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How Xerox Saved My Life! by DeWayne McCulley 
By Beating & Reversing My Type 2 Diabetes
By Beating & Reversing My Type 2 Diabetes
Because of my Xerox experience in failure modes & effects analysis (FMEA), root cause analysis (RCA), statistical analysis, Lean Six Sigma, and functional documentation, I was able to leverage different areas of medical science including biochemistry, etiology, pathology, pathogenesis, epidemiology, and pathophysiology. This, in turn, allowed me to develop models of Type 2 diabetes at the cellular level, and use these models to teach diabetics, and even some doctors how this disease develops in the body at the cellular level. And, once I understood how the disease develops and progresses in the body, it became easier to determine how to slow down this progression and even reverse it in some cases. The following video shows a list of some of the engineering methodologies that I used:
When doctors ask me how I was able to develop a medical wellness protocol and a structured 6-stage recovery model for diabetics, I point out that there are many similarities between medical science and engineering science, which allowed me to design these models within the framework of medical science.
There is another area that Xerox helped me with my diabetes and my recovery. This area is more important than anything I have discussed up to this point. This is the one area that separated Xerox from so many other companies.
That area was the people. While I was going through my recovery at home, people would call or email me to encourage me to “hang in there” and “fight this to the death”. The group I worked in took the time to find a local chef to prepare healthy meals for me! This was very significant, because this local chef (The Phantom Chef) helped to reinforce the importance of eating healthy meals. She also taught me how to prepare quick meals that were still healthy. This was very important, especially when my mother, daughter, and sister had returned home.
When I returned to work, the people would stop by my office at least once in the morning and once in the afternoon to make sure I was okay, and had not lapsed into another coma. In addition, various people would stop by and share their personal stories and what they had done to control their diabetes. My Xerox manager was very supportive – he didn’t put any pressure on me when I returned. More importantly, my own managers had taken on more responsibility, allowing me time to focus on my health.
When several Xerox people learned that I had weaned off the insulin, they told me this was a monumental achievement. I had no idea of the significance of this. I had assumed that most diabetics weaned off the insulin eventually. The people at Xerox encouraged me to document what I had one, so I wrote a 1-page document and gave out copies to anyone who asked for information about my diabetes experience. Over time, because of all the questions from various Xerox people, the 1-page document grew into 5 pages, 10 pages, 25 pages, and finally 75 pages.
Once the document had grown to 75 pages, several Xerox people (along with my daughter and my mother) encouraged me to write a book about my diabetes experience. I thought they were all crazy!
Then, another one of those strange accidents occurred. My Xerox manager’s admin aide mentioned me to a friend of hers. Her friend was a member of a local diabetic support group for the American Diabetes Association (ADA). This is embarrassing to admit, but I didn’t know there was an association of diabetics! This ADA group invited me to speak, and were blown away by my story – because they had never heard of anyone recovering from a near-death diabetic coma and weaning off insulin.
The next thing I knew the ADA Director asked me to facilitate the diabetic support group, which I did for more than 2 years. When several members of the group started eating what I was eating, they told me that their blood glucose levels were the best that they had seen in years. They also encouraged me to write a book, but I didn’t want to invest that kind of time to write a book. Then, some of the members of the ADA group invited me to speak at their churches. The same thing happened – they also encouraged me to write a book.
So, I eventually relented and wrote a 400-page book about Type 2 diabetes and how I defeated this disease, titled: “Death to Diabetes”. But, I didn’t really expect that strangers would actually buy my book. However, “Death to Diabetes” is now one of the top-selling diabetes books on Amazon.com! Amazing, simply amazing …
I’ll mention one more story: Back in the early 1980s Horace Becker volunteered to speak at a manufacturing workshop that I was putting together. I thought that Horace would talk about the engineering design challenges of the first copier. But instead he used humor and focused on the people and the events that made Xerox unique and special. As a result, I took a page from Horace and instead of focusing on the technical side of diabetes, I used humor and focused on stories about people who helped me beat my diabetes. As a result, my diabetes workshops are in high demand because they’re entertaining, yet informative and educational.
There are so many stories, so many “accidents” that led me on this new journey. And, I owe a lot of it to the people of Xerox.
p.s. I also believe that the strong work ethic that I acquired from my parents, the great teachers that I had in high school, my 12 years as a math tutor volunteer for the Urban League, and the engineering knowledge that I acquired from my formal education at Pennsylvania State University and from working at Hughes Aircraft Co. were also instrumental in my recovery and new success as an author and speaker.
p.s. One of the reasons why I became an engineer was because I could just work in a laboratory, and avoid public speaking and writing – two things I feared and didn’t like doing. Ironically, today, I spend most of my time speaking publicly to various groups, and I am in the process of writing several new books, including a diabetes cookbook and a boot camp program.
p.s. In the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle news article (dated August 4, 2007) Ursula Burns said her promotion to Xerox President was a “true honor.” Well, to Ursula Burns, Ann Mulcahy, and all the people at Xerox, it was a “true honor” for me to work at Xerox for so many years with so many great people. You are truly special in more ways than you will ever realize.
Thank you!
Sincerely,
DeWayne McCulley
Dear Xerox,
I never realized how blessed I was to have worked at Xerox for over 30 years. I didn’t really appreciate the knowledge and the skills I had acquired as a Xerox engineer. I didn’t see how my Xerox engineering experience would help me “beyond just a paycheck” to save my life and create "The Diabetes Engineer".
But, my Xerox experiences in diagnostics engineering, system engineering, product training, software testing, and documentation development literally saved my life. I know that may sound a little “crazy”, but please bear with me a little bit.
In March 2002, I almost died from a diabetic coma, with a blood glucose level that was more than 1200 points above normal. Because of the complications from the non-ketotic hyperglycemic hyperosmolar (NKHH) coma and other complications (hypertriglyceridemia, deep vein thrombosis (DVT), hyperinsulinemia, etc.), the doctors told me that I should have died 3 times over. And, even if I survive, I would lose both legs, go blind, and be on kidney dialysis. Needless to say, the doctors got my attention!
I was put on a drug protocol of 4 insulin shots a day, Coumadin (for the blood clots and DVT), Lipitor (for the high cholesterol), and a restricted low-fat diet to control my diabetes. As a Type 2 diabetic, the doctors recommended that I test my blood glucose 3-4 times a day to ensure that I was controlling my blood sugar.
Because my mother, my daughter and my sister were taking care of my household and preparing my meals, I had a lot of time on my hands. Also, my daughter had a lot of questions about diabetes that I couldn’t answer. So, we would call my primary care physician (a really nice guy in Webster). If he couldn’t answer our questions, he would suggest that we call my endocrinologist (who thought I was asking too many questions).
My endocrinologist said that my condition was unique and that they didn’t have enough medical data about my condition. So, what do engineers do when they face the unknown and lack enough data to draw any conclusions? They collect more data! So, with my daughter’s help, we began testing my blood glucose 7-8 times a day instead of the recommended 3-4 times a day. Within a month’s time, I had more data than a typical diabetic collects in 2 or 3 months.
At that time, an “accident” occurred. My mother says it wasn’t an accident. Because of my blurry vision, I had mistakenly loaded a lower dosage of insulin for the next 3-4 days of insulin shots. When my daughter discovered the mistake, we called the endocrinologist to find out what we should do. The endocrinologist told me to return to the original dosage of insulin (I was taking 60 units daily of 2 types of insulin, Humalog and Lantus).
When we got off the phone, my daughter, who was helping me with my bar charts and data collection, noticed something interesting. She said, “Dad, while you were taking the lower dosages of insulin, your blood glucose readings didn’t spike or go any higher. In fact, they went a little lower.”
I told Cynthia, “That can’t be, one of us has made a mistake here.”
She said, “Well, Dad, it’s not me – my eyesight is 20-20.”
I said, “Okay Miss Smarty Pants, let’s call the endocrinologist and ask him what this means.”
So we called him, but he said the lower readings were an anomaly. So, what do engineers do when they face an anomaly? They perform more testing and collect more data. So, that’s what I did.
To make a long story short, I was able to use the data to slowly wean myself off the insulin. Within one month, I had gone from 60 units of insulin a day to 15 units a day. Within another two weeks I was down to 0 units. My primary care physician was happy for me, but, my endocrinologist was not happy. He warned me that I was going through a “honeymoon period” and would have to return to the insulin shots within 3 months. When I returned to the endocrinologist after 3 months, my average blood glucose level was 87.5 mg/dl (normal for a non-diabetic is 80-100 mg/dl, the average for a diabetic is 150-190 mg/dl). My hemoglobin A1C was 4.5% (normal is 4.3%-5.5%). He was shocked, but told me my readings would increase and return to the higher levels within the next 6 months. But, it’s been more than 6 years now, and my blood glucose average is 92.5 mg/dl and my hemoglobin A1C is 4.9%.
I never realized how blessed I was to have worked at Xerox for over 30 years. I didn’t really appreciate the knowledge and the skills I had acquired as a Xerox engineer. I didn’t see how my Xerox engineering experience would help me “beyond just a paycheck” to save my life and create "The Diabetes Engineer".
But, my Xerox experiences in diagnostics engineering, system engineering, product training, software testing, and documentation development literally saved my life. I know that may sound a little “crazy”, but please bear with me a little bit.
In March 2002, I almost died from a diabetic coma, with a blood glucose level that was more than 1200 points above normal. Because of the complications from the non-ketotic hyperglycemic hyperosmolar (NKHH) coma and other complications (hypertriglyceridemia, deep vein thrombosis (DVT), hyperinsulinemia, etc.), the doctors told me that I should have died 3 times over. And, even if I survive, I would lose both legs, go blind, and be on kidney dialysis. Needless to say, the doctors got my attention!
I was put on a drug protocol of 4 insulin shots a day, Coumadin (for the blood clots and DVT), Lipitor (for the high cholesterol), and a restricted low-fat diet to control my diabetes. As a Type 2 diabetic, the doctors recommended that I test my blood glucose 3-4 times a day to ensure that I was controlling my blood sugar.
Because my mother, my daughter and my sister were taking care of my household and preparing my meals, I had a lot of time on my hands. Also, my daughter had a lot of questions about diabetes that I couldn’t answer. So, we would call my primary care physician (a really nice guy in Webster). If he couldn’t answer our questions, he would suggest that we call my endocrinologist (who thought I was asking too many questions).
My endocrinologist said that my condition was unique and that they didn’t have enough medical data about my condition. So, what do engineers do when they face the unknown and lack enough data to draw any conclusions? They collect more data! So, with my daughter’s help, we began testing my blood glucose 7-8 times a day instead of the recommended 3-4 times a day. Within a month’s time, I had more data than a typical diabetic collects in 2 or 3 months.
At that time, an “accident” occurred. My mother says it wasn’t an accident. Because of my blurry vision, I had mistakenly loaded a lower dosage of insulin for the next 3-4 days of insulin shots. When my daughter discovered the mistake, we called the endocrinologist to find out what we should do. The endocrinologist told me to return to the original dosage of insulin (I was taking 60 units daily of 2 types of insulin, Humalog and Lantus).
When we got off the phone, my daughter, who was helping me with my bar charts and data collection, noticed something interesting. She said, “Dad, while you were taking the lower dosages of insulin, your blood glucose readings didn’t spike or go any higher. In fact, they went a little lower.”
I told Cynthia, “That can’t be, one of us has made a mistake here.”
She said, “Well, Dad, it’s not me – my eyesight is 20-20.”
I said, “Okay Miss Smarty Pants, let’s call the endocrinologist and ask him what this means.”
So we called him, but he said the lower readings were an anomaly. So, what do engineers do when they face an anomaly? They perform more testing and collect more data. So, that’s what I did.
To make a long story short, I was able to use the data to slowly wean myself off the insulin. Within one month, I had gone from 60 units of insulin a day to 15 units a day. Within another two weeks I was down to 0 units. My primary care physician was happy for me, but, my endocrinologist was not happy. He warned me that I was going through a “honeymoon period” and would have to return to the insulin shots within 3 months. When I returned to the endocrinologist after 3 months, my average blood glucose level was 87.5 mg/dl (normal for a non-diabetic is 80-100 mg/dl, the average for a diabetic is 150-190 mg/dl). My hemoglobin A1C was 4.5% (normal is 4.3%-5.5%). He was shocked, but told me my readings would increase and return to the higher levels within the next 6 months. But, it’s been more than 6 years now, and my blood glucose average is 92.5 mg/dl and my hemoglobin A1C is 4.9%.
We Are Penn State!
(List of College Engineering Courses)
During my senior year in high school, I was very fortunate to receive a full scholarship to attend the Pennsylvania State University, aka Penn State. I attended the Shenago Valley branch campus for the first two years, and then transfered to the main campus for the last two years. The Shenango Valley campus had a very supportive environment, with great professors, such as Dr. Halpern (Chemistry), Professor John Houlihan (Physics), and Ms. H? (Calculus).
The following video provides a list of many of the engineering courses that enabled me to have a successful career as an engineer, and provide the foundation that eventually played a role in helping me defeat my diabetes.
There’s no doubt in my mind that my Xerox experience in system engineering and test engineering helped me to develop a structured test plan that helped me to safely wean off the insulin, despite what the doctors were saying. This Xerox experience also helped me to develop Ishikawa diagrams, flow charts and other diagrams.
But, the benefits from my Xerox experience didn’t end there. Because of my Xerox experience in developing manuals and documentation, I was able to develop a 400-page Word manuscript for my first book. If I had asked a book publisher to do this for me, it would have cost me more than $25,000 – which would have discouraged me from writing the book.
And because I spent a few years as a Xerox product trainer developing training programs, I was able to develop a corporate training program and implement that program for several small companies and organizations -- to train their employees, and also some healthcare professionals – all because of my Xerox training background.
But, the benefits from my Xerox experience didn’t end there. Because of my Xerox experience in developing manuals and documentation, I was able to develop a 400-page Word manuscript for my first book. If I had asked a book publisher to do this for me, it would have cost me more than $25,000 – which would have discouraged me from writing the book.
And because I spent a few years as a Xerox product trainer developing training programs, I was able to develop a corporate training program and implement that program for several small companies and organizations -- to train their employees, and also some healthcare professionals – all because of my Xerox training background.
