DKA

Sarah69 said:

Hi,

My mum has been hospitalised with DKA yesterday can anybody that has had this tell me how long they were in hospital for this. I really don’t want to go on the time I had it as it was quite long around a month. Thanks

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Time in hospital depends on the individual situation; and you will need to speak with the medical team looking after her.. You don't say if your mother is Type1, or Type2, or if she is a previously undiagnosed non-diabetic who has developed DKA. If she is previously undiagnosed, then she will be in for several days.

Every condition is individual.

sorry to hear about your mum and your own prior experience, best wishes.

for me was just over a week earlier this year, depends really on how fast bloods improve and get treatment correct. extra day was spent as was during bad storm with danger to life warning if wasnt would of got out on day 7. lipid profile in my case effected blood results being accepted. they require to find underlying cause then treat effectively. I have copy of nhsgcc vriii guidelines which most hospitals use. vriii for me was for 4 days, moved to ward after then insulin injections (very small amount of 'training'. took several litres of fluids before they were able to carry out tests sucessfully due to lipid profile... trigs 63.2, chol 17.2+ BG tests for first couple of days always read HI on meter. was only just diagnosed at that point of time. i've been diagnosed as t1/lada postive antibodies. hba1c 162 when that test was eventually sucessful.

my late mother: had various lengths of time being treated on dka pathway ranging from 4 days to just over a couple of weeks. (she was type2). her very last admission was longer with other complications.

Hopefully of some assistance. Once when my mum was discharged she had carers twice a day assigned breakfast alongside dinner, district nurses were used to administer insulin and to heat up food. This solution wasn't ideal in any shape nor manner as sometimes they would turn up at 8am other times 10am or anywhere betwee, evenings anywhere from 3pm til 5pm for evening meal. This was without having to to go down private. Unfortunately she did not like the inconsistent nature however yours may be ok with that. Better than nothing at all. In area she stayed they worked 8am until 5pm. Wasn't able outside those times. Had to be fully qualified nurse to admin. Latterly she was fed up and accepted family help just called when wanted her breakfast/lunches and dinners she did not initially wish to burden family. Although above maybe not the best solution it should offer some reassurance for the future they were able to do correctional doses for her. Depending on area live maybe better more suitable hours could well be worth asking about especially given struggles sometimes with injecting themselves. I am wondering if perhaps pump maybe another possibility hopefully only would need help pump change days which could allow a lot more flexibility

i ment to post this link to go with my reply above: https://www.rightdecisions.scot.nhs...n-and-blood-glucose-ketone-monitoring-282.pdf above is what highlands and islands alongside greater glasgow and clyde. twice daily only.

Your mum's own health board hopefully has simular maybe worth looking into reach out to the district/community nurses team for further info if you believe could prove useful.

heres a couple of relevant quotes from above pdf

nhs scot link above said:

Administration of Insulin by Injection and Blood Glucose/Ketone Monitoring for Community Nursing staff

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nhs scot link above said:

Criteria
Patients living in the community (16 years and over) who are experiencing difficulties in
administering their insulin independently should be assessed by the District Nurse and, where
appropriate, referred to the Diabetes Specialist Nurse for additional support and advice.
Any changes to the patient’s diabetes management should be clearly documented and
communicated to all those involved in the care of that individua

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nhs scot link above said:

nsulin Management Plan (IMP) - Patient Specific Direction (PSD) Guidelines
This guideline is for patients who are on either a once daily or twice daily insulin regime only.
Patients who are not on an IMP/PSD will continue to have their insulin prescribed on a “Direction
to Administer Form.”
The plan improves patient care by providing flexibility in dose administration, improving glycaemic
control and addressing patient safety issues e.g. hypo management

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.

Tiny of more info: they also ensured she was eating (due to novarapid) couldn't leave before food was out. They would however not be able to prepare and/or bring her anything that was outwith their remit. Nor could they help with other basic hygine such as washing. Delays in timing were due to triage system, 4 nurses in her area covered just over 200 square miles they were so short staffed.