Thursday, May 26, 2011

Living With Diabetes: A UT College of Pharmacy Students Perspective


At the age of 12 I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. My carefree life suddenly changed to a life full of finger sticks, carb counting, and insulin shots. The previous two weeks I had all the classic symptoms--I was drinking everything I could get my hands on and having to use the restroom every 15 minutes. I lost about 30 pounds, my eyesight got worse, and I had problems focusing my attention. The day I was diagnosed, I was so weak that I couldn’t stand or even sit up. Yet, diabetes never crossed any of our minds. My doctor took one look at me and ordered a blood glucose level. It didn’t take long for him to come back in and tell me that I had diabetes. At 12 I didn’t understand what this meant. I thought it just meant that I couldn’t eat sugar or candy. Was I in for a rude awakening! I spent the next three days in the hospital getting a crash course on diabetes from doctors, nurses, nutritionists, and social workers. In the midst of all the overwhelming information, they were telling me (someone who was terrified of shots) that I would have to learn how to check my blood sugar and give insulin injections to myself several times a day! I didn’t think I could do it, but I had no choice. This was now my life. I would just have to deal with it.

I had to change my whole life around to manage my diabetes. I could no longer sleep in, I had to wake up to take my morning insulin and eat breakfast everyday at 7:30 a.m. I could no longer eat what I wanted, when I wanted. I had to eat the same amount of food at the same time every day. With time it got easier, and now it’s just a part of my life which has become routine and sort of a second nature. I now wear an insulin pump, and sometimes even forget I’m diabetic. That doesn’t mean that it isn’t still difficult some times. There have been times where I asked, “Why me? Why do I have to go through this?” But I know God does not give me anything I can’t handle. Now I try to make the best of it and use my personal experiences to help others. When diabetics come into the pharmacy, I know what they are going through. I know what struggles they have and how hard it is to manage their disease. I know how you can do everything you are supposed to do and still your blood sugar goes high. I have the same fears of kidney failure, blindness, and neuropathy all diabetics have. It’s not as easy as some healthcare providers make it seem. It’s a complicated disease, and no one really knows how truly difficult it is to be a diabetic unless you live with the disease yourself. That’s why I feel it is important for the diabetic patients that come into the pharmacy to know that I personally understand the challenges that come with managing their diabetes.


Beth Black

Monday, May 23, 2011

New Diabetes Class: May's Topic - Healthy Eating Using the Plate Method


Do you have diabetes? Do you have a friend or family member with diabetes? If so please let them know about “The Sweet Spot”, Diabetes Education for Everyday Living, presented by your local pharmacy, Mac’s Pharmacy. At Mac’s Pharmacy, we promise to partner with you to take control of your diabetes, though our free monthly diabetes class, “The Sweet Spot”. Our highly attended class meets every 4th Wednesday at the following locations and times:

Renaissance Terrace
215 Bearden Pl
Knoxville, TN 37917-7124
(865) 544-1710
Class Time – 10am every 4th Wednesday (This month, May 25th)

and

Mac’s Edgemoor Pharmacy
643 Edgemoor Road
Powell, TN 37849
Class Time – 4pm every 4th Wednesday (This month, May 25th)

This month's topic is healthy eating. We will spend most of our class focusing on "The Plate Method." By the end of the discussion, you will see how something as simple as a dinner plate can help you eat healthier and gain control of your diabetes. Overview of what we will be discussing:

- The basics of diabetes
- The Plate Method
- The three main food groups that you should use to correctly fill your plate
- How a pharmacist can help you manage your diabetes using more than just medications

Also we will give you the recipe and directions for this months "Sweet Suggestion".... Salmon Filets with Pineapple Salsa.....Yum!

At the class we will provide light snacks, the May Sweet Spot Patient Handout, as well as access to a free diabetic meter. After the presentation there will be time for questions and a chance to sit down with a pharmacist or other healthcare provider to discuss one-on-one any other questions you might have about diabetes, your medication or The Plate Method.

At Mac’s Pharmacy we are committed to providing our classes to the community free of charge and any body is welcome to attend regardless of where they might get their medication. Please assist us in spreading the word about our classes and feel free to “like” the information on facebook or re-tweeting on twitter ;)

www.macspharmacy.com

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Update On Our Efforts To Help With Greene County Tornado Relief

Thank you to Robin Wilhoit and WBIR Channel 10 for mentioning our relief efforts on their facebook page and to Wes Rucker of 247 Sports and ESPN Knox for mentioning our efforts on his radio show Monday. If you want to keep up with relief efforts follow @wesrucker247 on twitter. He has done an excellent job of creating awareness of all regions that have been affected and he will mix in news about the UT Volunteers as well (he is a UT sportswriter).

If you live near one of our locations, or Allen Wilhoit's Northwestern Mutual office on Neal Drive, please stop by and donate any items you wish to the Greene County relief efforts and we will make sure they get there. (addresses are listed on our last post) Many people are wanting to help and do not know where to turn so we are being a resource. Every little bit helps!

We have been asked, Why Greene County? The reason why we are focusing our efforts in helping out Greene County is because we have friends and family from there that are helping coordinate our efforts and getting the donations to the right place. The recent storms have caused a lot of destruction across the entire South. We wish we could help out everybody that has been affected, but due to our connections in Greene County we feel our efforts will be most effective by using the resources we have in that area. If you wish to drop by items and want them sent somewhere else please let us know and we will do our best to get them to the appropriate people.

One thing is for sure, when there is devastation in the South people do what they can to help get their neighbors back on their feet! Thank you everybody for the help!

Monday, May 2, 2011

Tornado Relief Efforts

Mac's Pharmacy and Northwestern Mutual (Neal Drive) team up to raise money, awareness, and support for Greene County tornado relief efforts. This photo by Phil Gentry and posted in the Greeneville Sun says it all. This photo was taken on Sunnydale Road, one of the hardest hit areas of Wednesday nights tornadoes. (here is the link http://bit.ly/lDEqGH ) We decided to try and do our part to coordinate both the collection and appropriate distribution of needed goods from our area to assist the relief effort in Greene County. Any items you would like to donate to the cause can be dropped off at the locations listed and we will get all of the donated goods to Greene County.

A list of the most needed items is included below:

  • Household items (Laundry detergent, bleach, towels, bed sheets, blankets)
  • Toiletries (Toothpaste, mouthwash, body soap, deodorant, lotion, feminine hygiene products, hand sanitizer, razors, toilet paper)
  • Paper kitchen products (Disposable dishes, utensils, cups, paper towels
  • Baby Products (Diapers, formula, baby powder)
  • Cleaning supplies (Mops, brooms, Lysol, trash bags)
  • Flashlights
  • First-aid kits
  • Non-perishable food items (Canned/packaged food, bottled water, sports drinks)
  • School supplies (paper, notebooks, pens, pencils, lunch boxes, book bags, folders, etc.)

For those that want to give a monetary donation we have been told that The Greene County Emergency Management office has established a special fund for monetary donations at all Greenbank locations. There are many counties across the south that have been affected and many places looking for help. If anybody knows where to send goods or money to for other efforts please leave in the comments section. Thank you to all of those that are helping out.


Mac's Pharmacy (Knoxville)

2419 Washington Pike

Knoxville, TN 37917


Mac's Pharmacy (Claxton/Powell)

643 Edgemoor Rd.

Powell, TN 37849


Allen Wilhoit's Northwestern Mutual (Halls)

3517 Neal Drive

Knoxville, TN 37918