The numbers are staggering: more than 18 million Americans with diabetes and two thirds of them with uncontrolled blood sugar, according to the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists. Another 41 million Americans have prediabetes or insulin resistance. Diabetes complications - heart disease, blindness, neuropathy - are skyrocketing.
But the news isn''t all dire. The technology and medicine are available to help patients deal with this serious disease. At Barnes-Jewish Hospital, the key to successfully living with diabetes is a team approach - doctors, nurse educators, dietitians, with the patients themselves as integral parts of the team.
Starting college in Chicago was exciting and exhausting for Lizzie Kratzer. A little too exhausting. When nagging tiredness, nausea and weight loss sent her to the doctor, she was diagnosed with Type I diabetes. Her body''s immune system caused her pancreas to shut down and stop producing insulin. Although she was put on an insulin regime, her blood sugar wasn''t well controlled and she didn''t have her usual energy.
Lizzie''s mother, Allyn, a registered nurse, brought Lizzie back to St. Louis to be seen by Barnes-Jewish diabetes specialist Dr. Garry Tobin. Dr. Tobin thought an insulin pump could help this active college student maintain her lifestyle. He sent Lizzie to nurse educator Gaye Knutsen at the Barnes-Jewish Diabetes Education Center. Gaye gave Lizzie individualized instruction in using the pump.
"When I met Gaye, it was like I had known her all my life," Lizzie says.
With an insulin pump helping her control her blood sugar, a diabetes specialist and the educators and dietitians of the Diabetes Education Center backing her up, Lizzie is back at school, handling the hectic pace, including a recent trip to China, with ease.