Farming with Diabetes

Section 1: Farming with Diabetes

"The AgrAbility staff were very helpful and easy to talk with. The resources they showed me and helped me get through vocational rehabilitation made a big difference in my life!"
— Gerald Craighead

In 1999 the staff at Vanderbilt Rehabilitation Center called the Kentucky AgrAbility staff and asked them to visit Mr. Gerald Craighead, a farmer who had just had his right leg amputated below the knee as a result of diabetes.

Craighead developed a fungus on the back of his right big toe near its base. Neither he nor his doctor recognized that it was a fungus at that time. As he got on and off the bulldozer he used to do custom farming construction projects, he kept hitting the toe and aggravating it. Although it was sore and uncomfortable, he did not realize how badly the fungus had affected the toe. He finally discovered the extent of the damage one day while showering. He sought medical help immediately but the infection was so severe that it resulted in an amputation of the leg below the knee.

Craighead developed type 2 diabetes when he was 40 years old. At first he was able to control it with just a special diet and exercise. As time went on, his condition required him to take insulin pills. Today, in addition to watching his diet and getting enough exercise, his treatment includes a combination of insulin pills and insulin injections. He uses the common type of monitoring device and injection system.

AgrAbility Staff Visit

Shortly after he returned home from the hospital, AgrAbility staff visited him at the farm. Together they discussed his plans for running the operation with his now limited mobility.

Prior to the surgery Craighead had a full time position as the maintenance supervisor at a nearby university. He worked his 120-acre farm part-time. Seven years ago he left his maintenance position and "retired" to fulltime farming. In addition to raising 40-45 head of beef cattle and putting up hay for them, he also raises and sells 100 acres of hay for other farmers in the area. He spends a good deal of time using his bulldozer to do custom construction (e.g., putting in fence posts and ponds) for other farmers.

AgrAbility staff left a resource manual with Craighead for him to review and determine if the manual included ideas for modifications that he would like to try. AgrAbility staff made a second visit to conduct a worksite assessment and talk with him about how assistive technology could make his tasks a little easier and his farm more accessible. Together they determined that automatic drive-through gates in the pastures, a new remotely controlled door on his workshop (the old door was too heavy for him to raise by hand without putting undue pressure on his prosthesis), and hand-controls for four of his vehicles were the three most pressing needs.

Contacting DVR

The staff put Craighead in touch with a counselor at the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation so he could request assistance from the department in making the modifications necessary for him to work fulltime on the farm. Craighead then worked directly with DVR to get the modifications purchased and installed. He says he is slowing down the farming a bit now but has purchased a new fully automatic bulldozer and is continuing to do the construction work. The modifications remain important to his mobility whether he is farming or doing custom farm construction.

NEXT: Focus—Diabetes a Serious Health Problem

In This Issue
Section 1: Farming with Diabetes Section 2: Focus—Diabetes a Serious Health Problem Section 3: Assistive Technology Notes—Technologies for Controlling and Monitoring, and Accommodating Secondary Complications of Diabetes	Section 4: A Client's Story—Carmen Schacht's Story Section 5: Resources and References Section 6: Contacts Section 7: Assistive Technology Notes Resources