My husband (80 years old) has Type 2 diabetes well controlled by one daily dose of Lantus solarstar first thing in the morning and three apidra small doses prior to meals.
A month ago he developed an ulcer on his heel, which was treated immediately in our diabetes clinic at our local hospital. Unfortunately it became infected and he developed cellulitis and was taken to hospital. He was quite ill and was put onto antibiotics taken intravenously. During this time he had little or no appetite and the consultant decided to stop all his insulin treatment for the time being. As the infection began to heal,there was some concern that he was still not eating well, so was put onto a glucose drip and was encouraged to eat anything - whether or not it was appropriate for a diabetic. Initially this was a monotonous diet - mashed potato, gravy, vegetables followed by custard or rice pudding . He has now begun to eat a little better, but when I visited him today, to help him with his lunch I noticed he was very very thirsty I looked for the record of his sugar reading in his file, could not find it so decided to bring in his monitor to test his sugar level myself when I returned in the evening. I also decided to take in something more like the diet he follows at home to replace the usual hospital evening meal. This is something the hospital does allow. Before giving him the meal, I tested him and was alarmed to find a reading of 19.8mmol. I spoke to the staff nurse on duty who said that the reading I had was better than the one she had an hour before - 20.4 . She refused to give my husband his usual insulin because there were no notes in his file suggesting this could be done. I was in predicament because I did not see how I could risk give my husband anything to eat given the reading shown on the meter. The staff nurse said the consultant would not be round until Tuesday. Given this I feel I should take matters into my own hands and give my husband his usual insulin injections myself when I visit tomorrow lunchtime. Has anyone any idea what the protocol for this is?
A month ago he developed an ulcer on his heel, which was treated immediately in our diabetes clinic at our local hospital. Unfortunately it became infected and he developed cellulitis and was taken to hospital. He was quite ill and was put onto antibiotics taken intravenously. During this time he had little or no appetite and the consultant decided to stop all his insulin treatment for the time being. As the infection began to heal,there was some concern that he was still not eating well, so was put onto a glucose drip and was encouraged to eat anything - whether or not it was appropriate for a diabetic. Initially this was a monotonous diet - mashed potato, gravy, vegetables followed by custard or rice pudding . He has now begun to eat a little better, but when I visited him today, to help him with his lunch I noticed he was very very thirsty I looked for the record of his sugar reading in his file, could not find it so decided to bring in his monitor to test his sugar level myself when I returned in the evening. I also decided to take in something more like the diet he follows at home to replace the usual hospital evening meal. This is something the hospital does allow. Before giving him the meal, I tested him and was alarmed to find a reading of 19.8mmol. I spoke to the staff nurse on duty who said that the reading I had was better than the one she had an hour before - 20.4 . She refused to give my husband his usual insulin because there were no notes in his file suggesting this could be done. I was in predicament because I did not see how I could risk give my husband anything to eat given the reading shown on the meter. The staff nurse said the consultant would not be round until Tuesday. Given this I feel I should take matters into my own hands and give my husband his usual insulin injections myself when I visit tomorrow lunchtime. Has anyone any idea what the protocol for this is?
