An African American Old Retired Teacher Who Was Diagnosed With Advanced Type2 Diabetes One Year Ago

Diabetes has recently become a focal point of health care systems around the world due to its high prevalence and the severity of secondary complications caused by the disease. Over the course of my project on diabetes, I have had the opportunity to speak with a group of diabetics to understand from a patient’s perspective how diabetes is managed in a rural community. While I found that while some patients ignored treatment and refused to make any dietary changes, the majority of the patients I interviewed were well-informed and actively managing diabetes in their everyday life.

Have you ever wondered what your aunt went through, what her life was like? Do you think that she wanted to die a horrible, rotting death? Like me, she probably had plenty of people saying to her, “Just take your medicine and watch what you eat. You’ll be OK. Those terrible things only happen to diabetics who don't take care of themselves.”

Diabetes  is a serious health condition that is a chronic illness for the African Americans. Diabetes preventions strategies in African American community can be a tricky task to contain and prevent for several reasons I will discuss in this paper.

Over this last week, I have received a patient named Sherman “Red” Yoder. He is an 80-year-old male farmer, who lives alone in the farmhouse that he had grown up in. Red was married for 50 years and has been a widow now for 10 years. Red has one son, Jon, who takes care of the farmhouse and the land. He has one daughter-in-law, Judy, who is in involved with his care. Red was diagnosed with diabetes six months ago. Diabetes mellitus is a chronic condition that affects your body 's ability to use the energy found in food. As of only a few weeks ago, Red has been managing his diabetes with insulin. Insulin is a hormone that controls blood sugar. Before he began using insulin, he managed his diabetes with oral medication. After carefully assessing Red’s chronic illness, diabetes, many red flags were presented that could interfere with his management. In turn, this would cause further complications.

Uncontrolled diabetes can affect nearly every organ of the body; of which, heart disease and kidney failure are most commonly impacted. Known as diabetes mellitus, a collective term for various blood abnormalities, the term diabetes refers to either a scarcity of insulin in the body or the body’s inability to accept insulin. Though the symptoms of diabetes are manageable, many are unaware as to having it. According to the CDC report “2011 Diabetes Fact Sheet,” approximately 6 million people in the United States have undiagnosed diabetes. Undetected, diabetes can become deadly. In a recent World Health Organization report “Diabetes Action Now: An Initiative of the World Health Organization and the International Diabetes Federation,” it

This essay will inform readers about the best practices, published guidelines, and clinical pathways for management of diabetes. Diabetes is a serious issue that affects millions of people. Unrecognized pre diabetes is also a growing concern that is increasing dramatically. Diabetes is not diagnosed for most homeless people, because they do not do have a yearly physical check-up. Published guidelines are useful to patients and practitioners because they focus on the improvement of care. Clinical pathways are also important, because they focus on the outcome and assessment of their achievement.

There are nearly 30 million people living with diabetes in the U.S. African Americans are disproportionately affected by diabetes, with 13.2% having been diagnosed with diabetes, compared to 7.6% of non-Hispanic whites. They are also at an increased risk for serious complications of diabetes, which include blindness, kidney disease and amputations. Although the risk for complications can’t be eliminated, good control of diabetes has been shown to reduce those risks.

He told me that he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in December 2010. Since his doctor prescribed rapid acting insulin for his diabetes, I asked him if it is acceptable to talk about his medical condition in front of his family. He gave me consent to talk about his medical problems in front of his wife and children. I suggested to him the need to take his insulin shot right before eating a meal. I informed him about the insulin medications that he was taking which was lispro. It has an onset of 10 to 30 minutes, peak time of 30 to 3 hours and a duration of 3 to 5 hours. Furthermore, I emphasized the need for him to eat a balanced diet, and the importance of exercise. I encouraged him to eat small amounts of carbohydrates during 30 minutes of exercise to prevent hypoglycemia. I also taught him that the signs and symptoms of hypoglycemia are tachycardia, irritation, excessive hunger, restless, diaphoretic and depression. He told me that he did not like to walk and do any activity besides going to his job. I brought some articles about how eating healthy, taking his medication, and regular exercise has shown to prevent, slow down the progressive process on type 2 diabetes. I suggested to him to start walking around his neighborhood, and later he could find a support group of friends can walk together with. For instance, Lewis, Sharon, Margaret Heitkemper, and Linda Bucher. "Medical-Surgical Nursing: Assessment and Management of Clinical

Mrs. Jameson was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes one year ago, and has been on treatment since then. She manages her own medication, and has a case manager who regularly checks up on her to ensure that her medications are up to date, as well as her physical exercise regime. However, the admission into the emergency room a week ago is an indication that she has not taken enough water and observing her diet, which has resulted in the observed symptoms. Her diagnosis is: Hypernatremia related to excessive loss of water and elevated sodium

The following is a case study of a 41 year-old Mexican American woman who was recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

This is a diabetes case study of Mr. Charles D., a 45-year old male who is experiencing classic symptoms of hyperglycaemia. Recently divorced and living alone in a new home, Charles has complained of recent weight loss, excessive thirst, and frequent urination. He is a busy CEO for a major technological company. This case study for Charles will educate him as to what are the causes of diabetes: explain the presenting signs and symptoms emphasize the psycho-social impact to his amended life, and instruct him in the economic impact that he and millions share.

Patient G.M. is a four-year-old female from a middle class family living in San Diego. She originally presented with her mother and father to her general practitioner with lethargy and several vomiting episodes in the past few days. Her father stated concern after realizing her frequent urination in the past week. Her vital signs upon initial assessment were HR 140 RR 22 Temperature 102.7 degrees Fahrenheit, BP 70/62, O2 saturation 97%, 32 pounds, and 40 inches tall. Her General practitioner was concerned about type I diabetes and performed a blood sugar check. Upon assessment the monitor read HI, indicating that the level was above 500 and too high for the monitor to read. The doctor informed them she needed immediate treated in the closest pediatric ER due to the potential for diabetic ketoacidosis.

The main concern that JB as well as this author identified as needing to be addressed to ensure JB’s health and well being for her and her children was the prevention of diabetes mellitus. JB’s genogram revealed that she had numerous family members on her mother’s side that suffered from the consequences of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus. Her maternal grandmother and four out of five of her grandmother’s children, including JB’s mother, acquired type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Patient strongly believes that faith plays an important part in his health, but he knows that he could also do much more for himself in order to improve his health. Mr. Ferrell quotes, “I can’t expect God to help me if I don’t help myself” (Ferrel, 2013). Praying and honoring God does fullfil his spiritual needs but it does not magically improve his health. He mentioned that his weakness is food and as a result he struggles with his diabetic and renal diets; eating healthier could improve the patient’s health. Mr. Ferrell believes and knows that he needs to treat his body better as God has been so merciful with him and considers his eating habits a sin. As a retired man, he finds time to do many Church activities that benefit both the community and himself. He likes doing community services as it helps release some stress caused by his illness. Being involved in Church has taken him to Jerusalem, which to him was the most wonderful experience. Traveling has played an important role for him but cannot do so often due to his dependency of a machine to clean his blood. What went well

Diabetes is a major problem in our society today. Many people have heard about the disease; however, they do not know too much about its complications. Diabetes is a chronic, progressive and lifelong condition that affects the body’s ability to use the energy found in food (WebMD, 2016). Many new cases are confirmed every year and unfortunately, many go undiagnosed for years. Diabetes is a serious disease and need to be taking seriously. The disease can lead to many other health problems such as blindness, nerve damage and kidney diseases. The more the community understand and made aware of the seriousness of the disease, the better it can be control and or prevented.