Choose 1 person’s story. Copy and paste the questions below into a Word document
Choose 1 person’s story. Copy and paste the questions below into a Word document of no longer than three double-spaced pages. Type your responses below each question. Please refrain from yes or no answers. Be sure to reference the material and to use APA for any citations. PLEASE reference at least one, if not both of the attached sources! Answer the following questions:
What disease does the individual have? Is it chronic or acute?
How did the disease change the individual’s life?
What is the recommended treatment?
What did the individual do to improve his or her recovery?
What did the individual do that impaired his or her recovery?
Are there other things the individual could do to help with the disease?
Which individuals were successful in their treatment? Which individuals were not? Was their success or failure due to gender differences?
STORIES
Ruth
Ruth is 24 years old and has a good job and a boyfriend. Everything seems to be going well in her life. But it hasn’t always been that way. When she was 14 years old, her friends began smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol. Because she wanted to be part of the group, she also began smoking and drinking when she went to parties with her friends. One night when Ruth was 16, her friends had some marijuana, and they all tried smoking it. After using marijuana for about a year, she began experimenting with other drugs, and by the time she was 18, Ruth was using heroin every day. Her drug habit was costing her $75 a day. After a while, her boyfriend left her, and the rest of her friends were tired of her asking for money to buy drugs. She was fired from her part-time job because she had missed work so many times. She was arrested several times for shoplifting items from local departments and discount stores. She tried to quit using heroin several times, but she had strong cravings for the drug. Each time she began having symptoms of withdrawal, Ruth went back to abusing drugs.
When Ruth was 20, her brother convinced her to go to a drug rehabilitation center. The doctors at the center began treating her with methadone, and she participated in group behavioral treatments. She followed her treatment exactly as the doctors prescribed and after six months, Ruth thought she had beaten her addiction. She enrolled in college and made new friends. Her friends got her involved in sports, and Ruth found that she enjoyed running. She even competed in a 10K run. She continued her methadone treatment and saw her therapist every two months.
When she was 22, Ruth was under a great deal of stress when she took on a new part-time job in addition to her schoolwork. She ran into her old high school friends at a party and did some heroin with them. She thought she could handle it. Over the next couple of months, however, she quit her methadone treatment and began doing heroin more frequently, every couple of days. She was beginning to isolate herself from her friends and was having trouble at work. Ruth was scared. She called her doctors, and they started her treatments again. With her doctors’ help, Ruth realized that she needed to continue her medication and her counseling.
MIKE
Mike grew up an active boy who loved participating in sports. When he was 14, he was diagnosed with Type I diabetes. Mike learned how to measure his blood glucose levels before meals and give himself insulin injections based on his blood glucose level. He also learned how he should change his diet. Mike learned what types and amounts of foods he could eat and how he should schedule the time interval between meals. But making these changes was very difficult for him. After discussions with the family doctor, Mike and his family decided he would spend six weeks at a summer camp for teenagers who have diabetes. While at camp, Mike ate the correct diet and learned how other kids cope with their diabetes. He even made several friends there.
After he got home, Mike often e-mailed his friends from camp, and they would talk about school, sports, and how diabetes changed their lives. Mike’s life was pretty normal for a teenager—school, sports, friends. He found that as long as he regulated his blood glucose levels, he could do most of what he wanted. When he was 16, he got his driver’s license. On weekends, he would sometimes forget his diet and eat hamburgers, french fries, and sodas with his friends. Because he only had a minor problem the first time he did this, he continued to ignore his diet when he was with his friends.
One Saturday night, Mike’s parents had to take him to the emergency room because his blood sugar level was over 600. Although this scared him, he recovered. After a few weeks, though, he went back to eating whatever he wanted instead of the proper diet, especially if he was with his friends. Mike only checked his blood glucose level if he thought he might have a problem. He ended up back in the hospital several more times that year. His grades fell from As to Cs because he could not keep up with the work. He had trouble concentrating and was tired a lot. He and his parents argued all the time about Mike’s failure to eat a healthy diet.
The last time Mike went into the hospital, the doctor warned him that he was at risk for permanent health problems if he didn’t control his blood glucose level: he could have kidney failure or could go blind. Mike’s doctor recommended a specialist who could help Mike learn to cope with diabetes and still maintain an active social life. Mike’s family also talked to the specialist to learn how they could help him. For the past four years, Mike has been able to control his blood sugar levels and has only had two minor episodes.
CAROL
Carol is the mother of two high school students. Although she is only 42 years old, her doctor has told her that she has high blood pressure or essential hypertension. On one visit to her doctor, her blood pressure was 160/105. When her doctor checked her blood pressure again on another day, her blood pressure was 150/95. Her doctor prescribed medicine to lower her blood pressure and told her to watch her diet and to begin exercising. The doctor also told Carol that she needed to be very careful in controlling the amount of salt that she ate in her diet.
Carol followed the doctor’s plan for about six months. Gradually she started skipping her exercise sessions and gave up making healthy eating choices. Carol had a difficult time skipping the potato chips and peanuts that she liked to eat for an afternoon snack. Often, she forgot to take her medication. At her next appointment, Carol and her doctor discussed the problems she was having, and the doctor informed her that her blood pressure had actually gone up. The doctor talked to her about getting advice from a nutritionist, working with a personal trainer to help her establish an exercise plan, and seeing a psychologist who could help her make the needed changes. Carol decided that she didn’t need help from those people and tried again to diet and exercise on her own. But, with her long hours at work and her family to take care of, she found it difficult. Because she was missing work more often, Carol’s boss gave a promotion to someone else instead of her. Carol’s kids complained that she didn’t come to their football games and band concerts anymore.
One night, Carol complained that she was having another headache, and her vision was blurry. Her kids commented that she was slurring her words when she spoke. Her husband immediately called an ambulance to take her to the emergency room. Carol received medical help in time, but the doctors told her that she had a mild stroke.