Personal Narrative: My Glucose Ad

eflective Account 3 : Blood glucose monitoring Description During my placement I was asked by my mentor to perform a blood glucose reading . The patient was a 78 year old gentleman Mr P with diabetes type 2. I have introduced myself , checked the patient's identity and asked for permission to perform the blood glucose reading and explained the procedure prior to insulin administration and obtained a valid consent. I washed my hands and put on gloves ; Mr P refused to washed his hands saying that he washed them before my arrival.

The sun was out and beating down on us already, it seemed as we had been out there for hours but really only minutes. Yet somehow I wouldn’t wanna be anywhere else on this day except the baseball field. Little did I know what would happen that day. It was a Friday too, but for this game I felt good and knew something good would happen or bad. Either way i was prepared for the game. This was a game that would determine if I would start the last home game, so I had to do better.

When I was five years old, I was diagnosed with type one diabetes. It was 11 years ago on New Year’s Eve, and I was celebrating the holiday by consuming an immense amount of sugar. My mother, who already had two other young children with diabetes, immediately recognized that I was suffering from the symptoms of hyperglycemia. After I was diagnosed, I was given a book and a bear. The book was about how the other kids would react to my diagnosis, and the bear was covered in colourful patches that corresponded to the areas on my own body that I could give my insulin injections.

My life wouldn’t be considered normal. My parents were immigrants from Pakistan trying to create a better life for them and their children, and they’re the only ones from their families to move to America. They moved from New York, to Richardson, and lastly to Rockwall, Texas in 2005. I was born in 2000 but when events in my life truly started shaping me was in the summer of 2004.

On July 14th 2010, when I was twelve years old, I was rushed to the hospital because my blood sugar levels were 407. Before my mom had observed that I was rapidly losing weight, drinking a great amount of water, and was continuously tired. My mom was worried that I had type one diabetes because others in my family has diabetes.

Diabetes is a lifelong disease that can affect both children and adults. This disease is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. It claims about 178,000 lives each year. Type one diabetes, also known as insulin dependent diabetes mellitus, usually occurs in people less than thirty years of age, but it also may appear at any age. Diabetes is a very serious disease with many life threatening consequences, but if it is taken care of properly, diabetics can live a normal life.

Around the end of January I began to feel ill. I was becoming weaker, I couldn’t even stand in the shower by myself. I lost around 10 pounds too. In the beginning of February, I went to the doctor with my mom. The doctor said we shouldn’t worry about it and it was probably just the flu. She also took a couple blood tests just in case it was something else. My mom took me to work with her, because she didn’t want to leave me alone at home. Later on that day, the doctor called my mom and told her to bring me into the hospital as soon as possible. At the time I had no idea what diabetes was. I was only 8 years old. It was February 9, 2007, and I was diagnosed with Type One Diabetes. I ended up staying in the hospital for that whole week, and stayed

Very true. What was my little jolt? Yes, I know I’m 56 and it has me take a while to figure things out also appreciate them. The depression likes to take over, however I’ve made a decision to change for good. I’ve lost from my family so much that enough is enough. Not be able to assist to my granddaughter’s baptism, it has been the little jolt I need. I’m not at the family picture from that special day. I broke into tears.

When most people look at me, they probably don't realize that every day I deal with type one diabetes. Which, is rather ironic considering that diabetes is a vast part of my life. Not a day goes by where I can just stop caring about my blood sugars or the carbohydrates in the foods I eat, even though doing so would be much easier.

During Christmas vacation, three weeks before my 4th birthday, I began eating more; more than I had and more than I should. I was always hungry, extremely hungry. Hungry, thirsty and tired, painfully dragging myself to and from day to day activities. I gorged myself with food, yet my pants became looser, arms thinner and stomach flatter. The world swirled around me; I couldn’t stand without stumbling. On December 23, 2001, I entered the hospital kicking and screaming, tired and alone. Since that day, I haven’t seen food the same way.

When my husband was first diagnosed with Type Two Diabetes, I was extremely overwhelmed. There were visits to his doctor, a nutritionist, and Diabegtes classes. he had to take medication, and also give himself insulin injections twice a day.

n Mendenhall et al.’s, Speaking Through Diabetes, the authors examine how social suffering may be embodied in diabetes using Kleinman’s concept of cultural narrative. They consider how epidemics achieve social significance, through patient experience and symbolism in everyday narrative. Patients tell their illness narratives to explain their suffering to others but also use narratives to make sense of illness experience for themselves. The use of explanatory models and beliefs about an illness helps patients makes sense of the illness in a particular context. As Mendenhall et al. highlight, Mexican explanatory models often identify stress and extreme emotion as the main cause of diabetes.

There once was a time when when I had so much self doubt it could fill an entire ocean, it was the 4th grade, and it all started by a kid named Joe, Joe was the meanest kid in school, Joe wasn’t just a kid he was like some super villain, and I guess in this particular story the superhero doesn’t win. It was the first day of the 4th grade, I walked in as confident as ever, because of my brand new fire truck red cape and a blue rubber mask, as I walked into school Joe lll approached me and said

My score is 239, which means I am at a moderate life crisis. According to Holmes-Rahe scale, I have a 50% chance of illness such as a headache, diabetes, fatigue, hypertension, chest, back pain, ulcer and infectious disease. I happen to have frequent headaches that appear to be stress headaches, and I was diagnosed with diabetes six months ago. Currently, having increased fatigue, maybe due to the lack of sleep. Additionally, started taking omeprazole six months ago due to a right mid-abdominal pain that my doctor believe could be an ulcer. I made changes in my eating habits and lifestyle when diagnosed with diabetes; however, I have long ways to achieving wellness.

During the sugar experiment, my eyes were opened to how much sugar is in the foods I eat every day. My family is lactose intolerant, food preservative sensitive and I personally do not eat beef or pork of health reason, so going sugar-free was a little easier than expected. However, due to all the food restrictions, many of my substitutes had some form of sugar in them. For example, the sweetened almond milk as a substitute contained added sugar. Throughout the day, I realized exactly how much sugar I put into my body with my regular eating habits.