“Wordless Wednesday”

Week 3: LEARN
Wednesday, November 17

“Wordless Wednesday” – Share a picture or video on your blog! (need ideas for subject matter? What’s the first thing you remember learning about diabetes? Who did you learn it from?)

The first thing I remember learning about diabetes I learned not necessarily from someone, but by observing someone.  My dad's uncle had uncontrolled diabetes, and eventually died as a result of complications from the disease.  I remember him having lots of health problems, and hearing that he "didn't take care of himself"-- He was a bachelor who lived alone out in the country, and from what I understand didn't monitor his blood glucose like he should have.  My memories of him are vague, but the biggest thing I remember about him is that he badly burned his feet sitting in front of a heater due to diabetic neuropathy, a complication that results from high blood sugars and causes loss of feeling in the extremities.  As a result of that injury, he had to have part of his foot amputated, then more of his foot, and he never really recovered from it.  Eventually, these complications (along with others from the disease, I'm sure) led to his death.

It's a sad story, and what's sadder is that almost everyone knows someone who has experienced the same thing.  In the past, diabetes has always been associated with blindness, amputation, and all sorts of other ailments, and even today some people believe that being diagnosed with the disease automatically means that these complications will be your future.  Uncontrolled diabetes does lead to complications, but the good thing is that most of these complications can be prevented through good control over your blood glucose numbers.

This video has good information about the prevention of diabetes complications, as well as some of its symptoms:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WzfQoWWUCU

This one discusses amputation more specifically, and does include some graphic images of amputation, so "viewer discretion is advised"!:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOOCnlVogeM