Illness and correct blood sugar level

Hi,

I am writing a post here for advice. My father (64) has Type 2 diabetes and has been diagnosed with it for about 8 years now. He's on medication and it must be on the highest dosage as the Drs are unable to give him anything else.

His diet and lifestyle habits are not exactly great. He does zero exercise (works from home), eats a predominantly red meat and starchy carb diet with little fruit and vegetable portions entering into the equation. Drinks alcohol daily with at least 1 double vodka/gin and tonic/coke a night and sneaks in chocolate bars which we've only recently discovered. He has dessert whenever and if ever the opportunity arises. He's overweight as you can guess.

He was ill in the night with sickness and diarrhea and was laid up in bed for most of this morning. My mum gave him a glass of water and 2 slices of buttered wholemeal toast. A while after he had a banana, a cup of coffee and another glass of water. I said that he needs to check his glucose levels which he begrudgingly did and it came out to 12. I thought this was high especially after being ill but he told me that's normal for him. He also said he's had a reading of 28 before and the last time he went to the Drs, it was 14. He seems to think this is completely normal and not related to his diet at all.

Can anyone here tell me if this is normal as I thought a normal glucose level was between 5 and 7? It's like he's been on self destruct for the last 6 years and I'd be grateful if anyone has any advice they could share?

Thanks Hana!

You are right, he is an adult but seems completely in denial about his health which is so frustrating. His attitude is, "I'll do as I please, it's my life!" but he doesn't realise that if his health begins to fail him, it's my mum and the rest of us that will have to care for him and watch him suffer. Also I feel this kind of attitude is a drain on the NHS. The amount of tablets he is on (he's on cholesterol and blood pressure medication too) and having to have regular check ups must be quite expensive.

Yesterday his diet consisted of 3 x wholemeal toast with GENEROUS amounts of jam, 1 and a half tuna mayo sandwiches on white bread, a slice of banana loaf, In the evening we had an indian takeaway and he had a whole portion of pilau rice + full portion (long foil container) of curry and 2 popadoms washed down with 2 cans of beer and a spirit and mixer later.

When I tell him that he should treat carbs as sugar he doesn't believe me even after I point him to information on the diabetes UK website. He thinks that sugary alcoholic drinks are fine "because the alcohol burns off the sugar" and ice cream is the best dessert option for a diabetic as it actually helps control glucose levels!!! :***:

I feel like I've tried everything to help him but it all seems futile and I'm at the point of giving up but I don't want to see him suffer. It's like watching someone suffering from headaches banging their head against a brick wall and convincing themselves that hitting the wall is not the cause of the problem!