a test strip, should be in the range of 90 to 130 mg/dL. Ignoring insulin, dietary and exercise requirements, though, can help it shoot up to 300 or beyond, putting the person at significant health risk, even coma or death. Ray's wife, Heather, has gone blind from diabetic complications.
Ray wasn't very good about keeping himself healthy in the first years after his diagnosis. He wasn't testing his blood sugar like he should have.
"After graduation, I veered off," he said. "Resources weren't a problem; as a student, I could get testing supplies through my parents."
Diabetes, he said, just wasn't a priority for him. By age 22 or 23, he was working, grabbing unhealthy meals, giving up his running. "Testing my blood sugar, I never did it," Ray said. "I took the shots. The doctor said if I take this amount of insulin I should be OK," so that is the amount he gave himself, regardless of what he had eaten that day.
The behavior caught up with him in his late 20s. Ray told himself he had to make changes.
"I was wearing a size 40-42 pants; I was all [swollen] up," he said. "I didn't like to be that big. And I was always tired. I needed direction real bad."
A diabetic friend told him how easy an insulin pump had made managing her disease. The pump, about the size of a deck of cards, connects to a narrow, flexible plastic tube that ends with a needle inserted just under the skin. Users set the pump to give a steady trickle of insulin throughout the day. Pumps release doses of insulin at meals and at times when blood glucose is too high, based on programming done by the user.
"Once I was on the pump, it was like turning a light switch on," Ray said. "My blood sugar was equivalent to someone without diabetes. I started taking better care of myself, started working out."
Ray felt so good he wanted to help others with diabetes feel good.
Raising awareness
According to the ADA, of the 17 million people who have diabetes in the United States, only about 11.1 million have been diagnosed. That means that nearly 6 million are unaware they have the disease.Ray sees part of his mission as educating those people about diabetes. In 1992 he began to share his story with others to provide encouragement and support and to raise awareness of the disease. In 1997, he filmed a national public service announcement with NBA star James Worthy, which was distributed nationally by the ADA.
He formed the Charles Ray III Diabetes Association in 1998 with a more ambitious goal: to provide medical equipment and encouragement to diabetics who are uninsured or unable to afford medical services.
Supplies — such as testing strips, syringes and even the $4,500 to $5,400 insulin pumps — are provided free to people with a physician's verification and specifications.
Riggins, a type 2 diabetic for five years, is very complimentary of the association.
"What it does, is, it helps people who have a need," she said. "In my case, I'm underinsured," and her supplies weren't covered by insurance. Bearing costly family responsibilities, she could have been faced with the choice of taking care of her family or taking care of her own health. The strips alone cost $80 to $120 for a box of 100.
"When people can't get what they need they take risks," Riggins said. "Instead of testing four times a day they test one or two to make their supplies last."
Riggins was referred to the Charles Ray III Diabetes Association through another agency. Ray said that's common, because there aren't many, if any, other groups providing the services his does.
Demand for services
As more and more people find him, either through referral agencies or his Web site (www.cr3.org), the association requires more of his time — and more money — to serve them all.Ray is not only the face of the association, he is its primary employee, fitting in duties before and after his shifts at MacGregor Downs. He talks to people who need help and their doctors to see what they need, and arranges donations from supply and equipment manufacturers.
"I'm almost at the point where I have to choose," he said. "I'm as busy here as I am at my real job."
If he could devote his full attention to the association, he believes he would be able to cut down its waiting list. Money to buy the supplies he can't beg from manufacturers is a constant concern. An annual golf tournament at MacGregor Downs is a primary fund-raiser (this year generating more than $9,000), and Ray is seeking help in securing a grant.
Shelia Wilson is impressedwith all that Ray achieves on a shoestring budget.
Wilson, whose husband and father-in-law both have diabetes, was introduced to Ray in July by a mutal friend who thought she could help get the association's name out. She is helping Ray connect with a potential grant writer.
"I could not believe how dedicated he is to this organization," Wilson said. "He really wants to help through promoting these services." The association is more important than ever, she said.
"With everything that's going on with the economy, people are losing jobs, but they still need medical care," she said.
New spokeswoman
Ray recently convinced former Miss North Carolina Rebekah Revels to serve as a spokeswoman for the association, a coup, he said.He continues to dream about the lengths to which the Charles Ray III Diabetes Association could help people.
"It's a real big pipe dream, but most of them come around if you really work on them," he said. "I want to get major funding and buy a big vehicle I could use to visit cities with clients, and motivate people to speak and give out free stuff. … People are always going to need help, and this like one big safety net."
Bio: Charles Ray III
Hometown: Roanoke, Va. Neighborhood: Homestead Park, Apex. He moved there from Virginia in 1995 when his wife was transferred to the Triangle.Age: 41
Family: Wife, Heather
Hobbies: Playing video games — ESPN Football 2004 is a favorite.
Favorite meal: As a diabetic, Ray has to be especially careful about what he eats, but he is partial to any kind of seafood, fried or not.
Fitness regimen: Running. Ray used to run at least two miles a day, five days a week. Between his job and the association, he isn't able to squeeze in that much road time anymore, but he hits the treadmill almost every day for a brisk workout, which helps keep his disease in check.
For more information: November is diabetes awareness month. Find out more at the American Diabetes Association Web site, www.ada.org and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International, www.jdf.org.
How to help
The Charles Ray III Diabetes Association is a non-profit group that provides medical devices and supplies to those unable to afford them. The association is able to provide this service through donations and its major fund-raiser, The Charles Ray III Golf Classic.Monetary donations are the association's greatest need, although it also accepts unused diabetic medical supplies. Those interested in making a donation, or inquiring about volunteer opportunities, can visit the association's Web site at www.cr3.org, or call Ray at 303-6949.