Please help, I need advice for my Dad.

[HollieManchesterUK]

Hi There I am newbie here,

I do not have Diabetes, but my Dad has Diabetes Type 1, I am very worried about his symptoms and condition right now.
He is on the other side of the world away from his family, in a country that he does not speak the native language, he has access to insulin two different types of pen injection. But he does not have access to a doctor or any other professional advice.

Please do not judge, my Dad is in an Indonesian Jail after being forced to commit a crime against his will with threats to kill his family if he did not comply with the demands of the criminals.

He has been there Four years and four months now, and he has deteriorated rapidly within that time, I send what I can so that he can have food and water and somewhere to sleep, but he does not get all of what I send and he has to ration sometimes which is really dangerous for his health.
He gets quite dizzy and feels very weak a lot, all his teeth on the left side of his face have fallen out just recently.
He gets tingling and numbness in his toes and fingers sometimes.
He often feels feverish and nauseous.

I have managed to record glucose test results for the past few months, but I do not know what I am doing with them.
Since all this has happened to Dad I find it hard to take a lot in, and I don't know what to do with his health and need some direction from someone so that I can help him.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Hollie x

 

[pleinster]

Hi There I am newbie here,

I do not have Diabetes, but my Dad has Diabetes Type 1, I am very worried about his symptoms and condition right now.
He is on the other side of the world away from his family, in a country that he does not speak the native language, he has access to insulin two different types of pen injection. But he does not have access to a doctor or any other professional advice.

Please do not judge, my Dad is in an Indonesian Jail after being forced to commit a crime against his will with threats to kill his family if he did not comply with the demands of the criminals.

He has been there Four years and four months now, and he has deteriorated rapidly within that time, I send what I can so that he can have food and water and somewhere to sleep, but he does not get all of what I send and he has to ration sometimes which is really dangerous for his health.
He gets quite dizzy and feels very weak a lot, all his teeth on the left side of his face have fallen out just recently.
He gets tingling and numbness in his toes and fingers sometimes.
He often feels feverish and nauseous.

I have managed to record glucose test results for the past few months, but I do not know what I am doing with them.
Since all this has happened to Dad I find it hard to take a lot in, and I don't know what to do with his health and need some direction from someone so that I can help him.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Hollie x

Hi, Hollie. I'm not sure if anyone here can give you really useful advice on an approach in your dad's situation. I know without a shadow of doubt that not everyone who is sentenced to imprisonment in this country and in western European countries is guilty, let alone Indonesia! So, I would never judge him...and even if he was guilty, judgement is for courts and for the judgemental. BUT - as to what you can do from here with the little raw info you have. he can't really act on anything with any degree of control. How long is his sentence? If it's relatively short, the readings may be of value when he gets home. I think meantime all you can really do is encourage him to keep fighting for whatever control he has, and keep taking the meds available. His nutrition will not be good and this would account for some of the symptoms you describe, or at least it won't help what are problems Type 1 diabetics can experience. You must keep hoping that he does all that he can and that he fights. he has managed over 4 years...so he is at least past being shocked and will at least have a handle on how things do work there. To be honest, short of encouraging him, I think you have to accept that you can't make it right for him and allow yourself to ensure stress doesn't take its toll on his daughter - he won't want that...
I studied law, but I am not sure on international law concerning that part of the world. I know there are human rights he is entitled to but Indonesia isn't exactly big on human rights, at least not all parts of Indonesia. However, that doesn't mean that everyone around him is inhuman either....and there will be some basic emergency treatment even for prisoners. I would, however, suggest that the only way you can possibly help is on a different front...through your MP. Is your dad a UK citizen? If so, surely your MP could consider contact on medical grounds, or at least something formal requesting a health check due to his condition. You have probably exhausted these levels. Have you contacted Amnesty International? Sorry..that's all I've got, Hollie. You may have to cope with not being able to help him other than by keeping his spirits up - that is still helping. I hope there's a breakthrough for him on some level. On a last note...people survive the wildest things. Stay as calm as you can. Good luck. Paul

 

[HollieManchesterUK]

Hi, Hollie. I'm not sure if anyone here can give you really useful advice on an approach in your dad's situation. I know without a shadow of doubt that not everyone who is sentenced to imprisonment in this country and in western European countries is guilty, let alone Indonesia! So, I would never judge him...and even if he was guilty, judgement is for courts and for the judgemental. BUT - as to what you can do from here with the little raw info you have. he can't really act on anything with any degree of control. How long is his sentence? If it's relatively short, the readings may be of value when he gets home. I think meantime all you can really do is encourage him to keep fighting for whatever control he has, and keep taking the meds available. His nutrition will not be good and this would account for some of the symptoms you describe, or at least it won't help what are problems Type 1 diabetics can experience. You must keep hoping that he does all that he can and that he fights. he has managed over 4 years...so he is at least past being shocked and will at least have a handle on how things do work there. To be honest, short of encouraging him, I think you have to accept that you can't make it right for him and allow yourself to ensure stress doesn't take its toll on his daughter - he won't want that...
I studied law, but I am not sure on international law concerning that part of the world. I know there are human rights he is entitled to but Indonesia isn't exactly big on human rights, at least not all parts of Indonesia. However, that doesn't mean that everyone around him is inhuman either....and there will be some basic emergency treatment even for prisoners. I would, however, suggest that the only way you can possibly help is on a different front...through your MP. Is your dad a UK citizen? If so, surely your MP could consider contact on medical grounds, or at least something formal requesting a health check due to his condition. You have probably exhausted these levels. Have you contacted Amnesty International? Sorry..that's all I've got, Hollie. You may have to cope with not being able to help him other than by keeping his spirits up - that is still helping. I hope there's a breakthrough for him on some level. On a last note...people survive the wildest things. Stay as calm as you can. Good luck. Paul

Hi Paul, Thank you so much for taking the time to read my post and reply to me.
Yes I find it hard to stay positive sometimes but your right I must keep going for Dad's sake. I am so proud of him for coping the way he has for the past four years, we are so blessed that he has such a strong spirit.
The FCO are involved but they keep their help to the minimum, they have though finally acted upon his health concerns and managed to secure funding from Prisoners Abroad a charity in London to pay for a visit from a Doctor, this was two months or more ago now and all he did was take a blood test and a uric acid test, we are still awaiting the outcome of these tests??
The whole point of the doctor visit was to tally up the cost of his emergency health treatment, yet they have failed to pass this onto me.
Part of me feels that they keep you waiting in the hope that you forget!!

Thank you for your kind words of support Paul, I really appreciate it.
His treatment can vary human rights wise and this really gets him down.
Our MP can do no more than I can do apparently so I tend not to bother him much, I feel as though I am a thorn in his backside and try and do all myself instead of bothering him, however I shall take your advice and raise these concerns with him too.

I have never contacted Amnesty International as I did not want to raise issues to much as it could have harmful effects on Dad.

Thank you once again Paul, you have helped me lots just replying to my post

With regards to the Glucose testing, how do I find out what the average reading is? and what can I do or what can I tell him to do to change the readings to get them normal?

Thank you

Hollie

 

[HollieManchesterUK]

Hi Paul, Thank you so much for taking the time to read my post and reply to me.
Yes I find it hard to stay positive sometimes but your right I must keep going for Dad's sake. I am so proud of him for coping the way he has for the past four years, we are so blessed that he has such a strong spirit.
The FCO are involved but they keep their help to the minimum, they have though finally acted upon his health concerns and managed to secure funding from Prisoners Abroad a charity in London to pay for a visit from a Doctor, this was two months or more ago now and all he did was take a blood test and a uric acid test, we are still awaiting the outcome of these tests??
The whole point of the doctor visit was to tally up the cost of his emergency health treatment, yet they have failed to pass this onto me.
Part of me feels that they keep you waiting in the hope that you forget!!

Thank you for your kind words of support Paul, I really appreciate it.
His treatment can vary human rights wise and this really gets him down.
Our MP can do no more than I can do apparently so I tend not to bother him much, I feel as though I am a thorn in his backside and try and do all myself instead of bothering him, however I shall take your advice and raise these concerns with him too.

I have never contacted Amnesty International as I did not want to raise issues to much as it could have harmful effects on Dad.

Thank you once again Paul, you have helped me lots just replying to my post

With regards to the Glucose testing, how do I find out what the average reading is? and what can I do or what can I tell him to do to change the readings to get them normal?

Thank you

Hollie

Paul his sentence is Life, sorry I forgot to put that in the post.

 

[pleinster]

Paul his sentence is Life, sorry I forgot to put that in the post.

Life...I see...not great. Any chance of any sort of early release, parole..or is that pie in the sky? I mean, I get that MPs are limited but..well, all I'm saying is...they are our paid and elected "representatives". Ok, so he's broken the law - prisoners have rights, and there are laws as to their treatment (even in far flung hell-holes). My point is...they can always do more, and they or you can write to other figures to ask for an approach to ask about the possibility of leniency etc (on health grounds for example). Improbably, I know...
In answer to you question, Hollie, I suggest you post any question you have in the Ask A Question section coz it will get a number of replies...I'm sure..all of them worth looking at. The blood test was, hopefully, what is known as an HbA1c test (which checks the average blood sugar level over a 3 month period - ie. the period prior to the test). Do you have access to that figure? If another one can be done, it will let you (and your dad know) if there has been any deterioration. It is possible that the test was purely a quick test to see what the level was at that moment (in itself not very informative). You will see from my "signature", that the HbA1c test is measured in certain ways...including mmols and that this corresponds to the mmols reading taken at home on a meter. the only way to establish an average is either with the HbA1c or by daily testing on a meter. You say you've recorded reading - how? Does he have access to a meter? I'd give dietary advice but I am Type 2 and don't want to make any mistakes. Research diets for Type 1s and advise your dad to do what he can. I'm going to "follow" you (sounds very creepy!) to see how things progress, but please do let me/us know. Please don't hesitate to private message me if you want. I hope it all improves for him. You, meantime, need to live your life too, pal... yeah? Take care, Hollie. Tell your dad I am asking for him and I think he has a very caring supportive daughter. Anything at all you think I may be able top help with - ask. Paul

 

[HollieManchesterUK]

Life...I see...not great. Any chance of any sort of early release, parole..or is that pie in the sky? I mean, I get that MPs are limited but..well, all I'm saying is...they are our paid and elected "representatives". Ok, so he's broken the law - prisoners have rights, and there are laws as to their treatment (even in far flung hell-holes). My point is...they can always do more, and they or you can write to other figures to ask for an approach to ask about the possibility of leniency etc (on health grounds for example). Improbably, I know...
In answer to you question, Hollie, I suggest you post any question you have in the Ask A Question section coz it will get a number of replies...I'm sure..all of them worth looking at. The blood test was, hopefully, what is known as an HbA1c test (which checks the average blood sugar level over a 3 month period - ie. the period prior to the test). Do you have access to that figure? If another one can be done, it will let you (and your dad know) if there has been any deterioration. It is possible that the test was purely a quick test to see what the level was at that moment (in itself not very informative). You will see from my "signature", that the HbA1c test is measured in certain ways...including mmols and that this corresponds to the mmols reading taken at home on a meter. the only way to establish an average is either with the HbA1c or by daily testing on a meter. You say you've recorded reading - how? Does he have access to a meter? I'd give dietary advice but I am Type 2 and don't want to make any mistakes. Research diets for Type 1s and advise your dad to do what he can. I'm going to "follow" you (sounds very creepy!) to see how things progress, but please do let me/us know. Please don't hesitate to private message me if you want. I hope it all improves for him. You, meantime, need to live your life too, pal... yeah? Take care, Hollie. Tell your dad I am asking for him and I think he has a very caring supportive daughter. Anything at all you think I may be able top help with - ask. Paul

No sadly with all the presidential change in the Country this option has been limited, but your right I should contact the MP again and let him know our concerns again and see if he can do anything to guide me.
I am not certain if it was a HbA1c test but maybe it was and I do not have the results yet for this, I am still waiting on this so will push that today see if I can get anywhere.

Yes we have managed to get a strip test device, he has ran out of test strips now, but we have kept a record of all previous tests that have been done most days and also results of how he is feeling.

Not creepy at all! I really appreciate any advice and your following the outcome of my Dad, Thank you.

I shall post on the ask a Q, see what comes of it.

Thanks again, I will keep you posted, take care and have a good day.

Hollie

 

[pleinster]

No sadly with all the presidential change in the Country this option has been limited, but your right I should contact the MP again and let him know our concerns again and see if he can do anything to guide me.
I am not certain if it was a HbA1c test but maybe it was and I do not have the results yet for this, I am still waiting on this so will push that today see if I can get anywhere.

Yes we have managed to get a strip test device, he has ran out of test strips now, but we have kept a record of all previous tests that have been done most days and also results of how he is feeling.

Not creepy at all! I really appreciate any advice and your following the outcome of my Dad, Thank you.

I shall post on the ask a Q, see what comes of it.

Thanks again, I will keep you posted, take care and have a good day.

Hollie

Strips are expensive, but see if there is any way to get more to him. You can purchase them if you know the meter used, or push for your MP or Prisoners Abroad etc to arrange new strips for him. If he can test daily, he should test on waking to see what the regular fasting reading is...and test before and 2 hours after meals (when levels should return to pre-meal levels (probably). recording them really helps but control over diet in response is really what helps most. Knowing his levels and if there is any dramatic change is key to him staying as healthy as possible to keep fighting. I would also suggest that your dad considers a diary if he has not done so already (I mean more than a diabetic diary!); it will help him empty his thoughts and retain focus. Do please let me know how things are going...and remember to take care of yourself.