Crescent-News.com - Two area senior citizens, one teen deal with their diabetes with some success

By DARLENE PRINCE

Diabetes can be a difficult disease for many to control. However, one teen-ager and two older women from Defiance have been dealing successfully with their diabetes.

While one of the women, Norma Stevenson, has struggled with the disease, another woman, Virginia Campbell, and teen-ager Hannah Scheppler have had an easier time.

"In 43 years, I have never been able to regulate my diabetes," Stevenson said. "And it is not because I don't try."

Stevenson, 75, said, after unsuccessful treatment for an illness in Defiance many years ago, she went to a hospital in Fort Wayne.

"There, they did gallbladder surgery and took out the stones and treated an infection," she said. While surgeons were removing her gall bladder, they checked her pancreas, which, she said, was "fire red."

She learned the pancreas was destroyed by the infection and she was then put on insulin to replace the insulin which was provided by her pancreas.

"I am what they call an irregular diabetic," she said. "I have never been able to control my diabetes and I work very hard at it. I am active, I work at the church. I cook and bake. I am careful about what I eat," noting she doesn't eat white bread and tries to stay away from sweets.

When she has an infection, Stevenson said the readings of her blood sugar could be up and down -- from 94 mg/dl in the morning to spiking as high as 300 mg/dl later in the day.

"If I have any infection or stress, it messes up my blood sugar reading something terrible," she said. "It is a real struggle for me to control it."

For 13-year-old Hannah Scheppler, who goes to school at Tinora Junior High School, controlling her diabetes has been easier. Scheppler, the daughter of David and Lisa Scheppler, was diagnosed when she was 7.

"My parents noticed I was eating a lot of food and I was drinking a lot of water," she said. "I was thirsty all of the time and I was losing a lot of weight."

After a trip to the doctor, Scheppler was diagnosed as a type 1 diabetic. Instead of taking insulin shots, she has an insulin pump in her stomach, which delivers insulin in a way that resembles the body's own release of the hormone. Insulin is released according to the information given to the pump's computer.

She said, at first, her parents handled the information that is given to the pump's computer.

"Then, they said they wanted me to learn how to handle some of it so I could be independent," she explained.

Scheppler's parents help her by counting the carbohydrates she consumes and by giving the correct information to the pump, which then releases the right amount of insulin.

Scheppler is leading an otherwise normal life. She is not involved in athletics, but is an active student and a member of student council. She was a dancer for 10 years.

There is no cure for type 1 diabetes.

Asked about the possibility of a pancreas transplant for his daughter, David said, "They have to transplant a kidney with a pancreas and those transplants have not been that successful. The doctors are making sure that Hannah stays healthy and follows a healthy regimen."

He added that she has frequent blood sugar tests to be sure the diabetes is under control.

Virginia Campbell, 76, is a retired music teacher who has been diabetic since 1994.

"It was right after retirement and I was busy cleaning out my room at the school and moving things," she said. "I was just so tired and when I went to the doctor, I was diagnosed with diabetes."

Campbell said her father had type 2 diabetes, so she was familiar with the disease.

"I use an insulin pen and I carry it with me," she said. "Of course, I watch my diet. I don't have too many sweets or potatoes and I do not eat white bread. I am fairly active with volunteer work and church work. I also take a diabetes drug."

According to the Centers for Disease Control, for people with type 1 diabetes, costs are estimated at $10.5 billion for medical care and $4 billion for lost productivity and other indirect costs.

For people with type 2 diabetes, costs are estimated at $105.7 billion for medical care and $53.8 billion for indirect costs.