Understanding the Lived Experience of Chronic Illness: Diabetes Type 2

Understanding the Lived
Experience of Chronic Illness-
Diabetes Type 2

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Patient Background..........................................................................................................................3
Blog Entries.....................................................................................................................................4
1 Meaning of Health....................................................................................................................4
2 Feelings.....................................................................................................................................4
3 Personal and Professional Relationships..................................................................................5
4 Interactions with Healthcare Providers.....................................................................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Type 2 Diabetes is a chronic illness which hampers the capabilities of a patient’s body to
use insulin, in order to metabolise body sugar into an essential source of energy - glucose.
Patents suffering from Type 2 Diabetes develop an inherent resistance to their body’s produced
insulin which can have immensely negative impacts on the patient’s body functions. In a healthy
body, the pancreas create hormone known as insulin which aids the functions of cells in
converting stored sugar into glucose which is a type of sugar from which our cells can derive
energy needed to sustain themselves (Jacklin and et.al., 2017). People suffering from Type 2
Diabetes are capable of making insulin in their bodies, but cannot get their cells to use insulin to
convert sugar into glucose which eventually results in high sugar levels in the blood, risking the
safety and health of the patient.
Patient Background
My name is Mr. Mark Thompson, a 55-year-old male immigrant living in the country of
Australia for the past 35 years. I currently live in Melbourne, Australia with my wife who is also
of Greek ethnicity and my two daughters. I came to Australia from Athens, Greece when I was
20 years old with the ambition to find better job opportunities and create a better future for me
and my family. I was born into a traditional catholic Greek family in Athens, who were very
conservative about all our cultural traditions and customs, something which has been drilled into
me as well because of my traditional family upbringing (Fisher and et.al., 2018). In my youth I
was very physically active person, playing a plethora of outdoor sports and recreational
activities, but after I moved to Australia and started working at a desk job as bank accountant in
a prominent Australian bank, I let go of my physical health and eventually wound up becoming
quite lazy and fat with age. This was also due to me faithfully celebrating all the catholic
Christian festivals with cultural sweets and treats, just like my family used to back in Athens,
Greece as I missed my cultural home and family (Liu and et.al., 2017). This became a major
concern for my wife and daughters in my 40’s, as they kept advising me to adopt healthier
dietary habits and celebrate Greek festivals being a little bit consciously of my health, but I