Certified diabetes educators Mary O’Connor and Janice Messick help their “clients” fight diabetes — and win

They’ve never rushed into a burning building to save a child or single-handedly stopped a crime, but Mary O’Connor and Janice Messick are heroes. Want proof? Ask those they’ve helped, people like Joe Johnson, and you’ll get an unequivocal answer. “Mary and Janice saved my life,” Johnson says, his wife nodding vigorously in agreement.

Such praise brings a slight flush to O’Connor’s cheeks, but she acknowledges that the changes Johnson, 70, has made in his behavior since 1996, when he began following her and Messick’s advice about diabetes testing, exercise, diet and regular medication, have made a difference in his quality of life. It’s all in a day’s work for O’Connor, a registered nurse and certified diabetes educator, and Messick, a registered dietitian and CDE as well, who both work at Englewood (N.J.) Hospital and Medical Center’s Diabetes Center.

“Joe was clueless about diabetes when he and his wife first came to see us,” O’Connor says. “And that’s often a good thing, because you really can start from scratch in helping people change their behavior by answering their diabetes questions.” Messick and O’Connor see from four to eight “clients” (they try not to use the word “patient”) on an average day.

“It’s very individualized,” says Messick. “Some people come in looking for one piece of information and we give it to them and never see them again. Others come back three or four times, and some are like Joe and see us regularly. If we’re talking to someone who’s pregnant, we might see her once a week.”

There are between 15,000 and 20,000 CDEs in the U.S. To qualify for the CDE exam, administered by the National Certification Board for Diabetes Educators since 1986, a person must be a medical professional - registered nurses and registered dietitians are the most common credentials - and have worked for a minimum of two years in diabetes education, have a minimum of 1,000 hours of practice and be employed in the field. For those who meet the criteria, it’s a rewarding and fast-changing field.

“The way we manage diabetes today is totally different from even five or 10 years ago,” says O’Connor, who was among the first to take the CDE exam. “We have more information and more tools now - new drugs, insulin pumps, continuous glucose sensors - and it’s exciting because there’s so much change happening so quickly. This is the place to be.”

Messick echoes her partner’s sentiments. “The light-bulb moments wipe away all the frustrations,” she says. “It’s satisfying to know that we can help people look at diabetes differently, to do something about it instead of being afraid of it.”