Living with diabetes is like being on a constant roller coaster, trying to keep blood sugar levels under control. That's because everything you do and everything you eat affects your blood sugar. Knowing how these things affect your body is an important part of dealing with the disease.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 22 million Americans are living with diabetes, and that's just the number of people who have been diagnosed. Many others are borderline diabetics.For those who have been recently diagnosed, or those whose blood sugar keeps seesawing back and forth, and their families, St. Luke's Miners Campus holds regular diabetes support group sessions in Coaldale.The next session will be at 6 p.m. Sept. 15 and will feature a guest speaker, Mary Ellen Willen, a diabetes patient who has gone through the ups and downs of blood sugar control and now serves as an advocate for helping others.To learn about managing diabetes from a real patient who has managed to attain A1C control, register for the session by calling 570-645-8107.The meeting will be held in St. Luke's Hospital Community Room, 3360 W. Ruddle St., Coaldale.