i saw a man bg reach 45

millenium

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It was at a hospital ward. I was there for. Few hours visiting a relative. I saw this man at the next bed drinking a can of soft drink and food bought from outside. A few hours later i am not sure how the nurses detected he could have high bg and they went to measure his bg. I heard they saying while looking at the meter...45. After that they they took half an hour to prepare the insulin for injection.

This hospital is strange in the following ways. First, they do not measure bg before meals given all the six patients in the room looks around 70 yo. Second, the meals they serve are high in carb, i estimate 60-70g per serving. When they saw my dad only took half of the rice, they asked me why and said should finish all. When i told them he has diabete and cannot consume so much, they gave me a blank look.
 

DavidGrahamJones

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This hospital is strange in the following ways.

I had a weird experience only 10 days ago. I had a routine thing that required a GA, they measured my BG and it was 11, unfortunately typical for that time of the day (08:30) even without breakfast. They said it was fine, I could only say that I'd rather it was lower. The guy across the way was exactly the same. They must go to a different school of nursing than my practice nurse.
 

millenium

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I had a weird experience only 10 days ago. I had a routine thing that required a GA, they measured my BG and it was 11, unfortunately typical for that time of the day (08:30) even without breakfast. They said it was fine, I could only say that I'd rather it was lower. The guy across the way was exactly the same. They must go to a different school of nursing than my practice nurse.

That is fasting or how many hours post meal?
 

Tophat1900

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Not measuring before meals, taking way too long to do anything about it... that's inadequate care.... or no care, take your pick.

And 11 is fine? Wow

Under-performing hcp's.... it's a pity it's not like sport where you can bench a person who fails to perform up to expectations and bring on someone who can to improve the game situation.
 
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DavidGrahamJones

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That is fasting or how many hours post meal?

For me it was fasting 12hrs plus since about 7pm the previous day and previous meal would be < 20gms carb. The other guy would be 12 hours fasting.
 

zand

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I had a weird experience only 10 days ago. I had a routine thing that required a GA, they measured my BG and it was 11, unfortunately typical for that time of the day (08:30) even without breakfast. They said it was fine, I could only say that I'd rather it was lower. The guy across the way was exactly the same. They must go to a different school of nursing than my practice nurse.
My heart consultant told me that they needed to make sure my BGs didn't go too low when I was nil by mouth and that slightly raised BGs weren't of any concern. Perhaps your hospital medical team were only concerned with getting you through the op with no problems...and for their purposes 11 was fine for one day only?
 

Energize

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All very worrying! I'm going into hospital for surgery under General Anaesthetic tomorrow morning. I am to arrive by 7am so will have to leave home 6am. Instructions are not to take Glipizide tomorrow morning, to fast from 12mn.

So, I'm anticipating my blood glucose levels to escalate and, by the time they check them, I'll not be happy to see the result! Again, as @zand mentioned, they don't want glucose levels to drop too low. When I mentioned my Glucose level would go up in the morning without Glipizide, the nurse said it was easier to control if high as opposed to low.

Personally, I think this is very unfair, and unfortunate when one takes so much effort to keep glucose levels within normal parameters etc when they clearly treat you in this way. They are, presumably, playing 'safe' from their own point of view. Also, so many HCPs seem to have no idea of what 'good control' etc is about, and the importance of it.

It'll be interesting to see how my blood glucose behaves tomorrow. I have Libre sensor which I'm hoping they don't insist I remove. I'll consult with anaesthetist before agreeing to remove it but hopefully s/he will be happy to keep it in situ ;)
 

zand

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All very worrying! I'm going into hospital for surgery under General Anaesthetic tomorrow morning. I am to arrive by 7am so will have to leave home 6am. Instructions are not to take Glipizide tomorrow morning, to fast from 12mn.

So, I'm anticipating my blood glucose levels to escalate and, by the time they check them, I'll not be happy to see the result! Again, as @zand mentioned, they don't want glucose levels to drop too low. When I mentioned my Glucose level would go up in the morning without Glipizide, the nurse said it was easier to control if high as opposed to low.

Personally, I think this is very unfair, and unfortunate when one takes so much effort to keep glucose levels within normal parameters etc when they clearly treat you in this way. They are, presumably, playing 'safe' from their own point of view. Also, so many HCPs seem to have no idea of what 'good control' etc is about, and the importance of it.

It'll be interesting to see how my blood glucose behaves tomorrow. I have Libre sensor which I'm hoping they don't insist I remove. I'll consult with anaesthetist before agreeing to remove it but hopefully s/he will be happy to keep it in situ ;)
Oh I'll be thinking of you. I have had 5 general anaesthetics (though none with a libre) and in my experience the anaesthetists have all been very understanding, I hope yours is too.

I think you hit the nail on the head when you say many HCPs have no idea about good control of BGs and also have no idea how hard we work to keep our BGs controlled.

I know it's not desirable for BGs to rise higher than we would like, but remember it's very short term and you know what to do to bring them back down again when you get home.
 
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Energize

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Oh I'll be thinking of you. I have had 5 general anaesthetics (though none with a libre) and in my experience the anaesthetists have all been very understanding, I hope yours is too.
I've had several GAs but not for a few years and, like you, not when I was using the Libre. Hopefully, the anaesthetist will appreciate the benefits of easy-scan, even if he still needs to check blood glucose levels. This surgery (middle ear reconstruction plus clearing Mastoid bone etc) is at a different (very well-known) hospital rather than local hospital so very mich more 'conveyer belt' atmosphere :( Oh well, only for the day, hopefully ;)

I think you hit the nail on the head when you say many HCPs have no idea about good control of BGs and also have no idea how hard we work to keep our BGs controlled.
I think this is quite common attitude, showing lack of knowledge and education. Type 1s seem to be told how to carb count re Insulin so why they [HPCs] can't put 2 and 2 together for Type 2s beats me. [/QUOTE]

I know it's not desirable for BGs to rise higher than we would like, but remember it's very short term and you know what to do to bring them back down again when you get home.
Ha Ha, I'm taking a packet of walnuts with me so I can eat something once fit to eat, or in the car on the way home! I would take some cheese, ham or hard boilded egg etc if I thought I'd be able to keep them cool ;) If they offer any food later, it'll be sandwiches, of course, so wouldn't want that. I'm expecting my glucose levels to be higher than desirable after operation so walnuts should be good. Eating them should help my own insulin circulate but, if not, I'll have some Glipizide handy as soon as I'm out of the door ;) (Probably only 1/2 tablet, though, and see how it goes ;) )

;)
 
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Energize

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Thanks @DavidGrahamJones. I appreciate your thoughts ;)

Yes, I've heard of several people having Libre in situ during surgery and the anaesthestist has appreciated the benefits gained, although they'll still need to check the blood glucose, of course.

I'll post back re the outcome of the Libre after tomorrow ;)
 

Bluetit1802

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I was in hospital in December 2017. A nurse of some description came to do my blood sugars twice a day, but at any old random time, and at different times on each of the days I was there. I wasn't having an operation or machine based treatment. My levels weren't too bad at all - high 5s and 6s so no comments were made. Nursey had no idea if I had been eating or not. All that went down on her records were the level and time.
 

Energize

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I was in hospital in December 2017. A nurse of some description came to do my blood sugars twice a day, but at any old random time, and at different times on each of the days I was there. I wasn't having an operation or machine based treatment. My levels weren't too bad at all - high 5s and 6s so no comments were made. Nursey had no idea if I had been eating or not. All that went down on her records were the level and time.
@Bluetit1802
Sorry you've had to be in hospital. Yes, totally unstructured and useless information being recorded. Typical of the ignorance of too many HPCs. No wonder finger pricking isn't encouraged for Type 2s, unless on certain medications and then it's mainly an 'obligation' and to cover their own backs.

I have to admit that, when I was nursing, I was very ignorant re diabetes, apart from needing to check BGs before each meal and certainly before giving any insulin. It's only since becoming diabetic myself and learning about it, especially from this forum, that I now appreciate the importance of it all. Training is very sketchy, in this area, I felt.

Pleased you didn't come to any harm while hospitalised ;) Hope you're much better now.
 

Energize

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Ok, operation over and back home later same day, ie yesterday. Amazingly, none of the staff I met during the course of the preparation for theatre, through various departments (ie recovery) seemed to have even heard of the Freestyle Libre system.

I told my admitting nurse I'd got it in situ so lots of questions trying to explain what I was talking about but impressed with how easily it scanned and the resultant graph etc. I said I'd like to speak with anaesthetist to explain it to him rather than remove it, as I was convinced s/he would be impressed and happy for it to remain. Well, lovely chap arrived, I explained and demonstrated, he was very impressed and interested, used it throughout the operation. I'm not aware of whether he did any finger pricks to check BGs, though (and didn't think to ask when I saw him later, in Recovery)

Recovery staff were very interested and several actually came over to me, asking what this 'gadget' was! Obviously, I was more than happy to demonstrate and explain a bit. (fortunately, I tend to recover quicky after GAs, and was in Recovery for ages (only because of poor communication on part of staff) so was happy to chat to people, while doing my crocheted hedgehogs (for charity) LOL Yes, I certainly went prepared for hanging around ;)

So, it seems surgery went well, I'm feeling fine and, with nothing planned for the next few days, will be taking it easy.

So pleased the Libre was found to be more than acceptable during operation, eh? :) Hope I have helped interest and given some good education to staff. All helps to get word around ;)
 
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Traceymac23

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You should ask the people at Libre for commission.....sounds like you 'sold' it with your enthusiasm......good work, and how encouraging to hear that seasoned hospital theatre staff are willing to give it a chance!!
 
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