One day, hopefully one day soon, there will be a cure for diabetes, a disease that affects more than 20 million Americans. But until there is a cure, there is help and hope. The staff of North Mississippi Medical Center’s Diabetes Treatment Center is dedicated to helping people with diabetes better understand and manage their disease. The center offers people with diabetes “the next best thing to a cure”—control.

Our Services

Inpatient Services

The staff teaches hospitalized diabetes patients survival skills such as monitoring, managing hypoglycemia and insulin administration.

Outpatient Services

In-depth education including individual nutrition counseling, self-management and insulin pump initiation is provided in an outpatient environment.

Comprehensive Diabetes Self-Management Program

This class includes intensive diabetes management covering every aspect of managing diabetes on a daily basis. The class is taught at NMMC hospitals in Eupora, Tupelo and West Point.

All of these services are available through physician referral. For more information, call or come by the center, or visit our Web site. Until there’s a cure, we will continue to offer hope and help.
 

Support Services

Living with diabetes is a daily challenge. The NMMC Diabetes Treatment Center staff offers a variety of follow-up services to help patients and their families stay informed, up-to-date and in control.

Continuous Glucose Monitoring

Because even frequent fingerstick blood tests can’t tell what happens to people with diabetes 24 hours a day, the Diabetes Treatment Center offers continuous glucose monitoring. With a physician’s referral, staff members can insert a tiny sensor just beneath the skin on the patient’s abdomen. The monitor can record a glucose measurement every five minutes, or 288 readings a day. The patient pushes simple buttons on the monitor to mark the time of meals, exercise and other important events. After three days, the patient returns to the Diabetes Treatment Center where the sensor is removed and the data downloaded into a computer. Continuous glucose monitoring offers physicians a complete look at glucose levels and helps them better manage a patient’s diabetes.

Healthy Cooking Class

The Diabetes Treatment Center offers “Healthy Cooking for People with Diabetes,” taught by a registered dietitian. Sessions include a cooking demonstration and recipe sampling. Participants learn how to modify recipes to decrease the sugar and fat and how to incorporate portion control and carbohydrate counting into meal planning. Other topics include food label education and shopping tips.

W.I.L.D. Bunch

The NMMC Diabetes Treatment Center offers the W.I.L.D. Bunch (Winning in Life with Diabetes), an eight-week course to motivate people with diabetes to exercise, lose weight and reduce stress.

Diabetes Assistance Fund

The daily battles of diabetes can be stressful enough without the added burden of financial pressures. The Diabetes Assistance Fund provides supplies and self- management training for patients who are financially unable to control their disease. Administered by the Diabetes Treatment Center and the Health Care Foundation of North Mississippi, the fund’s goal is to improve quality of life and to decrease preventable hospital admissions for people with diabetes. Funds are designated for patients who meet eligibility requirements.

Diabetes Summer Camp

The Health Care Foundation of North Mississippi also helps children ages 7-16 with diabetes by enabling them to attend a summer camp designed just for them. Diabetes Treatment Center staff members volunteer to work during the camp and the Foundation pays tuition expenses for children who otherwise couldn’t afford to participate.

Community Outreach

Diabetes Treatment Center staff members are actively involved with community education, health fairs and fund-raising efforts for local diabetes patients and research toward a cure.

Nationally Recognized Center of Excellence

The American Diabetes Association has recognized NMMC as a Diabetes Center of Excellence. The NMMC Diabetes Treatment Center offers diabetes treatment and consultation for all ages, including:

	Inpatient and outpatient medical treatment
	Continuous glucose monitoring
	Assistance with specific skills, such as foot care, meal planning & sick day management
	Diabetes management before and during pregnancy
	Insulin instruction
	Insulin pump initiation
	Oral medication management
	Medical nutrition therapy
	Pediatric diabetes program
	Exercise recommendations
	Community programs
	Educational seminars
	Individual and family support
	Financial assistance

The Diabetes Treatment Center is an excellent resource for people who have just recently been diagnosed with diabetes, as well as those who have had diabetes for some time and are struggling with blood sugar control.

DIABETES TREATMENT CENTER

8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday
First Floor
NMMC East Tower
830 South Gloster Street
Tupelo, Mississippi
Phone (662) 377-2500
Fax (662) 377-2069
1-800-THE DESK (1-800-843-3375)
www.nmhs.net/dtc