Interview someone who is living with a chronic illness. What are their living experiences? What are they doing to try to maintain their health despite the disease? You may use a pseudo name to protect their identity.
A chronic disease is a disease that is long lasting, it cannot be prevented by vaccine or cured by medication, nor does it disappear. Many chronic diseases affect more women than men. Women living with chronic disease need to understand, prevent and manage her condition to live a satisfactory life. My mother is living with a chronic disease known as Diabetes. Diabetes affects 24 million people in the United States and women make up almost half of this total (Alexander, L. 2009). My mother has Type 2 Diabetes where body develops resistance to insulin. Cause of diabetes is heredity, obesity, or a history of eating an overabundance of carbohydrate-heavy foods. My mom told me that all her life she maintained her weight. She was never overweight even after having two children she never gained any weight. But, after she had my youngest brother who is 16 now she was not able to lose the weight. She had him by C-Section and about year after that surgery they found out she had Uterine Fibroids. She had a surgery to remove the fibroids and it weight almost 4 pounds. It took her long time to recover from that. Since, she knew that her chance of getting this chronic illness is pretty high because both her parents had diabetes, she always maintained herself very well. Now she is doing whatever she can to slow the progression of diabetes. Her doctor told her that if she maintains the low carbohydrate diet and exercise more she can reduce or eliminate the use of medication. After she found out she had diabetes she was devastated because she saw her parents live with this illness. At first, it was hard for her to do regular blood-glucose checkup and take medications everyday but, now she is use to it. She is carefully watching her diet and exercising regularly. She has to test her blood glucose level 3-4times a day. She has to eat a portion size meal or snack every 2-3 hours. If for some reason she skips one meal her blood glucose levels goes down which causes her to be very hungry. She had to make few changes in her diet but those changes were for her healthier life. She is living with diabetes and that’s the fact that cannot be changed but instead to stressing herself about it she is incorporating it with her daily life.
References:
Alexander, L. (2009). Other Chornic Diseases and Condition. New Dimensions in Women's Health (5 ed., pp. 310-322). Boston: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
I thought your blog was very informative, Susmani. Reading about your mother and what she has gone through and goes through now on a daily basis reminds me so much of my grandmother. She also has diabetes and her symptoms are very similar to your mothers. If she misses a meal, her blood sugar goes down as well. My mom always has to stay on top of her about her eating because she is older and sometimes doesn't realize what could happen if she doesn't eat. I like what you said at the end about instead of her stressing out about it, she just incorporates it in her daily life. :)
ReplyDeleteCarla Keeley
My mother has Multiple Sclerosis, so I can relate to you on our mothers dealing with a chronic illness. It's hard, but we get through it, don't we? It is fortunate that there are many ways in dealing with these illnesses, such as therapies, mediacations and other ways to slow the progression of the disease. I think knowledge on how to maintain a healthy diet and exercise are very crucial as well. I wish the best for your mom and I'm sure she is an extremely strong human being, just like mine. :)
ReplyDelete-Sarah Petersen
Hey Susmani,
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately millions of people have diabetes but it’s all about how you deal with life’s obstacles. It sounds like your mother is another remarkable woman and mother who has had to make some changes in her life in order to maintain her health. Your mother has definitely made positive changes in her life and I hope her all of the best!
-Brittany LeBron
That must of been really hard on her. But at least she took control over her life and survived. Some people would not change any aspect of their life if they knew. She took the recongnition to be strong and pursue a good life.
ReplyDelete