The Eabes Vs. Life With Type 1 Diabetes

Living with a chronic condition not only effects the individual, but it effects the entire family. An adolescent living with a chronic health condition not only depends on their family for support, but also on support from their friends, classmates, and healthcare team (Rostami, Parsa-Yekta, Najafi Ghezeljeh, & Vanaki, 2014). Supporting an individual with a chronic disease leaves an emotional impact and can be financially straining as well. Families living with a sick child must find strategies to cope. Whether the coping strategies utilized are positive or negative, they leave a lasting effect on the entire family, as well as the child living with the condition (Woodson, Thakkar, Burbage, Kichler, & Nabors, 2015). Involvement of the parents in this situation is vital to the child’s future success in managing their illness (Landers, Friedrich, Jawad, & Miller, 2016). This paper will explore one family’s story of living with, and coping with, a child who has recently been diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes (T1D).

Diabetes is a disease where the body is unable to produce or use insulin effectively. Insulin is needed for proper storage and use of carbohydrates. Without it, blood sugar levels can become too high or too low, resulting in a diabetic emergency. It affects about 7.8% of the population. The incidence of diabetes is known to increase with age. It’s the leading cause of end-stage renal disease in the US, and is the primary cause of blindness and foot and leg amputation. It is known to cause neuropathy in up to 70% of diabetic patients. Individuals with diabetes are twice as likely to develop cardiovascular disease. There are two types of diabetes: Type 1 and Type 2.

Diabetes, Diabetes Mellitus, is a chronic illness this means that it has no cure and the symptoms persist over a long period of time. This illness is a result of an imbalance of hormones, insulin, produced in the pancreas. Insulin plays an important role in how the body uses food. Insulin enables the cells in the bloodstream to absorb and use glucose for fuel. If the pancreas produces too little or no insulin or if the insulin doesn’t work properly the person may become diabetic. Therefore, diabetics are not able to properly convert food into fuels needed by the body to function, which can seriously lead to physical consequences.

I know that you are trying to help, but I need you to know that my life is much more complicated than the aspects that I let you see. Diabetes can be a very degenerative disease. Insulin helps us survive, but it doesn’t cure us. If we don’t live the textbook (nearly impossible, saintly) life of a diabetic, the consequences can be devastating. One-third of our lives could be cut-off. We can lose circulation in our feet and hands. Our organs can slowly corrode, and blindness is an imminent dread for 1 in 10 diabetics who don’t keep their blood-sugar under constant control.

29 million people in the United States (9.3 percent) have diabetes, and of those 29 million approximately 7.25 million are unaware that they are diabetic (www.cdc.gov). Diabetes describes a group of metabolic diseases in which the person has high blood glucose because insulin production is inadequate, or because the body 's cells do not respond properly to insulin, or both. Diabetes can be divided into two groups: Type 1 diabetes and Type 2 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is also referred to as juvenile diabetes and is usually found in children and young adults. Only 5% of people with diabetes have this form of the disease. Type 1 diabetes restricts the body from producing insulin, a hormone that is needed to convert sugar, starches and other food into energy needed for daily life. Type 1 diabetes can be managed by using insulin therapy and other treatments to help those infected maintain insulin to convert sugars, starches and foods into energy(www.diabetes.org). Type 2 diabetes is the most common, people with Type 2 diabetes have insulin resistance meaning the body does not use insulin properly. At first, the pancreas makes a surplus insulin to compensate for the lack on insulin in your body. However, over time your pancreas is not able to keep up and can not make enough insulin to keep your blood glucose at normal levels(www.diabetes.org). Complications of diabetes in the long term include potential heart disease, stroke, and kidney damage.

Diabetes is a chronic illness that requires continuous medical care and patient self-management education to prevent acute complications and to reduce the risk of long-term complications[ ].

Treatment of diabetes is important to minimize the harm that is done to the body by diabetes. In addition to exercise and a special diet, type 1 diabetes patients need regular insulin injections to lower the blood sugar levels, while people with type 2 diabetes usually don’t need insulin shots, most of them require insulin tablets in addition to healthy diets and regular exercise and a few don’t even need the insulin tablets. (2, 7)

For this assignment, I interviewed a thirty-two year old African American male with type-one diabetes. I learned having this particular disease is difficult to manage; nutritious eating, exercise, watching their disorder, taking medication and reducing their risk for problems are usually part of your their day-to-day routine. It seems that all of this is pretty overwhelming and there are two main types of diabetes (type-one and type-two). This particular illness distresses your body’s capability to generate or use insulin. Insulin is a hormone. When your body turns the food you eat into energy, it’s usually referred to as glucose or sugar. If you produce little or no insulin, or are insulin resistant, too much sugar rests in your blood. Blood glucose levels are greater than standard for individuals with diabetes. The cause of diabetes is unknown. Genetics, diet, obesity and lack of exercise may play a role in developing diabetes, specifically in cases of type-two diabetes.

My paternal grandmother, Lucille, has many chronic conditions, yet we decided to focus on her diabetes for the majority of questions concerning her health and wellness. When asked, Lucille could not remember when she was first diagnosed with diabetes, but does remember when she “switched from taking pills to taking insulin.” She began taking insulin the spring of 2009 after her doctor decided it was time to switch. She has had two incidences where her blood sugar was so low that she could not even call out for help. Both times were in the night and thankfully at that time her husband (my grandfather) found her and was able to get the necessary help. After these incidences, she switched to taking her insulin in the morning instead of before bed.

Instead of just eating when I wanted, I had to poke my finger and then get a shot. Now, instead of shots every time I eat, I only needs shots every three days. I think that diabetes has changed me in many ways. It definitely made me a stronger person. I joined groups on Facebook with other diabetics, and even joined a support group in a local town. Being with other people who were like me, made me feel like I was the same after that. Being Type 1 Diabetic has made me a stronger, more independent, and more confident person overall. Having to deal with all of the highs and lows of diabetes has shown me that sometimes I need to work hard to receive good results. Every three months I get a blood test of my average blood sugar for the last three months. That number helps keep me in line, and I need to put all of my effort into improving my health. One key thing that effects blood sugars is stress. That has had a big impact on my life, because I don’t chose when I’m stressed, I just am. That makes me realize that I can’t control everything in my life, but I need to do my best that I can

Because our patient is a college student I believe an insulin pen is the ideal insulin administration option. A pen would be easier than a needle and syringe between classes, and or at the dining hall when he or she is eating. Teach the patient how to inject the insulin with the pen or syringe, which includes, drawing up the insulin with ONLY an insulin syringe, and or priming the insulin pen with 2 units prior to injection. Furthermore, before any injection, the patient should always check the blood sugar before. Also, depending on the type of insulin the patient should be taught proper ways to store the insulin, whether refrigerated or not. Additionally, depending on the type of insulin prescribed it is essential to teach the patient when to take the insulin, the proper dose, if the insulin can be mixed with other insulin, and the appearance of the insulin. Rotation of the insulin injection sites is essential, however teaching the patient how to recognized signs of infection at the injection site is equally

Close your eyes for a second and imagine. Think of what it would be like to one day wake up and find that part of your body has stopped working properly, to learn that you now have to depend on needles and artificial insulin to stay alive. Now envision that no one can tell you why this has happened, but it is irremediable. What I have just described is the frustration of living with type one diabetes (T1D). That is right, there are two types of diabetes, but do you know the difference?

Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about type one diabetes and the dangers of living with it. Thesis Statement: Type one diabetes is a dangerously incurable disease due to the blood’s sensitivity to sugar, inadequate insulin production, and the lack of types of treatments.

One thing in my life that usually goes unnoticed would have to be my diabetes. I was diagnosed with Type 1 on March 5, 2009. Most people tend to not notice any difference between me and others, due to the fact that I try not to let it hold me back from life. It is important to me because I will have to live with the diabetes for the rest of my life unless a cure is found. I wish others would notice what diabetes really is instead of a disease that only affects those who are overweight. Type 1 diabetes is important to me also because it has affected many in my family and I hope to someday be a part of finding the cure. My diabetes is the main reason my goal is to enter the medical field. I want to help others like me that are struggling through

An advantage of having an insulin pump is that the device delivers insulin to you. It keeps your blood glucose level in range. If your blood glucose level gets too high you can press a button on your pump to produce insulin (American Diabetes Association “Insulin Pumps”). It is a great machine to have if you have diabetes, it will make your life much easier. This has lots of advantages but there are also lots of disadvantages of the present technology which is why we are improving this a lot.