Della Reese remains stronger than diabetes

Saint Paul Pioneer Press
October 10, 2004

Della Reese remains stronger than diabetes
By Suzanne P. Campbell

Entertainer Della Reese will speak at the upcoming Diabetes Expo in Minneapolis. Her appearance is sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline as part of an educational awareness program called “Della Reese: Stronger than Diabetes.”

Reese is best known for her role as Tess, the sometimes cantankerous, supervising angel in the TV show, Touched by an Angel. In a recent telephone interview she talked about the day, four years ago, when she experienced her first diabetic symptoms. Her husband, Franklin Lett, had bought a two story house in Salt Lake City where Reese was filming for Angel. “ I was coming down the stairs when suddenly my head felt like it would break open,” she said. “I sat down on the steps and the headache went away. The car was outside to take me to the set and I thought I was all right. I went through hair and make-up and started to do a scene with (country singer) Wynnona Judd. She was supposed to sing a Gospel song and I was directing the choir. I stepped up on the box to conduct and I don’t remember much of the scene after that.”

The director saw that she seemed disoriented and called for paramedics to take her to the hospital. Later, she was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. That came as a shock to Reese, who hadn’t experienced any other symptoms of the disease. “That’s why they call it a silent killer, honey,” she said. “While it is supposed to have something to do with heredity, no one in my family ever had it.”

She knew the disease was serious. Left untreated diabetes can lead to complications such as cardiovascular disease, blindness, kidney failure and amputation. When she was diagnosed doctors measured Reese’s blood sugar levels at 375. The normal reference range is 70-110. “If I ate a raisin my blood sugar went to 500,” she said.

Reese was determined to continue her productive life and cope with this new challenge. She knew she wouldn’t have to do it alone. She had her husband, affectionately known as Daddy, and her Heavenly Father. “My mother was a personal friend of God’s,” she said. “He was part of our house; and everything I am today is because of the grace of God.”

Deloreese Patricia Early – later shortened to Della Reese- is no stranger to struggle. “Honey, I was born in the slums of Detroit,” she said. “My mother scrubbed floors and my father worked in the steel mills. Warner Brothers did not drive up in a limo and take me to Hollywood.” Reese has since had many successes: Grammy, Emmy and Golden Globe nominations, gold records, and three NAACP Image Awards, to name a few. She credits hard work and “angels” sent by God who helped her. “I even called my autobiography Angels Along the Way,” she said.

When she was thirteen years old and singing in the choir at the Church of Our Faith in Detroit, she met one such angel. It was renowned gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, who would become her mentor. Jackson heard the young girl’s powerful voice and signed her on as a back-up singer.

“Mahalia Jackson taught me the art of communication,” said Reese. “She taught me that it’s the inside of me that reaches the inside of the people I communicate with. It’s not my dress or my shoes, it’s the spirit in me reaching the spirit in you when I sing.” Jackson also taught her something about the effects of diabetes. “She died from diabetic complications,” said Reese.

Asked what some of her daily struggles are, in dealing with her own diabetes, Reese was upbeat. “I don’t have any,” she said. “I have choices. I might want a dish of ice cream but then I ask myself a question. Would I like a dish of ice cream or would I like to keep my left leg? I’m 73 years old and, if I never have another dish of ice cream, I haven’t missed anything. But if I have to have someone push me in a wheelchair, I would not like that.”

“Hearing the word exercise just makes me nervous all over,” said Reese. “But to fight diabetes I have to exercise, so I changed the name to activity.” Through activity, dietary changes and medication, Reese is able to control her diabetes without insulin injections. She’s lost twenty pounds. “And when I measured my blood sugar this morning it was 84,” she said.

“My husband is my caregiver,” said Reese. “We all need someone like that in our lives. I am a very independent person. But he has the technique of being able to make me want to take care of myself; AND doing it in a way that doesn’t make me mad!”

Reese keeps busy spreading the message of hope for those with diabetes. But when asked what the most important task on her agenda was, she didn’t speak of healthcare. She spoke of soul care. Twenty years ago, she founded an interracial/interdenominational church in Los Angeles, named Understanding Principles for Better Living, where she still serves as pastor. “We call it UP Church, “ she said. “And the most important thing I have to do right now is get on a plane and get back there to the pulpit where I preach. Tomorrow is Sunday you know.”

Sidebar:

To learn more about type 2 diabetes and the “Della Reese: Stronger Than Diabetes” campaign, call toll-free 1-866-463-6342 or visit www.delladiabetes.com

You will receive a free CD of motivational music and a booklet filled with quick tips and advice from Reese as well as diabetes-friendly recipes. “It’s not in doctorese" promises the entertainer, “and it doesn’t suggest you run twenty-miles a day!”