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The Victoria man hadn’t felt anything in his left foot for some time. A type 2 diabetic, he had succumbed to a common consequence of the disease.
Several months later, Trevino’s injured foot developed ulcers and his doctors decided they had no other option but to amputate.
Now, recovering from his Sept. 24 surgery, Trevino is preparing for life with just one foot.
“I’m going to learn how to crawl before I start walking,” he said.
Trevino’s struggle with diabetes isn’t unusual in South Texas. An estimated 8 percent of Victorians older than 20 have been diagnosed as diabetics, according to survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2005.
Many more are diabetic but remain undiagnosed. As many as 30 percent of diabetics don’t know they have the disease, John Griffin said. A Victoria attorney and type 2 diabetic, Griffin sits on the national board of directors of the American Diabetes Association. In 2011, he will chair the board.
“Diabetes is an epidemic,” he said. “And it’s especially an epidemic in South Texas.”
Some ethnic groups have a genetic predisposition toward diabetes. This includes Hispanics, who comprise 40.8 percent of Victoria County’s population, according to U.S. Census Bureau numbers for 2006, the most recent year available.
“It does choose its victims partly on their national origin or the color of their skin,” Griffin said. “It is a prejudiced disease.”
More than 12 percent of adult Hispanics in Texas are diagnosed diabetics, according to the Texas Diabetes Council. For non-Hispanic whites, the percentage is 8.5.
Diabetes is in Trevino’s Mexican-American family. His father was diabetic, and he’s concerned his brother may soon also develop the disease.
Part of the problem is that many Hispanics don’t have health insurance and don’t get regular medical check-ups, Dr. Dante Garza, director of DeTar Diabetes Center in Victoria, said. In such cases, later diagnosis is common.
“They actually wait until they have full-blown diabetes and they go to the emergency room very ill,” Garza said.
Thirty-four percent of Hispanics who are diagnosed diabetics report that they don’t have health insurance, Richard Kropp, diabetes specialist at the Texas Department of State Health Services, said. In contrast, 11 percent of non-Hispanic whites aren’t covered.
Thirty-three percent of Hispanics diagnosed with diabetes reported they couldn’t see a doctor because of costs, Kropp said.
Trevino hasn’t had health insurance since 2006 because his ailments make policies too expensive. His last plan cost $2,000 a month.
By the end of the year, he’ll have as much as $100,000 in bills for his operation, medications and recuperation.
“One bill was already $24,000,” he said.
Nurture as well as nature exasperates the prevalence of diabetes among Hispanics. Many consume diets high in carbohydrates that lead to greater incidences of obesity, Garza said. Obesity is a major contributing factor to type 2 diabetes.
The owner of Maggie’s Restaurant in Victoria, Trevino hasn’t always had the healthiest diet. But since his operation, he has maintained a prescribed diet of 2,000 calories a day and cut down on foods and beverages with high sugar content.
“My biggest problem is soda waters,” he said. “I’m addicted to them. And I hate Diet Coke, but I’m getting used to it.”
An almost-empty bottle of Diet Coke sat next to Trevino while he spoke.
At night, he gets injections of insulin. The hormone breaks down blood sugar into energy and relieves the workload on the pancreas, Kropp said. The pancreases of diabetics either do not produce enough insulin or generate insulin that’s defective and the body can’t use.
Meanwhile, Trevino has got to take his first steps toward rehabilitation.
“I’ve only got one foot left and if I lose that, that will really make it more difficult,” he said.
His family and friends are holding a benefit for him at Mario’s Ballroom in Victoria on Oct. 26. They hope the event will defray some of the expense of his medical treatment.
“We’re encouraging the whole community to come out to support us, to support Bobby,” Trevino’s longtime friend, Emmett Alvarez, said.
If you go:
Where: Mario’s Ballroom, 1301 Tristan St. in Victoria
When: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 26
Cost: $6 per plate
Diabetes can be reversed
It’s in people’s best interest to fight the disease, doctors say. High blood sugar levels damage nerves and blood vessels, which can result in loss of physical sensation, heart disease and blindness, said Richard Kropp, diabetes specialist at the Texas Department of State Health Services.
The disease compromises the body’s ability to heal and it heightens the risks of everyday accidents, Dr. Dante Garza, director of DeTar Diabetes Center in Victoria, said. Feet, which are prone to injury, are a common casualty of diabetes.
“If you were walking on your hands 24 hours, then you would be more susceptible in your hands,” Garza said.
During one physical examination, Garza found a thumbtack stuck in a diabetic woman’s foot. The woman had regressed to the point where she had no feeling in her feet.
Local and national efforts have been launched to counteract the disease. School nurses now monitor students for signs of diabetes, such as hyper-pigmentation on the skin of their necks, Garza said. This is a positive step because early diagnosis often results in more effective treatment.
“Everyone thinks that the diagnosis of diabetes is a death sentence,” Garza said. “But it is not.”
Medical researchers have ambitious goals for fighting diabetes. They’re trying to replicate healthy cells in the pancreas and develop better treatment regimens, said John Griffin, a Victoria attorney and type 2 diabetic. He is also a member of the national board of directors of the American Diabetes Association.
“Just as Rome wasn’t built in a day, we’re not going to reverse this tomorrow, but everybody has to take the first step,” Griffin said.