My older brother,72, is in the hospital in NJ for complications of diabetes. He can't walk, has trouble feeding himself, because of neuropathy, and has lost 20 pounds. He also has difficult to control high blood pressure and a spot on his pancreas. I called the hospital to talk to him. I talked to his daughter who brought me up to date on his problems. He was too upset to talk to me. My sister talked to his wife who told her he may have to go into a nursing home. This upsets me and seems so sudden to me. He walked his daughter down the aisle at her wedding in December and seemed okay. His wife works part time and doesn't want to quit her job. Does diabetes usually cause such drastic problems? I would love to go to see him, but traveling with DH is getting difficult and NJ traffic is beyond me.
maryd, does he have Type I diabetes? My son has had it since age 13, and is now awaiting a kidney and a pancreas transplant, hopefully before having to go on dialysis. Diabetes can affect all organs of the body and sometimes, if not checked regularly, can appear to happen suddenly. However, it has been slowly damaging those organs. Has any treatment been suggested? My heart goes out to him, his family and you. Diabetes can be so devastating.
He has Type 2 diabetes. My brother is less than a year older than me. He was adopted as an infant after his mother died and his father was left with 3 older children only.
Even with Type 2, damage to the organs can and usually will occur, depending on it's severity and whether diet and medications have been given all along. This is so sad. Strangely enough, my son was also adopted, 3 days old, brought him home from the hospital! No one else in his biological family has diabetes - we found them when he was 32 years old! He is now 45.
Diabetes is an ugly disease and can cause so many problems. Even if he walked his daughter down the aisle almost a year ago. Problems like celluitis - pancreatic failure, blindness can occur almost overnight, or so it seems. As Vickie said, the disease has been slowly damaging his organs for a long time. Age has nothing to do with Diabetes. It can occur anytime in one's lifetime and quite often in older people.
My son in law has Type II diabetes..diagnosed two years ago. He's had several hospitalizations due to complications including cellulitis. Would you believe that he too was adopted when he was an infant. What an odd coincidence.
I have Type II diabetes. It was officially diagnosed two years ago, but I knew it would come, because both grandmothers had it and I had gestational diabetes with my pregnancies. No problems so far, but I have read a lot about what can happen and know it can be devastating. One of my grandmothers died from complications.
Mary, I'm sorry to hear about your brother. I hope there is a way of treating him, and he can get better.