KT for Good: Living with diabetes since 1984

Dubai - A look into the struggles of diabetic patients.

While it is not necessary that diabetes is hereditary, a mother and daughter have learnt how to live with the disease on a daily basis.
Patricia Mcinerney, a parent liaison officer in Dubai, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 1984 when she was seven years old. Since then, she has been taking insulin injections.
"It came as a great shock to my parents because most people think that diabetes can be hereditary. At that point, none of my family members had diabetes so it was a complete shock for us all," she told Khaleej Times.
"It wasn't that well known at that time, and it was considered the same as Type 2 diabetes," she said, adding that over the years it has been discovered that it is an autoimmune disease.
"My pancreas does not produce insulin, so the carbohydrates that I consume do turn into energy," said Patricia. "So I have to count the carbs that I eat and also give myself injections according to what I am eating and activities I do," she said.
Patricia said that in the early days of her diagnosis, the disease was monitored very differently. "You were not expected to live very long . it was also seen as a terminal illness," she said.
"It is ongoing but I am now about to celebrate my 35th anniversary and I have two beautiful girls . so I kind of proved everyone wrong, thanks to science."
One of Patricia's twin daughters, Scarlett, was also diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when she was 15 months old. "We were lucky enough that we knew the signs," she said.
"It did get to a point where her blood sugar had shot up and her organs were shutting down."
Her second daughter, Khloe, helps both Patricia and Scarlett monitor their blood sugars several times during the day.
"We use the same kind of devices. We wear sensors on our bodies, and we scan using our phones and that gives us an indication of what the blood sugar levels are," said Patricia.
Both of them also do finger-prick tests, which can provide almost real-time results. Years ago, however, tests were quite restricted, Patricia said.
She said that since the disease was misunderstood, it affected their eating habits, too. "I was told not to eat sweets, no ice cream, but now it's been discovered that even though sugar does affect the sugar levels, it's more of carbs that need to be taken care of."
Scarlett is on a Mediterranean diet. "It is not only food that affects your blood sugar levels . Too much sleep or lack of sleep, too much of exercise or lack of exercise...everything affects us."
The family, however, continues with their daily activities as usual.
Scarlett takes two types of insulin - a slow-acting one, which is taken at night before she goes to bed so that it stays in her system while she sleeps, and another fast-acting one when she is eating, which takes up to two hours to get into her system.
She also has a scanner fixed to her leg that can give accurate results.
asmaalizain@khaleejtimes.com

Woman finds out she's diabetic only after losing unborn child
For Vanita Saxena, a mother's concern and a miscarriage led to a discovery: She had diabetes.
In 2015, Vanita had a miscarriage and consequently suffered from depression. "I had a miscarriage and had to travel to India for a necessary procedure," she said.
After the incident, Vanita, 37, felt very lethargic and dizzy. This was when her mother suggested that she visit a doctor to get her sugar levels checked.
"This was when I discovered that I was diabetic. We were trying for a second baby and diabetes was among one of the reasons why I lost my unborn child," she told Khaleej Times.
Vanita's husband is also diabetic since he was 32 years old, but no one from her side of the family was diabetic.
"Since I wanted to conceive, the doctor suggested that I take insulin to keep my blood sugar levels normal," said Vanita, adding that she started taking the dose once at night for the next two years until she conceived.
"During pregnancy, my sugar levels shot up to 300 because I developed gestational diabetes and I had to take insulin four times a day until I delivered," she said.
For Vanita, stress was one reason why she developed diabetes. "I stressed over losing my baby.and, by that time, I was pre-diabetic but did not know it," she said.
Today, she has made changes to her lifestyle. She started eating healthy and getting some exercise. Her baby is one year old and though she is not working, she still keeps herself active.
"Until now, if I do not take insulin, my sugar levels shoot up," she said.
"I advise people to be more aware of their condition, especially if they are feeling symptoms such as I did," she said. She also said that if possible, people should avoid stress, and adopt a healthier lifestyle.
asmaalizain@khaleejtimes.com

• KT For Good
• Dubai