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Just thought today would be a good day to take stock of where we are…..
It is still over three weeks until his first appointment with the community diabetic team to discuss the next step of going on to insulin…..this will be almost three months since the review where the diabetic nurse at the GP practice told him that this is what is needed and made the referral…
As an interim measure the nurse saw him last week to see how he is doing ….at this appointment she reaffirmed that he does need to keep daily blood glucose readings to take to this appointment so that they can see what his levels are and decide on insulin regime……to this end I have created and printed off a chart and we now have readings for the last couple of days…..
Morning readings (am/fasting) were 10.3 and 11.4; afternoon readings (pm /before dinner) were 21.4 and 16.6; evening readings (before bed) were 18.7 and 16.6….
….these readings are all high I know and not ones that people will feel comfortable with….but it does demonstrate that things are not working as they are and that the need for insulin to bring these levels down is required….
Just to say at this point that I do fully understand how and why people test before and after they eat etc but this is not the point of this particular exercise….the point here is firstly to get him to test (he has always been reluctant to do so) but more importantly to provide the information required for the medical staff in terms of determining a pattern of levels if any....
The other point here is that he has got to a point where this is currently the only option (I know people may well disagree with this comment)…..after fifteen plus years (don’t know how many as was not with him then) of being a type 2 diabetic and not being in control….this is where he is at….
…..no amount of diet or exercise will change the fact that his body is no longer working to deal with the blood sugar levels…..complications are setting in and this is what we now have to deal with…
…..perhaps it would have been different if he had taken more notice of his diabetes in the past but he didn’t .....and nothing can change that fact….
To add to all of this, as if this isn’t enough, he has now received a date for a minor surgical procedure …..within the next couple of weeks….whether this will go ahead or not based on the current status of his diabetic control (something I believe was mentioned at the consultation but I wasn’t there) will be down to the medical staff to decide…
….personally if I were him I would not be considering this as an option at the moment given the risks of infection and poor healing in a diabetic but I am not him and ultimately this must be his decision …..and that of the medical professionals….he sees no reason why this will not go ahead but we will have to wait and see…
He did have a blood test this week for HbA1c and for kidney function tests (in preparation for insulin appointment) so at least these details should show up on his hospital records…..will not get the results of these until we go for the appointment in February as doubt very much he will contact them for results beforehand…..am guessing if anything shows up as being URGENT he will be contacted in the meantime….
Perhaps this all now explains why I am feeling like that swan……trying to maintain a calm composure on the outside but paddling like hell beneath the surface….
….time now to get on with the rest of my day…..
It is still over three weeks until his first appointment with the community diabetic team to discuss the next step of going on to insulin…..this will be almost three months since the review where the diabetic nurse at the GP practice told him that this is what is needed and made the referral…
As an interim measure the nurse saw him last week to see how he is doing ….at this appointment she reaffirmed that he does need to keep daily blood glucose readings to take to this appointment so that they can see what his levels are and decide on insulin regime……to this end I have created and printed off a chart and we now have readings for the last couple of days…..
Morning readings (am/fasting) were 10.3 and 11.4; afternoon readings (pm /before dinner) were 21.4 and 16.6; evening readings (before bed) were 18.7 and 16.6….
….these readings are all high I know and not ones that people will feel comfortable with….but it does demonstrate that things are not working as they are and that the need for insulin to bring these levels down is required….
Just to say at this point that I do fully understand how and why people test before and after they eat etc but this is not the point of this particular exercise….the point here is firstly to get him to test (he has always been reluctant to do so) but more importantly to provide the information required for the medical staff in terms of determining a pattern of levels if any....
The other point here is that he has got to a point where this is currently the only option (I know people may well disagree with this comment)…..after fifteen plus years (don’t know how many as was not with him then) of being a type 2 diabetic and not being in control….this is where he is at….
…..no amount of diet or exercise will change the fact that his body is no longer working to deal with the blood sugar levels…..complications are setting in and this is what we now have to deal with…
…..perhaps it would have been different if he had taken more notice of his diabetes in the past but he didn’t .....and nothing can change that fact….
To add to all of this, as if this isn’t enough, he has now received a date for a minor surgical procedure …..within the next couple of weeks….whether this will go ahead or not based on the current status of his diabetic control (something I believe was mentioned at the consultation but I wasn’t there) will be down to the medical staff to decide…
….personally if I were him I would not be considering this as an option at the moment given the risks of infection and poor healing in a diabetic but I am not him and ultimately this must be his decision …..and that of the medical professionals….he sees no reason why this will not go ahead but we will have to wait and see…
He did have a blood test this week for HbA1c and for kidney function tests (in preparation for insulin appointment) so at least these details should show up on his hospital records…..will not get the results of these until we go for the appointment in February as doubt very much he will contact them for results beforehand…..am guessing if anything shows up as being URGENT he will be contacted in the meantime….
Perhaps this all now explains why I am feeling like that swan……trying to maintain a calm composure on the outside but paddling like hell beneath the surface….
….time now to get on with the rest of my day…..