Diabetes Education and Research Center
Back Chats
On Thu Dec 6 10:57:08 2001 Herb (Bear) (hjs38@swbell.net) said:
Jodi and I
have been home for about 11 hours. You are not going to believe what has
happened. Beth is home. She is not any better but she is home! The infectious
disease doctors decided that she would be better off at home due to her damaged
immune system. Hospital are known for being sources for bacterial infections.
The infection sources in hospitals have survived all sorts of cleaning and
disinfecting attempts. We are all more resistant to our own bacteria in our home
than we are to super strains of foreign infections in hospitals. This is the
doctors talking not Jodi or I. So they sent her home with IV anti-biotics,
feedings through a tube, oral meds through a tube, and dressing changes 3 times
a day. All to be administered by home health. Home health showed up that evening
dumped all the equipment and supplies in the floor and announced that they were
there to teach Beth how to self administer her meds that her insurance will not
pay to have them administered by home health. Beth has neither the strenth nor
the coordination to administer them. You have to "spike" the IV bags (3) which
almotst takes more strenth than Jodi has. You have to purge the air out of the
tubing and punch all the buttons on the pumps to determine how much of each of
the drugs she is to receive and over how long a period of time. Beth is so doped
up that she would not know what button she was pushing. Then you have to mix up
10 batches of her liquid food and oral meds and put them in huge plastice
syringes and then inject them very slowly into the tube that goes into her main
intestine. When this is done you have to clean all of her tube sites and make
sure they are sterile and put new dressings on them. (4 sites) All of this takes
4 hours if everything goes off without a hitch. This has to be done at 11:00 AM,
7:00 PM, and 3.00AM. Becky lives with Beth and she and Rick (Beth's husband)
were trying to keep up with this when we got there. But they both have full time
jobs. Jodi kept up with it until today when I said "WHOA" there is a limit to
what this women can do. Everybody in the family has been in touch with the
doctors trying to tell them that this is just not going to work. We have a cabin
reserved and paid for next week Suday night through Wedneday night. It is to
late to get any refund but that is neither here nor there. I looked at Jodi on
the way home tonight and realized that she is worn to a nubbin and sure needs
some rest. All of our other kids are trying to tell us to go ahead and go to the
lake that they will see to Beth. I agree that Jodi sure needs it but don't know
if I can convice her that Beth will get along without her. Sometimes it sure
gets rough when the whole family looks to you to be its leader and as a tired 63
year old man with one leg, less than half a heart, who is going blind and losing
the circulation in his extremities it is difficult to feel like and operate like
a leader. It's kind of like when Kevin at age 4 brought me the lifeless body of
his kitten which had been killed by a neighbor dog and with all the faith in the
world that "Daddy" could do anything said "Daddy fix it!!" I don't know what we
are going to do or what we can do. Thanks for letting me unload on you guys.
Herb (Bear) and Jodi
On Wed Dec 5 18:20:42 2001 () said:
goomba = Italy-American racial slur
On Wed Dec 5 16:46:13 2001 Faye aka fara (fteague@sugar-river.net) said:
Hi
to everyone. I see that I have been mentioned in the last 2 posts. Sorry but it
was not me that wrote anything. I just got back from my vacation in Maine. Had a
great time. Was very relaxing and also fun. Just what I needed. Spent
Thanksgiving with my sister and her husband in their new home. It is beautiful.
I am so happy for her them. Spent the last week with my sister-in-law. She took
me to the cemetary where my brother is buried. It has been 4 years almost since
he passed away. Doesn't seem possible. I had to have an MRI of my eye before I
went on vacation. Will be anxious to see what if anything it showed. My seeing
colors has changed a lot. I am seeing colors wrong. I thought that my sister had
gray drapes and that her husbands chair was gray when both were really green.
Their granddaughters hat was black and orange and I thought the orange was pink,
a carpet that was beige, I thought was lavender. At a traffic signal I thought
that the yellow light was a white one. So something is going on. Have any of you
experienced anything like that? If so , please let me know. Herb, I am really
sorry to hear about your daughter. I do hope that things will go better for you
and your family.
On Wed Dec 5 15:52:16 2001 () said:
Dear 15:33:30 -- Hate to disappoint you,
but that post at 10:44 was NOT Fara. It was ME! What a goomba!
On Wed Dec 5 15:33:30 2001 () said:
10.44.14 = FARA {APer}
On Wed Dec 5 10:44:14 2001 () said:
Faith -- Hope you feel better soon. The
holiday season is no time to be sick. Herb: Our thoughts and prayers are still
with you and your family.
On Wed Dec 5 10:16:22 2001 Faith () said:
It still amazes me what a common
ole cold can do to one's BG's. I started getting sick w/this cold on Monday, and
have been fighting to highs since. Hope everyone is ok. Anyone heard from
Herb?
On Wed Dec 5 09:54:35 2001 () said:
WHINER
On Wed Dec 5 09:27:38 2001 who cares (whocares@home) said:
Is this a place
to come to and try and learn about diabetes???? I don't think so. Am glad there
are other places, because this on is useless!!!!
On Tue Dec 4 16:33:08 2001 TO On Tue Dec 4 07:59:31 2001 RE: Diabetes and
heredity () said (????????????) said:
Did you write this or forget to leave
the source of this OUTDATED info
On Tue Dec 4 07:59:31 2001 RE: Diabetes and heredity () said:
Heredity is a
major cause of diabetes. If both parents have Type 2 diabetes, there is a chance
that nearly all of their children will have diabetes. If both parents have Type
1 diabetes, fewer than 20 percent of their children will develop Type 1
diabetes. In identical twins, if one twin develops Type 2 diabetes, the chance
is nearly 100 percent that the other twin will also develop it. In Type 1
diabetes, however, only 40 to 50 percent of the second twins will develop the
disease, indicating that while inheritance is important, environmental factors
(for example, too much food, too much stress, viral infection, and so forth) are
also involved in the development of Type 1 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is an
inherited defect of the immune system triggered by an environmental stimuli. The
problem may be in the on switch of the immune system in which the viral stimuli
do not turn the system on. The virus is then allowed to penetrate the beta cell
and cause its destruction. Conversely, the problem may be in the off switch in
that the system turns on appropriately and kills the virus but then does not
turn itself off. The T-cells are then allowed to attack the beta cells
themselves. This is a very simplified explanation. In point of fact, it is much
more complex, involving many, many steps in the immune system. The beta cells
themselves may contribute to this by producing antigens or chemicals on the cell
surface that stimulate the immune system, and there may be many other
environmental stimuli rather than just viruses. Indeed, there is some evidence
now that protein in cows' milk may cause the formation of antibodies that can
attach to the beta cell or that are similar to antibodies on the beta cell. When
the immune system mobilizes in response to a stimulus, these antibodies will
attach to receptors on the surface of the beta cell causing the damage to occur
to the beta cells of the pancreas. For whatever reason, the beta cells are then
destroyed by the immune system in what is called an autoimmune phenomena, in
which the body has come to recognize itself as a foreign body and begins to
eliminate certain parts. Recently researchers have been attempting to locate the
genes for diabetes. As a part of the genome project, in which researchers around
the world are attempting to map the entire gene structure of all the human
chromosomes, they have isolated 18 genes that appear to be involved in the
production of Type 1 diabetes. Not all of these genes have equal potency. Two of
them appear to be most potent, some others are least potent, and others are
simply auxiliary or helper genes that seem to have some assisting effect in the
process. There are also genes which are protective so that one might inherit the
genes for diabetes, but if you also inherited the protective genes, you would
not develop the disease. Thus, development of the disease is not 100 percent in
those who have inherited the genetics for the disease. Those people may have the
genes but may either have protector genes or may be fortunate enough to avoid
the environmental stimuli. The cause of Type 1 diabetes, then, is an inherited
defect in the immune system that interacts in some way with environmental
factors. These factors may be viruses or chemicals in the environment or perhaps
other environmental factors that we have not yet identified, which team up
together to result in the eventual complete destruction of the beta cells and
the loss of insulin secretion.
On Mon Dec 3 23:33:29 2001 () said:
COWARDS
On Mon Dec 3 21:00:14 2001 alto leon () said:
is diabetes heredity
On Mon Dec 3 14:47:40 2001 () said:
HOMOPHOPIC BIGOTS !!!
On Mon Dec 3 10:40:37 2001 () said:
screw you queer hater
On Mon Dec 3 10:32:06 2001 () said:
NO....QUEERS LIKE YOU RAN THEM ALL
AWAY..........
On Mon Dec 3 10:29:48 2001 Faith () said:
Good Morning all! Hope you all had
a good weekend! Mine was a good BG's weekend! Herb, how's it going? I'm still
praying for you.
On Mon Dec 3 09:10:51 2001 () said:
Anybody on here anymore..?
On Mon Dec 3 07:02:45 2001 () said:
NOSEBONE
On Sun Dec 2 17:13:01 2001 () said:
SIDEBONE
On Sun Dec 2 17:12:23 2001 () said:
DOGBONE
On Sun Dec 2 17:12:01 2001 () said:
CHICKENBONE
On Sun Dec 2 17:11:32 2001 () said:
WISHBONE
On Sun Dec 2 17:11:04 2001 () said:
Dear Marnie...how much do we get paid
for helping with your education...??
On Sun Dec 2 15:20:55 2001 () said:
REDBONE
On Sat Dec 1 13:15:05 2001 Marnie Fougere (m.fougere@worldnet.att.net) said:
Please send this to family and friends who are diabetic. When the
questionnaire is filled out, Please send to: Marnie Fougere
m.fougere@worldnet.att.net Before December 4, 2001 Questionnaire: Taking care of
Diabetes Do you have diabetes? If so, I need your help. I also have diabetes I
am hoping you would be willing to help with a school project by filling out this
questionnaire. Please DO NOT put your name on this questionnaire. All your
answers will be private. I will use what you say to write a paper toward my
degree at University of Massachusetts-Boston Campus. Thanks you so for your
help. I hope you and your loved ones have a great Holiday Season. Sincerely,
Marnie Fougere Questionnaires: Taking care of Diabetes When done with this,
Please e-mail at: m.fougere@Worldnet.att.net What type of diabetes do you have?
Type 1 or Type 2? What ways do you take control of your diabetes? How do you
view your diet before diabetes and food related issues? Do you educate yourself
about diabetes and food related issues? Do you test your blood on a regular
basis to help make decision on what to eat? Are you insulin dependent? If not,
do you take medication to control blood sugar? How old when you become diabetic?
Do you have relatives who are diabetic? How do you rate your relatives attitudes
on diabetes self care? And diet? Are you considered to be overweight?
On Sat Dec 1 00:38:31 2001 Misty (chmgm@yahoo.com) said:
Herb, my prayers
and thoughts go to you and yours. I can suggest you call your local police/fire
dept. and ask if any one could take you to see your child. You may be surprised
at the response. On the insurance issue I would call my state representative and
see if they can lend a hand in this matter. Love & Luck, Misty
Copyright © 2001 Diabetes Education and Research Center