King Richard: The Father Of Diabetes

Richard is the third child of five siblings in a family of eight, including his parents. He grew up in his childhood home of a middle class family. His father worked for a utility company, and his mother was a teacher. At the age of eleven, Richard was diagnosed with Diabetes. His parents were slightly supportive of his illness, whereas his siblings were not. In his childhood home, it consisted of unhealthy foods, and there were no engagement in physical activities. Richard showed no interest in playing sports in high school; however, he did enjoy reading. At the age of eighteen, he left his childhood home for college. He attended Pace University and graduated with a degree in Accounting. After graduating, Richard moved back to New Jersey,
and was able to find employment as an Accountant close to home. Richard was raised in a Christian household, but is not fully active in their religious background. Other than that, Richard and his family do attend religious ceremonies on the holidays. My client informs me that he was not very popular growing up, but did have a close group of friends he remains in contact with today. Richard’s diabetes caused him to develop health problems in his late 20’s.
He tells that he have to wear prescribed eyeglasses due to a decreased in eyesight. He is dealing with nerve damage in his feet. Richard first became aware of a problem with his kidneys when he began to monitor his urination. He often found blood in his urine and felt pressure. When Richard became conscious of diabetes, he chose not to monitor his health, which is the reason for him to experience severe kidney damage. He also expresses health problems of leg pain, dizziness, feeling cold, shortness of breath, and nausea for the past month. His health making it known that he has acute kidney
failure. There is no psychological history when informed by Richard.
Richard and Sarah had attended marriage therapy when problems started to appear in their marriage. He states that he felt silly talking to a therapist, and they stopped going because he was not “crazy.” Richard also states that he has been feeling very anxious on the state of his health, family life, and his financial situation. He is unable to recall any abuse in his childhood. He mentions that he was a social drinker before his kidney failure, and has never tried drugs before. Richard’s social life is bland, as he describes it to be. His social life consists of his wife, two children, one parent, and his seven siblings. He rarely sees his siblings even though everyone lives in proximity of each other, but they are usually busy at different times. He has custody of his children every Wednesday. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Richard does not see his wife, which he shows interest in seeing her, but from his wife perspective, she does not feel the same way. There is some interaction between Richard and his coworkers; however, they do not see each other outside the
workplace. The condition Richard is in is not good for his overall well being. His kidney disease is spreading throughout his body making it hard for him to cope. When first known and diagnosed with Kidney Diseases, it was seen within its later stage of the disease. After finding out later of Kidney Disease, he is at risk of developing heart disease and strokes. Richard is currently on a waiting list for a kidney transplant. While on the transplant list for a kidney, he is receiving dialysis, which does not seem to be doing any good for him. Despite that, Richard feels that if he receives two new kidneys he will have a new outlook on life.