Hello everyone
New to this Forum and looking for any guidance from your experiences please, as a little overwhelmed by it all right now.
My mum in law is a 75 yr old indian woman. She is 4ft 10" and weighs 58 kilos. Her diet is totally veggie curry, although our food is never swimming in oil, salt etc, I hasten to add. I'm the modern Indian wife/mum who's lived in the UK for 40+ years and believes in variable low fat and low sugar diet with a bit of daily exercise for the whole clan...especially for the most senior member of our family. So where have I failed 'gran'?
A bit of medical history - gran, suffers from high blood pressure (on medication), angina (on medication), her heart and one of her valves are 'thick' according to her cardiologist and she has been suffering from cramps in one of her legs for the past 2 years. She has been a 'borderline' diabetic for the past 10 years and we have tried to encourage her to walk everyday and to stay away from too much of anything really.. all in moderation as we modernists say. She takes an aspirin everyday along with a water tablet.
Yesterday, after a routine blood test, she was diagnosed as a Diabetic. Frightened the hell out of the poor love. Her blood sugar level came in at 8.6 and she was prescribed 2x500mg of Metformin. Her statin level was increased from 40mg to 80mg. Suddenly she became a walking, cardiac arrest. The GP wants to try the Metformin for a month and if that doesn't control the BS level, he will try a combination of different tablets, and if that isn't satisfactory, on to insulin she will go. On top of that, last week, she had a biopsy on her nether regions because she has a recurring rash, which I suspect is sugar crystals in the urine (I've been on the internet, you can tell) and not the dreaded 'c' word as gran believes. Fingers crossed, we get the results tomorrow.
I have some experience of dealing with a Diabetic as my father was diagnosed at 45 and died 4 years ago aged 75. Unfortunately, in the last 5 years of his life, he suffered all those terrible diabetes related conditions...heart attacks, strokes, blindness, dialysis etc etc. You name it, he had it. He suffered a lot and gran was there to see it all.
This time it's different. It's in my home. Under my roof. And I'm terrified for my mum in law. She is very fragile emotionally and doesn't seem to be coping. I want to help her come to terms with this. She believes that my dad's fate is an inevitable fate for her also. I will not let her become that way if I can possibly help it. She is very scared and in shock to the point of becoming depressed. And it's only been a day. She has admitted to eating an Indian dessert EVERY day at the local temple for all the 10 years she's lived with us and also that she doesn't really walk 'much'!! Gran has cried since yesterday and I really want you please, to help me help her. Be it a change in diet or whatever suggestions/guidance you can offer.
I've offered to take her back to the GP to talk it over but she's afraid he'll give her more tablets.. She says she's already rattling!!
I look forward to any and every input from anyone out there.
Thanks
Pipcy x
New to this Forum and looking for any guidance from your experiences please, as a little overwhelmed by it all right now.
My mum in law is a 75 yr old indian woman. She is 4ft 10" and weighs 58 kilos. Her diet is totally veggie curry, although our food is never swimming in oil, salt etc, I hasten to add. I'm the modern Indian wife/mum who's lived in the UK for 40+ years and believes in variable low fat and low sugar diet with a bit of daily exercise for the whole clan...especially for the most senior member of our family. So where have I failed 'gran'?
A bit of medical history - gran, suffers from high blood pressure (on medication), angina (on medication), her heart and one of her valves are 'thick' according to her cardiologist and she has been suffering from cramps in one of her legs for the past 2 years. She has been a 'borderline' diabetic for the past 10 years and we have tried to encourage her to walk everyday and to stay away from too much of anything really.. all in moderation as we modernists say. She takes an aspirin everyday along with a water tablet.
Yesterday, after a routine blood test, she was diagnosed as a Diabetic. Frightened the hell out of the poor love. Her blood sugar level came in at 8.6 and she was prescribed 2x500mg of Metformin. Her statin level was increased from 40mg to 80mg. Suddenly she became a walking, cardiac arrest. The GP wants to try the Metformin for a month and if that doesn't control the BS level, he will try a combination of different tablets, and if that isn't satisfactory, on to insulin she will go. On top of that, last week, she had a biopsy on her nether regions because she has a recurring rash, which I suspect is sugar crystals in the urine (I've been on the internet, you can tell) and not the dreaded 'c' word as gran believes. Fingers crossed, we get the results tomorrow.
I have some experience of dealing with a Diabetic as my father was diagnosed at 45 and died 4 years ago aged 75. Unfortunately, in the last 5 years of his life, he suffered all those terrible diabetes related conditions...heart attacks, strokes, blindness, dialysis etc etc. You name it, he had it. He suffered a lot and gran was there to see it all.
This time it's different. It's in my home. Under my roof. And I'm terrified for my mum in law. She is very fragile emotionally and doesn't seem to be coping. I want to help her come to terms with this. She believes that my dad's fate is an inevitable fate for her also. I will not let her become that way if I can possibly help it. She is very scared and in shock to the point of becoming depressed. And it's only been a day. She has admitted to eating an Indian dessert EVERY day at the local temple for all the 10 years she's lived with us and also that she doesn't really walk 'much'!! Gran has cried since yesterday and I really want you please, to help me help her. Be it a change in diet or whatever suggestions/guidance you can offer.
I've offered to take her back to the GP to talk it over but she's afraid he'll give her more tablets.. She says she's already rattling!!
I look forward to any and every input from anyone out there.
Thanks
Pipcy x
