DISABILITIES

By Daniel J. Vance

Joyce Mignerey, 71, of Sardinia, Ohio, has "something" yet doctors haven't been able to figure it out.

She says her physical problems started at age 40 when a major blood clot in her leg hampered vacation plans. A decade later she was diagnosed with diabetes, which doctors could figure out.

"I first learned of the diabetes at age 50," she said over the telephone. "I had excessive thirst and had to urinate often. I had scratches that wouldn't heal. Today I take two insulin shots daily and have to be extremely careful about eating. You aren't supposed to go more than five hours without eating. As I've gotten older, that time span between having food is somewhere between two and four hours. I can get really shaky."

The diabetes was an adjustment for her husband then, a dentist. A few months after being diagnosed, she fainted suddenly while mowing her front lawn. "I told my husband to get me something sweet, and he went into the house and brought out a Diet Coke," she laughed. "You live and learn."

Today, she still has diabetes-related black outs. "[The state] took my driver's license away because of that," she said. "I feel like a bird that has had its wings clipped. I can't stand it." In addition, her diabetes has caused neuropathic foot pain that she manages with painkillers and she has unrelated nerve pain running down her back and legs.

And with her diabetes she has mobility problems. "I can't shop anywhere unless there is a shopping cart to hang onto," she said. "Soon I'll be using the electric carts some stores offer. I can't be on my feet more than 15 minutes without the pain starting."

Unrelated to her diabetes, she recently has been experiencing dizziness and internal bleeding. Doctors simply haven't been able to figure out this last "something." Recently due to the dizziness she fell headfirst onto the floor. Her doctors have ruled out many things and have learned through MRIs that she has been having many mini-strokes.

"I get discouraged at times," Mignerey said. "If dwelling on it, I could go right over the edge. But I know that I have to keep going. My faith is a factor in helping me through. And I'm thankful that I can do certain things, like going to the bathroom alone. Many people can't."

For more, see www.danieljvance.com or www.nih.gov