I AM A SURVIVOR

by Sandra Sapp

I'm Sandra Sapp, from Fort Smith, Arkansas. I learned July of 2004 that I am a type 2 diabetic. And I am a survivor.

I have bits and pieces I can remember. On the 4th of July weekend, 2004, I was sitting in my living room looking out one of my windows, onto my back porch. And I had this cute little country girl figurine sitting around my plant, and I thought the neighbor was coming up to steal it. I didn't know I was a diabetic -- but I was hallucinating; seeing things. When I got up to walk to my window and look, my balance went off and I could feel myself going down where the right side of my face hit into my TV, and my shoulder went into the TV stand.

Two months before that, I'd noticed that I was constantly going to the bathroom. And it was like I couldn't rest, and I couldn't quit going to the bathroom. My doctor told me to go see a urologist. And he ran tests on me and said there was nothing wrong with my bladder. But, I would be having a big glass of water, a big glass of Pepsi_Coke, tea, coffee all lined up; I was thirsty all the time.

I have a home health aide who did house keeping. And she would come in and come to my bed and she would say, "Sandra, are you allright?"

And I would say, "No, I"m too weak, I can't get out of the bed." And when I did finally get myself sitting on side of the bed, like a crippled person, I couldn't walk. When I would try to stand, I would fall face down. I would fall on my face and stomach, and it was getting to where I had to take my hand to pull my throat out, to try and swallow my pills without choking.

July 9th, I went to go see my physician, because I noticed in the mirror that my face was sunken in and my eyes were half way open. My husband took me to go see this physician. I got sick to my stomach while waiting in the waiting room. And I was really sleepy, so I had my husband ask the receptionist if there was a room that I could lay down in and sleep. Did this get the doctor's attention? No.

When the doctor finally did come and see me, they woke me up and I asked him, "Does my face look sunken in to you?"

And he said, "Yes!" And he just kind of pulled the bottom of my eyelids down; I guess he was looking to see if I was anemic or something. And he said, "Oh, you just have a virus."

And I told him everything in my body felt like it was just shutting down. He didn't think to test my blood or anything. I thought that was odd. My husband was getting pretty upset, because the doctor said my skin felt like alligator skin.

I would try to cough, and it got to the point where I couldn't hardly cough anymore. It felt like someone had taken their fist, and hit me in the back, between my shoulder blades. And my stomach felt so tiny, like it was just tight. What came to my mind was stomach blockage.

When I saw this physician, in the mean time, I'd been doing all this falling down. And my home health aide never reported that I wasn't getting out of bed, and that she had to help me with showers.

And, I'd go to bed at like nine o'clock or something and wake up at 3:30 in the afternoon. I sat there, one day, lit a cigarette, and burnt the back knuckle of my right hand, and that's what woke me up! And I was like, "Oh, my God, I could have burnt me and my cat down," and that's when I stopped smoking.

When I saw that physician July the 9th, I thought, "No, this is not a virus." My husband came over to stay with me, and Sunday, mid_afternoon, I had on two loungers, a pair of knee_high socks, and I told him to call a cab; get a cab here because something was wrong! I said to myself I knew I was dying! But, I didn't know why.

So, we got a cab and went to the emergency room, there in Fort Smith. And I would fall asleep off and on. And they took me back into a private room in the ER, and I would wake up and I noticed they had a machine on my arm. And then I would got back out again. And the next time, I saw the emergency doctor I could watch him run all the way back to where I was; his face was whiter than a sheet. He said, "Mrs. Sapp, you're a diabetic!" And that's all I remember.
And the next time I woke up, I thought I was in a private room, and I didn't know what was going on. I thought, "Oh, they have me in a private room here." Turns out, I was in Intensive Care! All of a sudden I felt my feet going up in the air and I thought, "Hey, what's going on?" And this nurse dropped down to my ear and said, "Honey, your blood pressure dropped down to 51 over 30. We've got to raise your feet up and get some blood to your head fast!" And she said they almost lost me.

The next day, in Intensive Care my heart doctor walked in and she just dropped the notebook on the floor and said, "Honey, your blood sugar can not be in 1650!"

We even talked to the American Diabetes Association, and they said they had never heard of a diabetic that high. And, by my family praying and everything, they are calling me one of God's miracles. And let me tell you, I had aides, nurses, even patients walking in my room to look at me.

I had been taking a lot of medications for my symptoms, like nitroglycerine for my chest pain, and a blood pressure medication. This was before I was diagnosed -- and then, after they brought my sugars down with IV insulin, they put me on Actos, an oral medication. They experimented with other pills, and told me not to use the nitro patch anymore.

One of the nurses said, "Some of you diabetics will end up right back here in the hospital." And I told her, "Oh, not me" -- I couldn't deal with all those needles in both my arms.

But, I must say I was so happy there, because all those people up in Intensive Care and on that cancer floor were just wonderful! They had great teamwork, there at Sparks Hospital in Fort Smith.

Since I left, they got me a RN, who comes to the house. When I first got out of the hospital they also had me a diabetic technician come in to be sure.

The hospital dietitian gave me a 1800 calorie diet to use. I found "stir_fry vegetables" have a lot of vegetables and no meat -- and I have gone from about 213 lbs. to maybe 180 lbs now!

They got me a physical therapist because my balance wasn't doing well -- I was practically tripping myself with my cane. An eye doctor dilated my eyes, to be sure nothing was wrong. And then I got diabetic shoes and diabetic socks.

Well, at first someone would be here with me to make sure I was doing my blood tests right. But now, I do it myself and I had this one aide tell me I was doing great. And I told her about my diabetic diet, and the healthy stir_fry vegetables.

I would like to say to any kind of home care people, like aides or house cleaners, each time you go to your client's home, make sure they are doing OK. Because, like me not wanting to get out of bed and stuff, please call a nurse or someone to check them! I had trusted the girl who house cleaned. The hospital said to never do that again and they got me a CNA, a Certified Nurse's Aide.

If you have a condition, if you are unwell, tell a neighbor or a friend. Let them know. I have a neighbor who is a diabetic, and I told her if she ever needed anything to throw a book at the wall and I would be there for her. I would either get the police or the ambulance. It's so important, if someone has a loved one who lives alone, to just take time out to drop in and see if they are OK.