In Reply to: Complications associated with diabetes--healing wounds, eyesight, athersclerosis, fluid on the lungs, Donner's disease? posted by Kelley on October 20, 2000 at 14:37:45:

: My mother-in-law has had diabetes since she was 7 years old. Although she's a nurse by training, up until around April of this year she had not seen her doctor for over 2 years. She was forced to go into early retirement by her doctor--no surprise, she was always very weak, very pale and frail, she had a high-stress job and she had been smoking for 12 years. In May, my sister-in-law's cat bit her and she ende up in the hospital. While there, they found that 3 of her arteries were almost completely clogged. Because the cat bite took so long to heal, they had to postpone her bypass surgery until the end of May. She ended up having a quintuple bypass and her aortic valve was replaced. Her recovery has been incredibly slow and she is still not really in the recovery stage. Since her surgery, she's had cellulitis, has not been able to eat much because of constant nausea (last I heard she weighed 98 pounds), has dizzy spells, chronic fluid on her lungs,talks out of her head (dillusional), has seizures, leaky blood vessels in her eyes(causing complete blindness--too much coumadin) and last week she had her gallbladder taken out. She just turned 50 last month and I am very worried about her. She just went back into the hospital because she kept fainting, still can't keep anything down and she again has fluid on her lungs. She said she had something like "Donner's" (sp?) disease which is where you have chronic fluid on the lungs. I have never heard of this disease and can't find it anywhere on the internet. Her doctors (by now there are too many to count) seem to only be concerned with their specialty instead of looking at her case as a whole. I can't get any information out of them and honestly have never heard of someone so young having so many dibilitating problems. I was wondering if anyone could shed some light on this situation...if you or anyone you know has had these multiple complications (even some of them) and if you've ever heard of this "Donner's" disease. Thank you so much!

The key to most or all of your mother's present medical problems could be how well she was controlling her diabetes. You say she had not seen her doctor in 2 years, and I can only assume her diabetes was not in good control because of all the things she is suffering now.

Diabetes is a major risk factor for heart disease even for those that have fairly good control of their diabetes. I read in a reliable source that studies made in the United States indicate about 65% of diabetics will someday develop some type of heart disease. The bypass and the heart valve problem can be linked to her diabetes.

Diabetes also can thicken small blood vessels in your body, especially her feet, hands and eyes. Even though they become thicker, they also become weaker and can tend to hemorrhage. Her eye problem is caused by a condition called retinopathy. The small blood vessels of the retina, the black part of the eye at the back of the eye rupture which can cause blindness. Being on Coumadin, a blood thinner, does not help, but because of her heart condition is probably a must. It could be a situation where you are damned if you do and damned if you don't take Coumadin. The vessels in your mother's brain as the nerves could have been affected by her control of her diabetes. This is strictly a medical decision, and the course of action can only be done by doctors that have examined and tested your mother. No one, not even a doctor who might reply, can give any type of reliable diagnosis without examining and knowing the results of tests run on your mother.

Diabetics are much slower to heal that someone without diabetes.

The fluid on her lungs may or may not be related to her heart disease. Have her doctors mentioned congestive heart failure. This is one reason for fluid on the lungs usually because of loss of pumping action of the heart called the ejection fraction.

I too cannot find anything on a conditon named "Donner's Disease".

To sum up, most of your mother's problems can probably be traced to her control of her diabetes.

I am not a doctor, but I have been trained to do support work for heart patients and their families. I also associate with heart surgons, cardiologists, diabetic educators, registered dietitians and other medical professionals in the area of heart disease.

I know you and your family are facing a very stressful time in your life, and my heart and prayers go out to you. My purpose here was not to be critical but to give you the possible reasons for your mother's present condtion.

Things will work themselves out. It may not be what you want to happen that actually resolves the situation. Nothing can be changed that has happened in the past. All you can do is put your faith in her doctors to do the best they can for her. They also may be limited in what they can do for her. All you can do is have faith that what eventually happens will be the best for all concerned including your mother.

You may also want to get a second medical opinion if you have not already done so.

I wish all involved the very best no matter what the outcome might be.

Ken