Making a Double Difference in Diabetes -- April 2014 - Month 34 in the D.R.

This month (April) I get to talk about something that's super special to me.
Many people know -- and probably some people don't know -- that I have Type 1 Diabetes (the kind you get as a young person that requires you to take Insulin every day).

Because I myself have Diabetes, working here at Health Horizons International in the Dominican Republic, and getting to initiate interventions to help people here learn more about Chronic Illnesses like Diabetes, learning to prevent it, and learning how to live healthier lives if they already have it, has been a part of my job that's very close to my heart.

Here in the D.R. you can walk through any town and see a ridiculously large number of people with amputated legs.  Now many of those amputated legs are due to motorcycle accidents. But many of them are also due to Type 2 Diabetes that has not been well-cared for.  People are living with high blood sugars for years, not realizing the danger that this presents to their limbs, their hearts, and their eye-sight, all of which can be detrimentally affected by high blood sugars due to Diabetes.  Often amputated legs are the result.

Here in the D.R., treatment of Diabetes is becoming a priority of the National Ministry of Health  -- but there are many doctors who are still not well-trained on how to treat it, and many people living with Diabetes who don't know what they need to know in order to prevent the negative side effects that come from having high blood sugars for long periods of time.

So this month I'm thrilled to report on two great projects that I've been very excited to be a part of in the fight to get Diabetes information, treatment, and prevention to the masses here.

1.) The first thing:  A co-worker and I wrote a grant application seeking funding to help the Dominican Ministry of Health provide special training to doctors here in our Province of the D.R. related to Diabetes. We recently found out we WON the $200,000 Grant!  Now, with help from HHI, the Dominican National Ministry of Health, and Endocrinologists from the D.R. and the U.S. will be providing new training to General Practice Doctors here -- in the Public Health Hospitals and Clinics throughout the Province of Puerto Plata.  The Doctors will learn up to date info and strategies on how to diagnose, treat, and prevent Diabetes!  The project will also teach local Community Health Workers across the province how to spot the danger signs of Diabetes, make referrals to hospitals and clinics to get people linked to treatment, and help people in their communities live healthier lives to prevent Diabetes and it's side effects!  I'm super excited that this training program will be rolled out across the province, and there will be screening days at the large hospitals helping people discover if they have Diabetes, and if they do, getting them into treatment!  It makes my heart so happy to know that while HHI has only worked in 4 small communities until now, providing direct care to patients with Diabetes, now Doctors and Health Workers across the entire province will be better trained and better prepared to help people in many, many more towns, treat and prevent Diabetes.
 So I'm super excited about that and I thank God for the opportunity to get that project funded and started here at HHI!  

  2.) The second thing I'm really excited about this month is also in the area of Diabetes.

 

Here at HHI I supervise medical students (administratively) and Doctors and get to assign them to projects where they can really make a difference with our patients in the 4 communities where we do the direct patient care.  This month we had a medical student here for 4 weeks, and I asked her to walk alongside some of our patients with Diabetes who were really struggling and seemed unable despite their best attempts to get their blood sugars down to a healthier level.

 

She walked alongside them and their families, educating them about Diabetes, how it works, how to lower their blood sugar by eating healthier, exercising more, and taking their medications as prescribed.  And in the end, their blood sugars are getting lower! (The photo at the top of this post is of the Diabetes group in one of our communities, Pancho Mateo.)

 

So I'm really excited about their success -- and the patients report feeling better, and feeling excited that they can take control of their own health. They state they now understand more about how to take the power back from their Diabetes. It warms my heart!  So here are a few photos of some of the things the medical student (Emily) and I got a chance to do with the Diabetic patients and families over the past month.

Here we are learning to eat more healthy food with less sugar, less fat and less carbs - "Eating a little bit of everything we love" -- but doing it in a healthy way.

 

 

 Getting regular blood pressure and blood sugar checks by Medical Student Emily.

 

 

Here we're checking our Pedometers.  "30,000 steps in 2 days! Wow! That's a lot more than you were walking before. You should be really proud of yourself! We're all so proud of you!"

 

Using the "plate method" to figure out what we're eating, and how we can change our portion sizes and food combinations to decrease carbs and increase protein, veggies,  and implement an individualized food plan that promotes lower blood sugar and weight loss.

The program was well-received and at the end of the month we all shared stories as a big group (photo at top) sharing about the different things that each had learned and started to implement to improve their health.  Hugs were exchanged all around as med student Emily ended her month-long time visiting in their homes and helping them learn more about how to take back control of their Diabetes.  I was thrilled to see the new knowledge that they were all beginning to use in their daily lives!

 Here we are -- some of the group -- me (front/center), Emily, a few of the patients, their family members, and their community health workers who will continue to walk along with them and support them on their road to taking back control from their Diabetes.

 

So far during my almost 3 years in the D.R. these have been two of my favorite projects!

I'm so happy to have had the opportunity to begin helping folks here take 

back control of their health rather then thinking they have to give up

their livelihoods,  

their lives, their legs, and their eye-sight to Diabetes!

 

It's exciting to see people learning more about their health!

 

Thanks to all of you who have continued to support and encourage me in the work

that we are doing here.  I really appreciate it!  Every day here is an adventure full of new challenges but more importantly -- new possibilities. :)

Every day -- both here, and also where you are -- is an opportunity to give, as they say here, 

our own little "grano de arena"

(our own "little grain of sand")

to make a difference right where we are.