Retinopathy(eyes): Hal has had four laser surgeries on his right eye
and two on his left eye. He is blind in the right eye. He has blood vessel growth,
bleeding blood vessels, and destroyed blood vessels near the center of the right eye.
Retinopathy is when the
small blood vessels are injured by high blood sugars and high blood pressure. It can cause
blindness. Control of blood sugar levels is the best way to keep from having problems with
your eyes. "Managing Your Diabetes." by Lily
An excellent source for Diabetes Retinopathy found at
the Diabetic Retinopathy Foundation; this page has illustrations of the eye and explains
the disease.
Neuropathy(nerves): Hal has numbness and little feeling in his legs,
feet, arms and hands. He also sometimes has tingling or a pin prickling feeling.
Neuropathy is damage to
nerve tissue. It causes pain in the feet or legs or tingling or numbness in those areas.
It can also cause double vision, diarrhea and loss of feeling or response during sexual
activity. "Managing Your Diabetes." by Lily
South-East Dallas Peripheral Neuropathy Support
The Neuropathy Trust
Peripheral Vascular
Disease: Foot care is a very important
part of diabetes care. One time Hal broke his foot and did not realize it because of lack
of feeling in his feet. It is very important to physically examine your feet every day. I
cannot reiterate this enough!!! Daily foot exams are important!!
Peripheral Vascular
Disease
Foot Care 4 U -
Doctor Burton S. Schuler, Director of Ambulatory Foot Clinic
Diabetes Foot Care by Health-Net
Leg cramps: Vitamin E helps to reduce the severity of leg
cramps, mainly because it helps increase blood flow and steps up the healing process.
Vitamin E and Leg Cramps
Vitamin E
Nephropathy kidneys): WE have an update on
the kidney damage. Hal has 40% damage of the kidneys not 50 like we thought. It is good
news for us. Also, there is a new medicine called Marcardis that is suppose to help
stabilize the kidneys, even possibly for years. So far the medicine has helped keep Hal's
kidneys from any further damage. Also, the protein level has improved greatly!!!!! PRAISE
GOD!
Nephropathy is damage to
the filtering portions of the kidneys. It causes the kidneys to lose their filtering
ability. Some substances that should remain in the body are lost and some wastes products
remain in the body. "Managing Your Diabetes." by Lily
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive
and Kidney Disease
BE CAREFUL WITH OVER THE COUNTER PAIN KILLERS. WHEN HAL
TOOK ADVIL (no fault of the company) HE WENT INTO ACUTE KIDNEY FAILURE BECAUSE OF TAKING
IT. OUR DOCTOR TOLD US IT WOULD ONLY TAKE TWO OF THESE PAIN RELIEVERS TO MAKE HIS KIDNEYS
FAIL. READ THIS ARTICLE AND TALK TO YOUR DOCTOR ABOUT WHAT PAIN RELIEVERS TO TAKE IF YOU
HAVE ANY KIND OF KIDNEY PROBLEMS: PAINKILLERS AND
THE KIDNEYS ; OTHER
ARTICLES ON PAINKILLERS AND THE KIDNEYS.
National Kidney Foundation (LOTS OF INFORMATION HERE)
Hypertension(high blood
pressure): Hal has high blood pressure
and is taking medication for it.
Pulmonary Hypertension Association
High Cholesterol: Hal has high LDL and is on medication for it. He
also has Atherosclerosis. (fat build up in large and medium blood vessels. People with
diabetes tend to develop heart disease earlier in life than other people.)
Risk for atherosclerois
happens when the LDL cholesterol is greater than 130 mg/dl. "Managing Your
Diabetes." by Lily
National Cholesterol Education Program
Doctor's Guide to elevated
Cholesterol
Diabetic
Gastropathy(stomach): The stomach cannot
digest well and empties sporadically. Hal is taking erythromycin to help with this. This
problem causes bloating and your body is not able to get the nutrition that it needs.
Gastroparesis (GAH-stroh-puh-REE-sis)
Nerve or muscle damage in the
stomach. Causes slow digestion and emptying, vomiting, nausea, or bloating. Also called
delayed gastric emptying. NIH Publication No. 97-2750 March 1997 taken from the dictionary on
the website.
Severely dried skin: Severely dried skin and large cracks in the bottom
of feet and on hands is plague many diabetic. Good SKIN and FOOT CARE is a very important
part of good health maintenance! Infections can get into the cracks and if not taken care
of can be very serious and lead to amputation. There are many good creams on the market
and lots of times your physician can help you with the product he thinks will be best for
you.
Damaged Immune System:
People who have diabetes cannot fight infection as well as others because their immune
system is damaged. This is why it is important to check your feet everyday and take care
of any cuts or scratches. Many people have lost their legs because of infection. Also,
other infections are hard to fight, like flu and viral infections and so on.
Sleep Apnea: They are now doing tests to see how and if sleep
apnea is one of the complications of diabetes. This has not been proven out---but it is my
opinion that it may be. Also, being overweight is involved in this---and many diabetics
have a weight problem.
If you would like to
talk to Hal hal@paversnest.com or ask
questions please feel free to write to us. Hal dislikes typing! He does the talking...I do
the typing! (GRIN) We read the letters together because this is a team effort. We both are
available vpaver@paversnest.com and I
would be glad to encourage or help spouses who are in this fight with a husband or wife to
find a cure for this terrible disease. We all pray that someday the medical profession
will find the cure for diabetes. In the meantime we all have to do our part to help those
who are going through it. We hope that you have been in some way encouraged by our web
pages. Hal or I do not feel that we are the only ones in this boat and we know there are
others who suffer as much or far more.
