Returning to work, do I need OCC health?

[Tinkleberry]

Ok this will be a long post so please bare with me...

I'm currently finishing my maternity leave and going back to work after 16 months off. I was however, diagnosed with type 1 diabetes during my mat leave. I am also going back to work pregnant again (it was planned and I know I'm crazy haha). My worry is I conduct interviews at work all day long and have a full diary of customers. I only have half an hour for lunch and the rest of the time I'm supposed to be interviewing and customer facing.
My issues are I have to inject half an hour before I eat so by the time I inject I will be finishing my lunch (my boss has allowed me to close my diary for an hour to compensate this). Great 1 issue solved. Now the other issue is I will be working until 5 and I normally eat dinner with my son at 4.30. so like clockwork if I don't eat by 4.35 I will be having a hypo. How do I communicate this to my manager without seeming like I need to block lots of time out and just eat. They already seem stressed helping my lunch issue out.

Should I contact occupational health or try something else? Has anyone else been in a similar situation where work has had to make provisions for their diabetes?

Thank you in advance!!

 

[Antje77]

Now the other issue is I will be working until 5 and I normally eat dinner with my son at 4.30. so like clockwork if I don't eat by 4.35 I will be having a hypo.

Sorry, I don't have any answers to your question about occupational health, but may I ask what insulin regime you are on? With basal and bolus insulins (or a pump) you shouldn't be going hypo if you vary your time of eating. On a mixed insulin this is a different story altogether.

having a small bite before 4:30 to prevent the hypo may be a possibility as well, especially on mixed insulin.
If your lunch break is at set times, could you inject half an hour before your break? It only takes 30 seconds or so.

Wish you all the best and a wonderful pregnancy!

 

[Dark Horse]

Yes, contact Occupational Health. In the UK, diabetes is classed as a disability and, under the law, employers must make 'reasonable adjustments' to allow you to continue to do your job. Occupational Health should be familiar with this and be able to explain things to your manager.

 

[KK123]

Hmmmm, it looks like your work is already doing a good job in accommodating you which is great (not all workplaces do). As for telling them that you 'need' to eat on the dot at 4.30 otherwise you will hypo will indeed make it sound like you expect work to totally fit in with your wishes. Have you tried adjusting your basal in order to avoid an on the dot hypo at 4.30, or as already mentioned take a small snack to avoid the hypo, ie a cereal bar. My view is that morally and legally your workplace should make REASONABLE adjustments and these are different for everyone but you also have to be prepared to change your regime to some extent providing that doesn't put you at risk. I really don't think you can expect your work to factor in another break if there is a way you can make small adjustments yourself. I work shifts and many others work all hours so personally, I reckon you have a good workplace and I would not want to push it. Maybe you could simply make sure your work know that you may need to throw in a few random glucose checks no matter what time of the day and act accordingly (whether with a client or not), that gives you some flexibility to do what you need to do rather than by the clock. When you ate with your son are you saying you would inject and then have this hypo at 430 if you don't eat or are you always going hypo at this time having not injected? Tell OCC health that type 1 is definitely not predictable and so you need a plan that reflects that. x

 

[Tinkleberry]

So with my pregnancy this is the main issue with going back to work. My basal can't be adjusted at the moment as my consultant actually increased it yesterday, so no idea what will happen after my body has adjusted. I'm not looking for any breaks, llet me make that known haha! Just that when I'm with customers I'm unable to check my sugars and I know I will be going low at 4.30ish as my libre tells me this daily. However they've already factored in paperwork for the half an hour before my lunch and I'm not sure they will want me missing out on more customer time in the afternoon. My interviews make it really hard for me to excuse myself to inject or eat something to keep my sugars up. If I worked in an office it wouldn't be an issue but it's more the case that I'm customer facing. I'm more demanding anything and would never do that? But I need to make sure I'm ok especially whilst pregnant!

 

[Tinkleberry]

I'm not demanding anything ***

Autocorrect!

Edited by Mod

 

[Diakat]

Not knowing who your clients are, this one may not be practical, but in a meeting at my workplace it would be acceptable to have biscuits on a table and take one if needed.

 

[Tinkleberry]

Unfortunately I'm not on a pump or anything as of yet. Since I've been diagnosed I've always found that by the end of my fast acting insulin I always come low!
I work in a bank so we don't offer anything that nice to customers
It's just hard at the moment as my manager is looking to me for ideas about how to overcome these issues but I'm newly diagnosed and frankly have no idea!!

 

[Diakat]

Can you have a glass of squash with you or water with glucose in?

 

[Tinkleberry]

Can you have a glass of squash with you or water with glucose in?

Ohh that's not a bad idea!! I'm trying to think of discrete ways to have sugar instead of jelly babies/ food/ or coke which looks unprofessional!

 

[TJR56]

Buy some small 200ml real fruit juice cartons or take 200ml in a sealed container to work. Drink at 4 p.m. or half an hour before you generally go low. Maybe your basal needs slightly lowering or lunch bolus slightly lessened but ask your Diabetic Nurse Specialist before tinkering with your new dose on your own.

Your workplace has already done more than many but I can see this is a really stressful time for you. All the best for the new baby.

 

[NicoleC1971]

Sounds a little stressful and I am glad you have a libre so at least can be swiping your arm to check. OH would normally be making adjustments for physical impairments e.g. I have vision loss as a result of t1 but HR would be the place to go if you felt that your schedule isn't flexible enough and is therefore discriminatory because of your condition.
However on a practical note, you are probably going to need to sort out the basal issue with the DSN or face the snacking issue all the time. Ask about splitting the dose perhaps so that you could have a little less in the daytime if that's when you tend to go low. The issue of going low at teaime may of course soon resolve itself as you get through the pregnancy and become more insulin resistant.
Other than the other excellent suggestions, a discreet mini bag of raisins could be mibbled? At least they don't crunch! I don't think a pregnant lady sipping some squash plus raisins would be seen as unprofessional by the customers unless you are working for Coutts?!

 

[KK123]

Ohh that's not a bad idea!! I'm trying to think of discrete ways to have sugar instead of jelly babies/ food/ or coke which looks unprofessional!

Hi there, you could also discreetly chew on a glucose tablet?

 

[DCUKMod]

@Tinkleberry - are your meetings in an open plan, or closed environment?

Reading through the thread, it reminded me of a couple of days I spent observing a bank employee in his work. He, coincidentally was (and of course still will be!) T1. His customer meetings were in a closed office, due to the private and confidential nature of the discussions.

A couple of times in the day, he just discretely, between meetings, whilst shuffling paper, had a sweetie or two. Is that something that could work for you, whilst shuffling paperwork? He didn't make anything of it, except for the first time, when he apologised for his manners, having not offered me a sweetie too!

That might be more difficult in an open plan environment, but could it help get you by, until a better solution can be found?

 

[Tinkleberry]

Thank you all for your replies! OH were a great help along side my manager on my return and some breaks were put into place for me. I'm back at work now and have been able to mostly see when my lows are going to happen as they're fairly consistent and I am trying to have a little something before my next appointment shows. My manager has asked for me to check sugars etc out of the room/ view of customers so I am excusing myself to check and treat if necessary.

I think the whole scenario was just a little daunting as I'm so newly diagnosed and have been able to control at home whenever I have needed up until now.

Thank you all again for your assistance!