- Messages
- 10
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
The title is me. I am not a diabetic. My dad is. He has type 2 diabetes. He is 72 years old and lives on his own. He has a relatively inactive lifestyle and is very set in his ways. Over the last year, his diabetes management has become out of control. His HbA1C was 106 in October 2017. Over the year, perhaps because of his diabetes, we have seen a rapid decline of his well being. He struggles to walk (gait apraxia), suffers from memory loss, and is despondent and depressed. He has no motivation or interest, it seems, to improve.
Shortly after hearing about the 106 reading, we purchased Dexcom. Initially this helped, and after making a few changes we think he may be at optimal insulin dose for him which is:
HUMULIN M3
30 UNITS morning
20 UNITS evening.
About 3 weeks ago, the Dexcom gave an estimated HbA1C of around 76 which is a vast improvement. He is also on Trulicity and Metformin in addition to insulin.
However 1.5 weeks ago, Dexcom stopped working. My dad said last night that he has no intention of using it again. He is slowly slipping to his former self from October 2017; and I have no way of checking whether he is doing what he should be doing or at the right times. E.g. on a random visit to his flat we discovered he had enough insulin for the day but did not remember (or think to remember) to place a new order on his repeat prescription. We managed to get another pen at very short notice. Otherwise it would have meant 4 days without any insulin.
Moving forward, I know I need to get Dexcom back up and running, despite my dad's protest. Thereafter, I believe our options are as follows:
1. Obtain psychological support as his management has been a huge strain for me and other family members and he gets very despondent a lot of the time (with difficulty is getting him to engage).
2. His diet needs massively improving to reduce the glucose peaks on Humulin regime. He almost certainly doesn't have the intelligence/willpower/motivation to go onto a Lantus/3x daily Actrapid regime. And even with the various excellent diet plans available, what my dad should eat and what he does are 2 different things. The latter may be a struggle (which is where psychologist might come in handy?).
3. Finger prick testing - he still needs to do this twice daily (to calibrate Dexcom) but he is still having difficulty doing this meaning multiple attempts each time and disengagement as his fingers are so sore.
If anyone has any thoughts/recommendations on the above or even alternative suggestions, it would be enormously appreciated. Whilst I feel we have made a vast improvement, my dad seems very unwilling or unable to improve. It is a huge battle and I feel we are still too far away from sound diabetes control. If things do not improve quickly, I fear something critical will happen soon.
Many thanks for taking the time to read this and for any recommendations you might be able to make.
Adam
Shortly after hearing about the 106 reading, we purchased Dexcom. Initially this helped, and after making a few changes we think he may be at optimal insulin dose for him which is:
HUMULIN M3
30 UNITS morning
20 UNITS evening.
About 3 weeks ago, the Dexcom gave an estimated HbA1C of around 76 which is a vast improvement. He is also on Trulicity and Metformin in addition to insulin.
However 1.5 weeks ago, Dexcom stopped working. My dad said last night that he has no intention of using it again. He is slowly slipping to his former self from October 2017; and I have no way of checking whether he is doing what he should be doing or at the right times. E.g. on a random visit to his flat we discovered he had enough insulin for the day but did not remember (or think to remember) to place a new order on his repeat prescription. We managed to get another pen at very short notice. Otherwise it would have meant 4 days without any insulin.
Moving forward, I know I need to get Dexcom back up and running, despite my dad's protest. Thereafter, I believe our options are as follows:
1. Obtain psychological support as his management has been a huge strain for me and other family members and he gets very despondent a lot of the time (with difficulty is getting him to engage).
2. His diet needs massively improving to reduce the glucose peaks on Humulin regime. He almost certainly doesn't have the intelligence/willpower/motivation to go onto a Lantus/3x daily Actrapid regime. And even with the various excellent diet plans available, what my dad should eat and what he does are 2 different things. The latter may be a struggle (which is where psychologist might come in handy?).
3. Finger prick testing - he still needs to do this twice daily (to calibrate Dexcom) but he is still having difficulty doing this meaning multiple attempts each time and disengagement as his fingers are so sore.
If anyone has any thoughts/recommendations on the above or even alternative suggestions, it would be enormously appreciated. Whilst I feel we have made a vast improvement, my dad seems very unwilling or unable to improve. It is a huge battle and I feel we are still too far away from sound diabetes control. If things do not improve quickly, I fear something critical will happen soon.
Many thanks for taking the time to read this and for any recommendations you might be able to make.
Adam