Djenie Michel

Patient of the Month — January 2019

Djénie ​​Michel, a nineteen year-old young woman born in the west of Port-au-Prince, grew up the eldest of four daughters, with her mother Manèse and stepfather Dabouse, loving to dance and spend time with her sisters.

Manèse and Dabouse are both craftsmen. They both create artistic paintings, bracelet, sandals, hats, and other articles of clothing and home goods. Despite both working full time and selling their works, they have not been able to achieve a stable enough income that adequately meets the needs of the family.

In November 2013, Djénie began to develop troubling symptoms. Typical of Type I diabetes, she was drinking excessive amounts of water, urinating far more frequently than usual, and rapidly losing weight. After a month without improvements, her mother brought her to the Little Brothers and Sisters Hospital, where it was discovered that she had Type I diabetes.

After the diagnosis, Manèse did her best to care for Djénie – buying insulin and equipment and monitoring her health. However, the rising cost of insulin and supplies made the maintenance impossible. While both Djénie’s mother and father did they best they could to keep up with the daily demands of her new diagnosis, as for many families in our community it proved beyond their means. After Djénie fell into a diabetic coma, her father rushed her to the Mirebalais University Hospital. She was subsequently transferred to us at Kay Mackenson, where she received comprehensive, wraparound, 24/7 care from our team

Djénie learned how to care for her diabetes while living with us at KMC. Now able to manage her insulin and its monitoring, she was able to return to her mother's house, where she is comfortable, happy, and healthy. We are lucky enough to have Djénie present at our Diabetes Camp every year, where she teaches our younger patients dances and how to live fully with a diabetes diagnosis.

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