Can anyone give me some advice ?

[embubble81]

Hi there
I am extremely worried about my Dad. He takes insulin 4 times a day. ~In the past 2 weeks he has had 2 extremely severe episodes. One where my Mum found him completely unconsious in the middle of a main road at 10.30 pm with cars actually indicating and driving around him. Yes some people are just too nice in the UK. My Dad puts himself out of others continually and then when he is ill people drive around him? even when my Mum tried to flag someone down nobody stopped? It makes me want to cry.
Then yesterday where he collapsed whilst walking the dogs and from what we have pieced together he was unconcious in a frozen field for some hours before coming around and being dragged home by his dogs.
My Dad is extremely active and I must be honest he does not look after himself really very well, but I try as much as possible to make eating easy for him. I freeze him meals etc. He does eat and he does inject when he needs to but he is not coping.
My main concern is that there is such a short space of time from him starting to go hypo to him being completely out of it, that I am scared one day he won't be lucky and be found by someone in time.
Dad lives alone and has a part time job at Tesco's, he has to work to pay his bills but the staff at Tesco seem to think that diabetes is not that important. Dad works a split shift and is not getting enough time to eating sleep and do everything in time to get back to work. My mother actually approuched his deputy manager as they actually let Dad walk home just before he collapsed in the road. We were concerned they did not know what to look out for, to her shock she was told by the manager that "she knew nothing about diabetes and in her opinion Dad could not cope with the job". Do Tesco's have a duty of care towards diabetic's? and can they sack Dad for going hypo?

Secondly these episodes with Dad are increasing and i would say in the past 6 months we have had the paramedic's out 6 times and an ambulance has been called to work 3 or 4 times.
When we visit the GP they simply tell dad to chamge his insulin times this is always the answer and it is not working. The attitude seems to be Dad is not eating correctly. I have tried explaining this kind of Linbo that Dad lives in and it is brushed off as a symptom of going hypo so regularly. But I honestly believe there is something else wrong the GP seems not to want to help any further.

Is there any advice you can give me? Dad lives alone and the paramedic's are estimating that Dad goes hypo at least once a night. He is living in a constant confusion, he is always confused and forgets everything, this is a man who was a Police Officer for 25 years I am so concerned and I have no idea what else I can do.
He cannot give up work as he is not entitled to any benefits and cannot afford to live otherwise.
Can anyone suggest anything we can do to give a warning that he will be going hypo sooner than it just happening? I have heard of a bracelet that detects it or how can he be fitted with pump?

I am so scared one day we will find him dead I know this sounds dramatic but I honestly do.

Any advice would be great.

 

[HLW]

I can't be of mcuh use as I don't know much about Type 1 diabetes, but yes Tesco should be acting better. There's a factsheet thing on the Diabetes UK website about employment: http://www.diabetes.org.uk/How_we_help/ ... esolve-it/

You mentioned insulin pumps, they also have information about those on their website.

Yes you can get continuous blood glucose moniotoring things, they give an alarm if it gets too low I think.

Good luck, hopefully more knowledgable people will reply soon!

 

[lilibet]

Hi
Am so sorry to hear about you and your dads problems. It sound horrendous for you both and to be quite honest your GP is being completely negligent in my opinion.

Firstly, is your dad type 1 or type 2? If he is type 1 ( and even if he's a type 2 on insulin) then you should push for him to be seen by a specialist team. Either a clinic, diabetolgist, specialist nurse.Most GP's just arent up to the task and dont have the knowledge about insulins in my opinion so he needs to see someone who does? If your dad is not coping, and has hypos to the point of being found in the middle of the road then I would say this is suitably serious that he needs to be seen by someone who KNOWS what they are doing. Dont take no for an answer, put it in writing to GP if you need to.Politely point out duty of care and risks to your father through lack of support. Its too easy to blame him but if he doesnt have the 'tools' how can he manage it?

Secondly, if your dad is having hypos all the time then this suggests to me that he needs to adjust his insulin intake. Although he may take insulin 4x daily the amounts often vary depending on what you eat, how much exercise you do, alcohol, what time of day it is (some people need more in the morning for example). Does he know he is having hypos and ignores them or has he lost ability to tell? Has he had any education about his diabetes and how things work? It would be helpful if you could let us know what kind of insulin he is on and how much-someone could maybe suggestions for you to make though he still needs proper follow up.

Thirdly, as suggested already. A continuous glucose monitor can be worn for 24 hours and gives you an idea of what is going on with sugars during the day. Some people try this when they have unexplained sugars/frequent hypos but it might be that some basic support and education might help your dad.However, they do exist and you now have the jargon. I think a Gp would not necessarily have access to this, hence the clinics.

Does your dad test his sugars, does he have a meter etc.

In terms of work, Disability Discrimination legislation recognises Diabetes as a disability for employment purposes. They need to make 'reasonable adjustments' for his condition and that includes allowing him to test, allowing him to eat and take breaks at times compatible with his condition etc.. Also in terms of benefits, he would maybe get disability related benefits if he is unable to work via ill health, though you would be better to seek local advice from SW dept, welfare rights, money advice place etc.

Lastly - if you think your father is confused and forgetful over and above hypo times, dont let Doc put it down to diabetes. Insist on additional tests. If he has had periods of unconsciousness then problems need to be ruled out. Even a basic blood test would be a start

Hope this gives you stuff to think about

Best wishes

L