Krista and Stuart Walker have a special connection with the “in sickness and in health” wedding vow. With the help of the Blessing Diabetes Center, this wife and husband took on the seventh leading cause of death in the United States and changed their lives.


Krista and Stuart Walker

Stuart’s story

Like others in his family, Stuart is diabetic. In 2020, his A1C - a commonly used blood test to diagnose prediabetes and diabetes - was at 9.6, well over the diabetic threshold of 6.5 or greater. He weighed nearly 350 pounds and was on 10 prescription medications.

“I felt horrible,” Stuart recalls. “I was always tired. I had no motivation or ambition to do anything.”

When his wife became a nurse at Blessing, Stuart learned about and became a patient of the Blessing Diabetes Center. A one-stop shop for diabetes management, Blessing Diabetes Center specialists - including doctors, nurses who are nationally certified diabetes care and education specialists (CDCES), a pharmacist and a dietician who is also a CDCES - provide education, support and care for a range of diabetes-related conditions and complications.

The Blessing Diabetes Center team helped Stuart reduce his A1C by nearly 3 points, lose almost 100 pounds and reduce his medications from 10 to two.

Stuart says his energy, ambition and motivation are back. “I feel better now,” he stated.

“It is an amazing change in him. He had a really remarkable turnaround,” Krista added.

Krista’s story

After Blessing’s employee health plan began covering bariatric services, Krista decided she would talk to the staff about the concerns she had with her weight. She saw nurse practitioner Veronica Roth Phillips.

Veronica told Krista she carried excess weight around the middle of her body, a trait common to people with diabetes. Veronica suggested A1C and fasting insulin tests.

“And I am like, ‘Oh, I’m not diabetic,’” Krista said. “I’ve never had high blood sugar and I don’t have any symptoms.”

Krista credited her reaction to what she calls “nurse brain.”

“That’s what nurses do. We don’t pay attention to our own health. We pay attention to everyone else’s health.”

Veronica convinced Krista the tests were needed to provide direction for successful weight loss. 

Krista had the tests. Her A1C was 7.4, a reading considered to be diabetic, and her fasting insulin was twice normal. Krista had diabetes because while her body was making the insulin she needed, it was not using the insulin properly.

“At first I was in complete shock. I was dumbfounded.”

Determined to improve her health and knowing the success her husband had at the Blessing Diabetes Center, she too became a patient in the summer of 2022.

Krista has lost more than 20 pounds and her A1C reading has been in the normal range. 

She credits the nutritional education and meal planning tips she has received from the Diabetes Center team and the goals they helped her set for her success.

“Goals give you accountability,” Krista said. “You know you’re going back to the Center and tell them how you’re doing with your goals. You don’t want to go back in with your head hanging down.”

“Setting goals provides motivation to really stick with it and do the things that are hard to do sometimes on your own.”

About the Blessing Diabetes Center

The Walkers highly recommend the Blessing Diabetes Center to anyone who is diabetic or concerned about their risk for developing the disease.

“They really do amazing things. They are transforming people. It’s a strong program.”

Among the risk factors for developing diabetes are being 45 years or older, having a family history of the disease, being overweight and not getting enough exercise.

For more information on the Blessing Diabetes Center, go to blessinghealth.org/diabetes.