Lake Regional Health System | Thrive | Winter 2018

lakeregional.com 5 Get answers — and get help Diabetes is a demanding disease. Living with it isn’t always easy — checking blood sugar, taking medication, watching what you eat and other diabetes-related tasks can sap your energy. Worry and frustration about things like glucose numbers or complications may take an emo- tional toll. All of the stress, strain and fatigue may sometimes lead to what’s often called diabetes distress or burnout. Diabetes burnout can put your health at risk. You might start skipping blood sugar checks or medicines. And you may question the usefulness of even following your diabetes routine. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by diabetes, it’s essential to get help and to take steps to feel better. Here are some suggestions from the American Association of Diabetes Educators: Seek support. If you’ve never gone through a diabetes education program, ask your doctor to order this education for you. Diabetes education is covered by Medicare and many health insurance plans. The program at Lake Regional includes six hours of group educa- tion, plus one individual session. • In the group sessions, partici- pants can share experiences and learn from each other. • In the one-on-one session, the diabetes educator cus- tomizes a management plan to your individual needs and goals. Accept imperfections. No one is perfect 100 percent of the time when it comes to managing diabetes. It’s helpful to remind yourself of that. Ask others not to judge you. Your friends and family love you and want you to be healthy. But if you feel like they’re putting too much pressure on you about tak- ing care of your diabetes, suggest other ways they can help. Speak up. Tell your doctor, nurse or diabetes educator how you’re feeling. They can help you pinpoint your stressors and offer ways for you to cope. Additional source: American Diabetes Association Extra one-on-one care Managing one chronic condition is hard enough, but if you have diabetes, it’s likely you also have other ongoing medical issues, such as high blood pressure, arthritis, obesity or lung disease. Lake Regional’s Chronic Care Management program is here to provide extra one-on-one support. In this program, you will connect with a Lake Regional nurse who will serve as your case manager. This individual will work with you and your various health care providers to ensure everyone is on the same page. Your nurse case manager also will call you at least once a month to see how you are doing, and you can call your nurse as often as needed with questions. Ask about your conditions, tests, treatments, medica- tions, appointments and other concerns. Your nurse case manager also provides palliative care. Palliative care focuses on helping patients manage symptoms — such as pain, nausea, weakness and shortness of breath — for improved quality of life. Be sure to talk about your symptoms and goals with your nurse. Burned out on diabetes? MYTH OR FACT? Take our interactive quiz to find out more about diabetes at lakeregional.com/diabetes-quiz . Get connected to care To be eligible for Chronic Care Management, you must have at least two chronic conditions, be en- rolled in Medicare and have a Lake Regional primary care provider. If you are interested in enrolling, ask your Lake Regional primary care provider for a referral. For more information about how the program can help you, call 573-302-2281 .