My dad is having a lot of trouble. I don't know much about my dad's condition, mostly because he doesn't want to upset me, and my mother feels like I need to know, so she told me what she knows. He is very stubborn by the way.
This is what she wrote me with..what could it mean?
He had a bladder infection for the last month and it just wouldn't go away. It turns out that it wasn't a bladder infection after all. The doctor ran all kinds of tests on him and it is due to diabetes. She's afraid that his pancreas, kidneys and liver are shutting down. I don't know exactly what that means, but it doesn't sound good at all. He has really been sick for about 6 months now. The doctor will have more results in a week or so.
Any opinions are appreciated.
My dad is 45. He has had diabetes for a few years…over 5. He doesn't take very good care of himself. Still smokes and is overweight so maybe this will get his butt in gear and he'll start in.
The fact that you dad is diabetic shows that his pancrease IS in the process of shutting down. That is kinda the defintion of diabetes.
Diabetica often get urinary tract infenctions, and one of the first organs damage by diabetes is the kidneys. Most diabetic patients die of kidney failure — if a heart attack or stroke doesn't get them first.
You dad probably also has high blood pressure. Every drop of blood in your body passes through your kidneys! When they get damaged, they get filled with tiny little scars, thus blocking the flow of blood, and thus raising the blood pressure.
The front-line answer to kidney diseass is dialysis — being hooked to a blood filter machine for 3-4 hours for 2-3 days a week. Because of the time committment this takes, most dialysis patient are declared disabled, and end up on Social Security.
A kidney transplant is usually not an option for an out-of-control diabetic. Until the diabetes (and smoking!!) is under control, the doctors won't recommend a kidney transplant.
In a diabetic, the liver is usually about the last to go.
The smoking doesn't play into the diabetes much, but it DOES make his arteries very "brittle". This makes it harder for them to expand with each beat of the heart — and so blood pressure goes up.
The key is being overweight. THAT is the cause of his diabetes. If he would drop even just a little for that weight, his condition would improve. if he could get his weight down to "normal" he might very well eliminate all the symptoms of diabetes.
You dad has been DIAGNOSED for about 5 years, but it is a sure bet that he has been diabetic for MUCH longer — probably 10-15 years. He just didn't go to the doctor because he was ignoring the symptoms. This is very common — this is why diabetes is known as a "silent killer".
I hope your dad gets the message — take care of himself NOW, or die young. You are right — thsi DOESN'T sound very good, and if your dad doesn't start to take care of himself, there is a good chance that he will not live to age 55.
Since there is diabetes in your family, YOU need to have yourself checked regularly for signs. ASK your doctor to do an A1C test (a simple blood test), and discuss the results with you. if your result are normal, then have the A1C test performed once a year, in order that the doctor might catch diabetes in YOU early, and begin treatment before your get ill.
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