|
 Diabetes
is a serious disease, which, if not controlled, can be life threatening. It is
often associated with long-term complications that can affect every system and
part of the body.
Diabetes can, among other things, contribute to eye disorders and blindness,
heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, amputation, and nerve damage. It can
affect pregnancy and cause birth defects, as well.
Although diabetes is a chronic and incurable disease (with the exception of gestational diabetes), with proper medical care, clinical therapies, diet, hygiene, and exercise, symptoms and complications can be successfully treated and managed.
St. John's is committed to helping you successfully manage your diabetes. Our
Certified Diabetes Educators (CDEs) provide a variety of services for all people
with diabetes - from newly diagnosed diabetics to people who have had diabetes
for many years.
St. John's
diabetes self-management training and education programs include the latest
information on nutrition and meal planning, shopping for food, eating out,
medication, insulin administration, exercise, blood glucose monitoring, managing
blood sugar, psychological adjustment, prevention of complications and insulin
pumps.
Services are
available for children and adults with Type 1, Type 2, or gestational diabetes.
For more information, please call 417-890-4100.
One
Patient's Story
Five years ago, 39-year-old Jim Smotherman of Springfield lived life his way. He rarely cooked, preferring to
eat out most every meal. He smoked two packs of cigarettes a day. He also rarely
exercised.
Because Smotherman wasn't overweight, he didn't see a reason to change his ways
- until a heart attack and diagnosis of type 2 diabetes at age 36 forced him to
recognize just how unhealthy his lifestyle really was.
"Looking back, I was experiencing
signs of diabetes (fatigue and extreme thirst) for probably a year before I was
diagnosed," Smotherman says. "Diabetes and my heart attack really meant a
lifestyle change for me. I quit everything cold turkey."
Click here to read the complete story |