…designed a plan to keep her healthy. She would check her blood sugar twice a day, exercise and eat healthier. Merkerson has been faithful to those plans, making life changes slowly and in moderation. At 64, she says she is still discovering how to take care of herself. She finds time in her busy schedule to swim three times a week and eats a healthier diet. Occasionally, she may crave a soda. But gone are the days of consuming copious amounts of junk food. An arugula and chicken salad is one of her go-to meals.
Merkerson’s experiences and her family’s nonchalant attitude about diabetes encouraged her to use her celebrity platform to raise awareness about the disease. She is an advocate for America’s Diabetes Challenge. It is an educational program from Merck and the American Diabetes Association to urge people with type 2 diabetes to work with their doctor to set and reach their A1C goal, which is the average blood glucose over the past two to three months.
The program also encourages people to learn if they are at risk of hypoglycemia, or low blood glucose. It provides tips to help people with type 2 diabetes and their loved ones manage the disease and highlights the challenges many people with the diabetes share.
Merkerson has collaborated with the America’s Diabetes Challenge for four years traveling around the country hosting events raising awareness on the disease, encouraging people to be proactive, and sharing her story to let people know they are not alone. She credits the program on its rewarding impact in teaching her that diabetes is manageable if you are proactive, and how it has helped her relate with others with the same challenges as her.
Her main goal is to provide the knowledge. “Everywhere we go we are disseminating information to have people understand that if you know better you can do better,” she said. “It’s not a touch. It’s a disease.”
On camera, Merkerson takes her diabetes campaign to the small screen. Her character Sharon Goodwin on Chicago Med revealed…