@Curran welcome to the forum.
Many people who receive such a diagnosis are shocked, and it does take time to adjust mentally.
There are many inspiring post on the forum from people who have started with HBa1c at similar levels to yours (and much higher) who have dramatically improved their situation (search "successes"), and brought their blood sugars down. SO why not you?
I think you will find the forum generally friendly and very helpful. In my reading of the forum, most people who have been diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes (Vegetarian, Meat eater, Pescetarian, Vegan) have been eating more Carbohydrates than their body can deal with. Many (most?) people have tackled this by reducing the amount of carbohydrate in their diet. Most people then see an improvement in their blood sugars.
As you read round the forum, you will see that many aspect ts of Official Healthy Eating advice are not healthy for diabetics. All of the carbohydrate you eat is turned into sugar by your body, so eating a lot of Carbohydrate is likely to raise your blood sugar.
Most people on the forum find that using a Meter to measure blood sugars is very helpful in finding what foods have a bad effect on blood sugars, and what foods do not. There are a number of threads on the forum on choosing a meter (use the search function). The cost of the testing strips is the major ongoing expense.
Best wishes for your journey