The Effects Of Diabetes

The Effects of Diabetes

Donna's family has a long history of diabetes. Since there are many people in her family who are diabetics, "at age twelve [Donna's] parents took [her] to the doctor because [she] had constant fatigue, stayed thirsty, and had excessive urination" (Jackson par. 1). She also "lost around twenty pounds in a short period of time, weighing in at only sixty-two pounds" (par. 1). The doctor did tests and diagnosed her with juvenile or type 1 diabetes. She was an insulin-dependent diabetic. This was often hard for her to deal with because she "did not want [her] friends to think of [her] differently" (par. 1). She always did her best to manage her diabetes by exercising and watching her diet.

Donna "knew that many symptoms and problems are the same for all people, but that people are bothered with the problems differently and some much sooner than others" (Jackson par. 1). She never thought that she would start having "so many problems at a young age" (par. 1). Around the age of thirty she started experiencing eye problems. She had hemorrhages behind both eyes, lost sight in her right eye, and three months later lost sight in her left. She "underwent laser eye surgery in both eyes and had an additional surgery where the doctor went in behind [her] eyes to fix the hemorrhaging problem" (par. 2). She soon started noticing very poor circulation and swelling to her feet, ankles, and hands. She also had other problems with her feet and had to deal with neuropathy. She battled Urinary Tract Infections, UTIs, for twenty to thirty years. She took antibiotics to treat the problem, but they got so bad that it no longer helped (par. 2).

Doctors told her that she "would never get pregnant" because her "diabetes were so bad" (Jackson par. 4). At the age of 35 she found out that she was pregnant. Her swelling worsened and she went through a tough pregnancy. Problems with her diabetes led to an early delivery at six months with an emergency caesarian section (par. 4). Her son's lungs were not fully developed because of the early birth and he had a very low immune system. When he was just over seven months old his home health care nurse had pneumonia and he caught it. He was put in the hospital, but could not fight it and died at eight months (par. 4).

Shortly after the loss of her son she started having kidney problems and was put on peritoneal dialysis (Jackson par. 4). She did the dialysis at home from 9p.m. to 9a.m. seven days a week for about two and a half years. After she was on dialysis for a year she was put on a kidney and pancreas transplant list. She had to "undergo a stress test and cardio-cath test to check the condition of [her] heart" (par. 5). She passed the stress test but the cardio-cath test showed five blockages to her heart. Doctors and coordinators were contacted about test results and, because of rules and regulations, she had to be taken off of the transplant list until after she had open heart surgery. She had quadruple bypass surgery and the doctors were able to fix four of the five blockages. She went home from the hospital three days later and was put back on the transplant list after a thorough examination.

At this time she was still on dialysis and had the assistance of an insulin pump to help control her diabetes, but her dialysis was no longer pulling fluid from her body. She was retaining thirty-five to forty-five pounds of fluid at all times. "Eleven months later [she] got a call from MCV telling [her] that [she] could come for the transplant"; her new organs were awaiting her (Jackson par. 6). She underwent the kidney and pancreas transplant and sixteen hours later came out of surgery. "Immediately after the organs were put in," both began to work (par. 6).

As of July 4, 2006 she will have been insulin and dialysis free for five years. She lives a "very good and normal life and continue[s] to diet, exercise, and [take] [her] anti-rejection medication," which works very well for her (Jackson par. 7). Her heart is doing well and she now has 20/30 vision and no longer has circulation or fluid problems.

Diabetes is a chronic disease in which the pancreas produces either "little or no insulin" ("Overview" par. 4). Insulin is what helps glucose get into your cells in order to give you energy, making insulin a very important part of the life process. When there is not enough insulin, the glucose builds up in the blood, overflows into the urine, and passes out of the body (par. 4). Your blood glucose levels then get too high, causing pre-diabetes or diabetes ("What" par. 3). "Even when kept under control for years it eventually takes a heavy toll in some individuals," but if diagnosed and treated early, diabetes' effects may be lowered (Riedman 39).

There are three types of diabetes: type 1 diabetes, previously called juvenile diabetes; type 2 diabetes, formerly called adult-onset diabetes; and gestational diabetes. There are many signs that people may have before they find out they have diabetes, or they may have no signs at all ("What" par. 6). Some of the signs of diabetes are being thirsty, excessive urination, being hungry and/or fatigued, losing weight, having wounds that are slow to heal, having dry and itchy skin, losing feeling and having tingling in your feet, and having blurred vision (par. 5).

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease which "results when the body's system for fighting infection turns against a part of the body" ("Overview" par. 16). It accounts for about five to ten percent of diagnosed diabetes in the United States (par. 18). The symptoms usually develop over a short period and include increased thirst and urination, constant hunger, weight loss, blurred vision, and extreme fatigue (par. 20). It is usually diagnosed in children, teenagers, and young adults. In type 1 diabetes, "the beta cells of the pancreas no longer make insulin because the body's immune system has attacked and destroyed them" ("Diagnosis" par. 4). Type 1 diabetics must take insulin daily in order to live. If they are not diagnosed and treated with insulin, they can "lapse into a life-threatening diabetic coma, also known as diabetic ketoacidosis" ("Overview" par. 20).

The most common type of diabetes is type 2 diabetes. About ninety to ninety-five percent of people with diabetes have this type of diabetes ("Overview" par. 21). Type 2 is associated with older age, obesity, family history of diabetes, previous history of gestational diabetes, physical inactivity, and ethnicity, but can be diagnosed at any age (par. 21). The symptoms usually include fatigue,