Case Study - Medical Diagnosis. TW-Case Study: Medical Diagnosis

TW-Case Study: Medical Diagnosis
By: Author
Background information:
Name: Amelia Cruz
Gender: F
Age: 43
Address: Manila, Philippines
Occupation: Pedia-surgeon
Drug history: No history of drug use
Social history: No history of alcohol and smoking
Medical diagnosis: Diabetes Mellitus 2 (DM2)
Brief information of diagnosis: Statistics of the disorder or mechanism of illness (less than one page on this topic)
Type 2 Diabetes or Diabetes Mellitus 2 is one of two forms of diabetes common in individuals and is a global epidemic. It is a condition wherein there are high levels of blood glucose due to either lack of insulin or the inability of the body to produce this hormone efficiently. To further elaborate, DM2 is described a metabolic disease which results in sugar to get collected within the blood stream. This disease may also vary in terms of severity wherein just a minor change in lifestyle such as losing weight and getting enough exercise helps a person manage the disease.
Unfortunately, not all are graced and must take permanent medication such as taking insulin injections, which is why having a grasp of what diabetes milletus 2 is early will help a person prevent from getting the illness or manage it (PubMed).
Additionally, DM2 continues to increase rapidly in Asian countries. Much like in Dr. Amelia Cruz’s country, Philippines, there were an approximate of 3.2 million cases of T2D in the past 79 years and that around one million and seven-hundred thousand Filipino men and women were left undiagnosed in 2014. It was stated by WHO that the Philippines had an increase in T2D cases from 0.6% taken from a 2008 study to 5.4% as the latest for patients who are over 20 years old. It was also stated that the highest occurrence of T2D was among the wealthiest in the index aging from 60 to 69 years old (Tan, 2015).
Cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and/or spiritual challenges in interpersonal relationships:
Cognitive:
One of the challenges faced by Dr. Cruz was her early retirement in the profession. Though she did not want to, she had contracted dementia, which was diagnosed to be due to diabetes. Since in scientific studies, diabetes has been known to be one of the risk factors for patients to develop dementia. Her dementia has not only affected her interpersonal relationships with both her family and friends, but with also her peers to work. Furthermore, diabetes also poses a risk in developing blurry vision apart from wounds not being able to clot properly, which is why conversations via social media, and texting with peers prove to be difficult for Dr. Cruz.
Additionally, dr. Cruz had suffered a decline from her executive function, her ability to retain information, her understanding and comprehension, her focus and even efficiency in psychomotor (Munshi, 2017).
Emotional:
Due to retiring early, Dr. Cruz had suffered through negative emotions such as depression, and other psychosocial difficulties which is normal for diabetic patients, especially among the aged. At first, this was never the case since Dr. Cruz had faced her illness with optimism and hopes that insulin injection would be sufficient for her. She was eager and passionate as a practitioner as she handled her illness well in her mid 30s and late 40s, but as her bodied decline and even began rejecting the treatment, she had not only suffered cognitive impairment but emotional ones as well (Weinger, 2012).
Her dementia, which was said to be caused by diabetes had made her confused and anxious whenever her family members surround her because she could not remember anyone, not even her husband of 25 years. She also experienced extreme irritation whenever exposed to low volume music, but that may either be due to her inability to focus well, dementia or because of her age.
Lastly, dr. Cruz had once displayed her want to commit suicide after suffering from deep anxiety and depression. She had stated that diabetes had not only ruined her relationship with her peers, but also her friends and family. She did not want to be a “baggage” to be carried around, nor did she want her family to spend finances just to keep her alive. She even wanted to be euthanized, but this was all stopped until the full onset of dementia and she was not in the right mind to decide for herself.
Behavioral:
Behavioral issues faced by Dr. Cruz were in terms of how her lifestyle was impacted such as dietary intake, sleep, stress and even exercise. As a doctor, she never really had the time to do all the mentioned factors in a good and balanced manner. Before she was diagnosed with diabetes in her early 30s, Dr. Cruz has been always so busy in her residency training. She always binged ate sugar, drank lots of caffeine and consumed tons of junk food. Though she had stated that even though she wanted to eat a proper meal, she could not because as a resident, demand for her presence was almost 24/7.
Dr. Cruz also did not have the time to sleep. She had stated that sleeping was a gift and she was only able to sleep an hour or two whenever she was on duty since she was very busy taking vitals from the patients, performing surgery or doing clinics. Even at home, she could never have a good night rest because she was not allowed to have deep sleep due to always being on call. Even on vacations, she rarely took them and she had said she only had a vacation twice in her mid-30s and thrice in her 40s due to the numerous cases given to her. Additionally, as mentioned earlier, she had consumed numerous amounts of caffeine or any energy boost drinks she could lay her hands on whenever she needed them.
Spiritual:
On a spiritual note, dr. Cruz was able to attach herself to God due to her illness. She had once told the author of this paper that she had consulted a priest when she was diagnosed with T2D and the priest told her to pray fervently.
She knew then that there was no hope in curing her disease since diabetes at the time was very hard to survive. So clinging on to her last ho...