In 1999, at the age of 50, Guiying Liu was diagnosed with diabetes. She panicked at once.
Since she was a child, she had lived with diabetes. The elders in her family, her father, her uncle, all suffered from diabetes. Just a few years ago, her sister, with whom Guiying Liu had a strong bond, died of complications from diabetes at age 59.
”You can’t hide from it. God willing.” She muttered, folded the test report and put it in the cupboard, ignoring the comfort and encouragement of her partner and daughter, and said nothing in a daze. After some more persuasion, she finally cried out.
Although diabetes is a chronic disease, the death of her sister made her fearful of the disease. Even though Liu Guiying had prepared her heart, grief, anger, despair, and attachment still came to her like a tidal wave. After working hard for most of her life, she was just about to enjoy her happiness and the joy of having grandchildren, but how could she not avoid it?
Since that year, Liu Guiying began to take oral hypoglycemic drugs. Fortunately, the blood sugar level is still stable.
Over the years, she has been living on thin ice. She takes glucose-lowering drugs every day, injects insulin before meals every day; sugar is absolutely not touched, pastries, canned food, ice cream, etc., also eat very little. But she always felt that diabetes was like an iniquitous spirit, chasing after her in death.
Waiting for death: the ineffective treatment drove her crazy
In 2008, when her legs were swollen, her family accompanied Liu Guiying to the hospital for a checkup and found that her fasting blood glucose level was already around 7 mmol/L, which exceeded the normal range of 3.9-6.2 mmol/L for people.
Liu Guiying, who had been suffering from diabetes for many years, was already in her prime. Symptoms such as itchy skin and numbness in the hands and feet have become apparent to her; high blood pressure often makes her dizzy and palpitates; and as she ages, the amount of food she eats does not seem to decrease. In fact, Liu Guiying herself is a very greedy person, especially like to eat meat. 2010, Liu Guiying, who is 1 meter 63 meters tall, has weighed 72.5 kg. The increase in weight was not beneficial to her condition.
The change in her illness made her panic. Liu Guiying, who had an optimistic and straightforward personality, began to become inferior, desperate, irritable and suspicious, and even a little nervous.
Liu Guiying and her partner had been living in the home of her second daughter Zhao Shufang. After a re-examination, Zhao Shufang quietly bought a pair of gold earrings and put them on her bedside to coax her. I didn’t expect that Liu Guiying was furious.
”Did you buy these? Return it!” She turned red and held the jewelry box out in front of her daughter.
The old man gave her a strange look. “What? Fang’er is looking at you in a bad mood ……”
”Return it!” Liu Guiying shouted, and Zhao Shufang was startled. Liu Guiying forcefully shoved the jewelry box into Zhao Shufang’s hand: “I’m a dying person, what use do I need these things?!” Said the finger outside the door: “Hurry up and return the money, later you can also pay tuition for Kun Kun.”
”I also want to live a few more years, I want to see my grandson go to college, have a girlfriend, get married, but look at this, there is no time.” Liu Guiying mumbled, as she walked to her room. A moment later, Zhao Shufang heard the sound of crying.
”My sister died at 59, I’m already 61 this year ……”
By this time, Liu Guiying had shrunk into fear and was anxiously waiting for death to come.
Rescue: easily overcome years of worry
So, when Liu Guiying, whose heart was ashen, first heard that diabetes could be cured, her first reaction was “shock” and then “joy”.
This is a minimally invasive surgery called “laparoscopic gastric bypass”. The operation splits the patient’s stomach into two parts, with only 1/6-1/10 of the original stomach used to hold food, and then a “bypass” is made at the incision in the small stomach to connect to the intercepted section of small intestine, resulting in a significant reduction in food intake. With the rerouting of the digestive tract, the stimulation of the upper gastrointestinal tract by food disappears or is reduced, so that these pancreatic antagonists are no longer produced. Moreover, the early entry of food into the ileum allows the body to produce factors that increase insulin action and lower blood glucose.
In clinical statistics, the efficiency of gastric bypass surgery in the treatment of diabetes reaches 95%, and the cure rate is around 86%.
Liu Guiying, who had not even finished elementary school, had never seen a “laparoscopy” and did not know what a “gastric bypass” was. Her idea was simple: it was her hope to extend her life. After meeting with several patients who had been successfully cured of diabetes through surgery, she quickly made up her mind.
On July 13, 2011, she was admitted to the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, accompanied by her daughter, and underwent laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery a week later.
After the surgery, Liu Guiying didn’t feel anything, she got out of bed and walked around on the second day and was discharged home on the fifth day. The only thing was that the amount of food was reduced. Moreover, I don’t know if it was a psychological effect, but her fingers and toes, which were usually numb, seemed to “come alive”.
But after the examination, the results were hard for her to believe.
Before the surgery, her glycosylated hemoglobin value was 9.3%, and after three months, it had dropped to 6.3%, which was already in line with normal values. This battle with her diabetes had lasted for more than a decade. Now, she has bounced back with 3 months to win. The rest of her life, which was thought to be hopeless, ushered in a new turn.
In March 2013, when Liu Guiying came back to the hospital for another check-up, her glycosylated hemoglobin value had dropped to 5.8 percent and she seemed more cheerful. She smiled cheerfully and flashed her wrist at the familiar nurse: “I asked the old man to buy it for me.”
It was a dazzling gold bracelet.