Heart of the Valley: Woman shares story about diabetes and amputation
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Every year, diabetic patients across the Rio Grande Valley get an amputation due to nerve damage and poor circulation.
One local surgeon says he's seeing more younger patients with these issues.
What started as a small infection, lead to a leg amputation for Martha Perales. She's lived with diabetes for most of her life, but five years ago a toenail infection became life-threatening.
"You start seeing the doctor, you realize the consequences of not taking care of yourself," Perales said.
Perales was getting fitted for a prosthetics as a McAllen prosthetics shop. Doctors removed a part of her leg below her knee.
"The first time I got home, I began to miss my foot. It was really difficult for me," Perales said.
She says over the years the cost of diabetes added and that lead to poor choices.
"I had to choose between buying diabetes medicine or buy food for my kids," Perales said.
Valley surgeon Dr. Luis Reyes is familiar with stories like hers.
"The encounters we find here in the Valley are higher every year," Reyes said. "The patients get to the emergency room sicker, with wounds that are definitely infected."
It's those infections that lead to patients losing limbs. He explained the connection between the disease and amputations.
"Diabetes will affect the nerves. So patients don't really feel a lot of pain or major concern until it's larger, or they can visually see the lesion," Reyes said.
Diabetes can damage blood vessels, which makes it harder for wounds to heal.
Reyes says over the years he's noticed an age difference in amputations.
"We used to see 50-year-olds and that was like a young amputation. Now we see 30-year-old patients that need an amputation," Reyes said.
Living with an amputation isn't easy. Reyes shared some urgent statistics.
"The life span of a patient after an amputation is 50 percent at five years," Reyes said. "And those patients that make it, about 30 percent are going to require a second amputation."
His advice to all diabetics, get control of your blood sugar now and visit your doctor as often as possible.
"We need to identify the patients who have the problem in order to treat them and help them not to get to this situation," Reyes said.
A small infection can lead to an amputation, causing a big financial, physical and mental cost that can all be avoided by making small decisions now to live a healthier life in the future.
HEB and South Texas Health Systems are offering free glucose screenings to test sugar levels. For a full schedule and list of locations, click here.
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