Do you remember the day you were diagnosed and what you felt when the doctor told you why you were unwell? “You have developed a condition called diabetes.” Many people feel a great loss at that moment perceiving that diabetes is incurable and requires intense therapy and management. Many, if not most people may not know much about diabetes and will require a great deal of Diabetes Self-Management Education
(DSME) and Diabetes Self-Management Support (DSMS) in order to move ahead with confidence.
An individual with Type 2 diabetes states as follows: “Sometime in the early 1980s my blood work had indicated ‘diabetes mellitus’, but my physician never said a word. Then, in 1984, a lab test indicated that my blood glucose was in excess of 200 mg/dl [11.1 mmol/l]. My new physician announced that I had diabetes and would need insulin for the rest of my life! He demonstrated how I was to inject myself in my thighs, arms, or stomach with an orange. I left his office with insulin, syringes, and an orange, but no knowledge of diabetes.
Blood glucose testing occurred three times a week at my hospital-based physician’s office. Diabetes was never discussed beyond the amount of insulin I needed to inject. I never mentioned my diabetes to anyone and my life of twelve-hour workdays went back into gear. I frequently skipped insulin as well as breakfast and lunch. Various medical professionals’ interest in my health status was limited to the question,
‘How’s your diabetes?’ I responded by saying that I didn’t ‘need’ insulin and even ‘I don’t have diabetes.’
The real beginning of my education about diabetes care came when I had quadruple by-pass surgery in 2000. I learned the importance of diet, exercise, daily multiple testing of blood glucose, and daily adjustment of insulin. With all the public information about the negative impact that diabetes has on the body’s system, how
I could have ignored most of managing diabetes until my heart attack? For me, the answer dates back to 1984. A doctor I liked and trusted told me very little about diabetes. Today, I live with multiple complications. My current experience with six different physicians has taught me that the management of my diabetes rests with me. Currently, I inject bolus insulin five times a day to cover my meals and basal insulin once daily. In addition, I take fifteen oral prescription medications. Ironically, my primary educators about my disease have been other people with diabetes and the media; not my physicians.”
An individual with Type 1 diabetes shares her experience: “When I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in an emergency hospital room in 1976 at age 12, the diagnostic test showed my blood glucose at around 1500 mg/dl. For no apparent reason, I had collapsed at school. I was 5’5” tall, but I weighed about 60 lbs. I was weak, and on the brink of DKA coma but still alert. After my parents and I were told I had developed type 1 diabetes, the attending doctor took over from the nurse to wheel me to ICU.
As he was pushing me through the halls, he told me I would die early if I didn’t take my insulin shots but regardless I would likely suffer blindness and probably amputation. He wheeled me right up to a window of the hospital outpatient diabetic clinic so I could see the victims of diabetes first-hand. I was so unwell I could hardly keep my head up but he forced me to look into the eyes of the man sitting in a wheelchair without one leg and then directed me to gaze at a young woman with bandages on her eyes. On the way to the nurses’ station he informed me I would not be able to have any children and would be lucky if I lived past 35. He also shared a polite version of his insights with my parents the next day.
Kids can be intuitive. Even in my weak state, I knew that my experience was odd. Something told me that this thing called diabetes made people crazy.
SUNNEWS
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