Diabetes II: Personal Experience, Management, and Reflection

This assignment is a personal blog written by a student detailing their experience with Type 2 Diabetes. The narrative begins with the student's initial awareness of symptoms and subsequent diagnosis, highlighting the impact of family history and cultural background on their health journey. The blog entries chronicle the student's visits to a clinic, interactions with healthcare professionals, and the challenges of managing the condition, including dietary changes and the development of a leg ulcer. The student reflects on the importance of patient education, the patient-nurse relationship, and teamwork in healthcare, drawing insights from their own experiences and the care they received. The assignment includes reflections on the stigma associated with the illness, particularly within their Aboriginal community, and the importance of understanding and addressing the patient's perspective. The blog concludes with a discussion of the student's learning from the experience, emphasizing the significance of patient-centered care, education, and collaboration in healthcare settings, alongside a bibliography of cited sources.

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Experience with Diabetes II
By (Name)
Course
Instructor
Institution
City and State
Date

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Introduction
Diabetes II
Diabetes type II, also known as diabetes mellitus disorder is a common illness with a prevalence
of more than 80% among the aged individuals. The chronic disease has been considered a world
epidemic today especially in the aging population in Australia and other developing counties,
adding a heavy burden, for its control measures (Chatterjee et.al 2017 p 2239). Diabetes mellitus
occurs when the body resists glucose regulation by the insulin or when the pancreas produces
insufficient insulin for regulation of the blood glucose which is a result of impairment of the Beta
cells that regulate the production of insulin in the pancreas (Zhou et.al 2017 p. 282). The
progression of the chronic disorder gets worse over time as it leads to the risks of various body
complications such as myocardial infarction and stroke. The most contributing factors of the
disease are diabetes, genes history, and age as it lowers the immunity.
Blog 1
Background
Being indigenous of the Australian culture – (Aboriginal as it is what we are referred to) we have
been considered to be the most vulnerable to this so-called chronic disease, and to be specific say
diabetes II. It is true as they suggest, most individuals in our tribe especially people of the Torres
Strait Islander live with this disease over the years, and we have been burying them day and
night. As they say (health researchers) our community is prone to the diabetes illness due to the
poor traditional lifestyles of our ancestors.

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Blog 1-21st December
Culture and Diabetes
Not that I hate my culture, no! get me right. It is because of these culture that most people in
our community suffer., me included. Our fathers lived by hunting and gathering land animals
such as birds and big animals like Kangaroos. Our mothers then helped by cultivation and
gathering honey, wild fruits, nuts, eggs and goannas (Attwood, 2013 P36). Most of these foods
contained low nutrients and high fat saturation, high content of salt and sugar. What is more, my
community had little knowledge of nutritional measures. Their poor nutrition and dietary
patterns have greatly contributed to the increase in chronic disorders. Being an aboriginal means,
you have to be discriminated against, here in Australia in all calibers, say’ in health care services,
employment, education, not forgetting racism. Limited health facilities for aboriginal., just
because you are an aboriginal. (Markwick, et.al, 2019 p.19) It is for this reason my grandfather
acquired the illness.
He has been living with this illness for the last 90 years of his age, making him suffer terribly.
All the children in his lineage are always advised to go for a diabetes testing as it is always said it
is genetic, meaning most of his children may be careers of the disease (Gupta, et.al 2018 p.483).
Being his hair, I have been ignoring this fact and I don’t feel like going for that test, furthermore,
not a big deal to me even if it tests positive. My father has it, my brother Lawanna has it, so I am
not an exception.
28th January
Visiting Marshal Clinic

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For the last few weeks, I have been taking six cups of water dairy which was very rare before,
actually taking even two cups was a fight. Then there is this upcoming behavior, where I get
exhausted so fast and toileting every time. Not that I work a lot or eat much, just a developing
condition. My father is so curious about my condition to insist on diabetes testing which I think I
have. Being in a family with diabetes trends, I expect to have the condition but I have to go for
the testing.
The last time I was here, I mean in the Marshal Clinical Care, a local health dispensary is when I
brought my father for insulin injection in a severe condition. I could not imagine undergoing the
same process. Mr. Raj, the lab technician took me to the lab and gave me a form. I told him am
Arjun aged 25 years. I had come for the diabetes testing as I sensed I had the condition. He asked
me how I felt and why I think I have the condition. I told him I felt very dizzy and exhausted
especially in the evening, without even working. I urinated a lot having drunk more than eight
cups of water a day which was a rare case before. During morning hours, I could not see clearly.
I had to come close to a sign on the road to what is written (Ramachandran, 2014 P579). Dr.
Patel told me many diseases have similar symptoms and signs and I should not make any
conclusion of diabetes till tested. However, if there is a family history of diabetes, one is a obese
, has experience with blood pressure, then chances are 50% I may have the illness.
6th February
Managing My condition
Having tested positive for diabetes I didn't leave Mr. Patel's office without a complete
understating of how the diabetes condition would influence my life. Does it mean that I will be
injecting myself with insulin? How will it be, being an Aboriginal young diabetes patient, Will I

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bare the stigma and discrimination of non-aboriginals? Though previously it was not my
concern, it now dawns on me that am diabetic. I was devastated by imagining how my diet will
be, casual visits to the clinics and insulin injection. Mr. Patel informed me that I had to do reduce
my weight, avoid sedentary behavior, then I had to take Metformin. This is what I had to do to
control my diabetes condition. (Şahin and Cingil, 2020 p.1) “What you eat matters a lot in
controlling your condition,” Rashna a clinical nurse in the dispensary was the dietician who kept
insisting on the food to eat. I now knew well I had to forego my favorite bananas and mangoes
and adapt to vegetables, Greek yogurt, brown bread. Yeah, you have to be under a ketogenic
diet. Leave alone about diet, losing weight for me will be the hardest thing. Does it mean I will
have to be running every time to lose weight, or doing gaming in the evening or either going to
Jim? These are one of the questions I will ask Rashna in my next visit. My worry is a sore on my
leg. Mr. Patel had told me I should take care of myself not to have any injury as it would take
long to heal. I did not tell him about the sore I had on my foot before I went for testing.
10th March
Leg ulcer
I have been able to control my diet, but giving up on my sugar has been a challenge. On my last
birthday, I could not even have a taste of my baked cake. My brother Lawanna helped me know
the flavor of the delicacy, leaving me salivating. Oh, unto me Rashna advised me to stick on the
ketogenic diet. It is another month I am back to the dispensary, A month ago I was still sitting
here waiting for a diabetes test, today am in my open shoes as I can't wear my shoe coz of the leg
ulcer. I want to know my recovery process or rather whether am improving or deteriorating. I

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had to wait for a long queue to the doctor Patel. After thirty minutes, Rashna appeared and when
she saw me, she called me. She knew I was her patient, by coincident I wanted to inquire about
physical fitness from her and about dressing my wood. She told me she was only a nutritional
therapist but Patel will help me further on the wood dressing. She advised me further on avoiding
food with a high content of starch, which would increase the levels of glucose in my blood. On
meeting Patel, he was glad that I had managed to reduce my weight from 75 to 65. The problem
was my wood, as it had stayed for long without healing. It has been painful and is unable even to
walk. Patel goes to the next room, comes with the nurse and my file ready for my dressing. Am
glad I will be able to go back home with ease.
Conclusion
From these narrations, I learned the importance of patient understanding. Establishing a good
patient-nurse relationship is very significant in delivering services to the patient. The patient
should have confidence with the health practitioner from the first approach, which may be driven
by how the health practitioner addresses the patient, confidence, and acts of professionalism. As
a health profession., In my future profession, I will consider giving my best service to the patient
by having a good patient-nurse relation the patient well understands there is a person who is
caring and creates a good trust between the health practitioner and the nurse (Molina-Mula and
Gallo-Estrada, 2020 p.835). In the scenario, Patel and Rashna have good relation with the patient
reason why the patient goes there for the third time
Patient education is where the nurse and other health practitioners teach patients on their health
so that they can more understand about their condition, which is aimed at improving their social

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health care and wellbeing (Paterick, et.al, 2017 p.112). Through this narrative, I have clearly
understood the importance of educating patients on matters affecting their health. Just like Patil,
in my future practice as a nurse, I will educate my patients immediately after admonition so that
they can learn about their condition and seek out measures of controlling their illness (Miller,
2016 p.465). Additionally, educating my patients will build up my knowledge of clinical practice
as well as help the patient manage the illness.
On the same, teamwork in a clinical environment creates effectiveness in caring for the patient
since teamwork efforts are driven towards the same goal. This cant is done without good
communication and harmony within the team. Within the nursing profession, nurses can work
effectively and can share in their decision-making process in achieving quality care for the
patient. (Rosen et al., 2018 p.433) In Arjun's scenario, Rashna and Patel can coordinate in
providing quality care for Arjun. By the same token, in my future practice, I will work
collaboratively with workmates to ensure efficiency in inpatient care.
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Bibliography
Attwood, B., 2013. The founding of Aboriginal History and the forming of Aboriginal
history. Aboriginal History Journal, 36.
Chatterjee, S., Khunti, K. and Davies, M.J., 2017. Type 2 diabetes. The Lancet, 389(10085), pp.
2239-2251.
Gupta, S., Gupta, I. and Kalra, S., 2018. Study of awareness of diabetic retinopathy among the
patients of type 2 diabetes mellitus: A prospective study. Indian Journal of Clinical and
Experimental Ophthalmology, 4(4), pp.483-486.
Markwick, A., Ansari, Z., Clinch, D. and McNeil, J., 2019. Experiences of racism among
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults living in the Australian state of Victoria: a cross-
sectional population-based study. BMC Public Health, 19(1).
Molina-Mula, J. and Gallo-Estrada, J., 2020. Impact of Nurse-Patient Relationship on Quality of
Care and Patient Autonomy in Decision-Making. International Journal of Environmental
Research and Public Health, 17(3), p.835.
Miller, K., 2016. Patient-centered care: A path to better health outcomes through engagement
and activation. Neurorehabilitation, 39(4), pp.465-470.
Ramachandran, A., 2014. Know the signs and symptoms of diabetes. The Indian journal of
medical research, 140(5), p.579.
Rosen, M., DiazGranados, D., Dietz, A., Benishek, L., Thompson, D., Pronovost, P. and Weaver,
S., 2018. Teamwork in healthcare: Key discoveries enabling safer, high-quality care. American
Psychologist, 73(4), pp.433-450.\
Şahin, S. and Cingil, D., 2020. Evaluation of the relationship between foot wound risk, foot self-
care behaviors, and illness acceptance in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Primary Care
Diabetes,
, Y.T., Rayner, C.K., Jones, K.L., Talley, N.J. and Horowitz, M., 2018. Gastrointestinal
symptoms in diabetes: prevalence, assessment, pathogenesis, and management. Diabetes
care, 41(3), pp.627-637.

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Zhou, Y.Y., El Hallani, S., Balsa, F., Mohammad, W., Gray, D.A. and Woulfe, J., 2017.
Depletion of Beta Cell Intranuclear Rodlets in Human Type II Diabetes. Endocrine
pathology, 28(4), pp. 282-286.