My husband is in hospital recovering from an operation to remove his pancreas, spleen, gall bladder etc and a NET tumour that was producing masses of insulin. After 2 weeks of intensive care he is starting to eat solid foods. His meter readings are in the mid 20’s and he is receiving apparently lots of insulin by injection. Is now the right time to suggest cutting out some carbs? He had a large bottle of orange juice to drink today and a pack of sandwiches was on his table to eat later. I can’t help wondering if this is counter-productive.
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Type 3 after total pancreatectomy
- Thread starter akccoll
- Start Date
Kittycat_7_
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- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
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- Insulin
Hi,
Glad to hear your husband is on the mend, I'd discuss your concerns with his team at the hospital.
Take care
Glad to hear your husband is on the mend, I'd discuss your concerns with his team at the hospital.
Take care
Ledzeptt
Well-Known Member
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- 613
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- Manchester
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- Type 3c
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- Insulin
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- Liquorice and aniseed (especially the tracer I have to drink in hospital before a CT scan - yuk!)
Hi @accoll
Your husband’s been through a massive operation and I can only imagine how concerned you are (based on the hell I put my wife through).
Hospital food is generally high carb and I suspect the hospital will also be prescribing Fortisip supplements or similar three times a day (also high carb). It may well be the opposite to what you eat, but their priority is to rebuild his strength after a major operation so that he recovers quickly.
Longer term, he will need to change his diet and lifestyle, but now he needs to get well and get home to you.
As @Kittycat_7_ said, talk to the consultants and dietitians, etc, but I wouldn’t be too concerned if diabetes isn’t the priority.
I wish you both the very best and hope he’s home soon.
Your husband’s been through a massive operation and I can only imagine how concerned you are (based on the hell I put my wife through).
Hospital food is generally high carb and I suspect the hospital will also be prescribing Fortisip supplements or similar three times a day (also high carb). It may well be the opposite to what you eat, but their priority is to rebuild his strength after a major operation so that he recovers quickly.
Longer term, he will need to change his diet and lifestyle, but now he needs to get well and get home to you.
As @Kittycat_7_ said, talk to the consultants and dietitians, etc, but I wouldn’t be too concerned if diabetes isn’t the priority.
I wish you both the very best and hope he’s home soon.
I had a similar operation four years ago. The surgery went well, and I was discharged after ten days. Eating was both trial, and error at first, and just small quantities. The major problem I had was finding good diabetes care, and help. Like your husband my blood glucose levels varied between hypos as low as. 2.7, and hyperspace into the 20’s, and off the scale.
I was going to the GP almost weekly, and nobody could seem to help. I kept asking to do a DAPHNE course, but initially told that there wasn’t one in my area. Then told that there was one, but the waiting list was over a year. Eventually I found a course which was not too far away, and the waiting list was around six months. It was the turning point. To know how to deal with problems that occur with diabetes instead of blindly trying to control my highs, and lows was great. After the course, and because type 3 is so difficult to control, my consultant suggested that I had a pump, and sensor. This has enabled me to have an almost normal life again. It’s a full time job dealing with my fluctuating glucose levels, but the pump whilst having some idiosyncrasies has been wonderful.
As far as carbohydrates are concerned, personally I have found that having a low carb diet has definitely helped.
I assume your husband is also having to take creons with every meal to help digest his food.
Bottom line is persevere to do a DAPNE course. Make sure you are seen by a diabetes consultant, and Give yourself time to adjust to the surgery, the diabetes, and your diet.
I was going to the GP almost weekly, and nobody could seem to help. I kept asking to do a DAPHNE course, but initially told that there wasn’t one in my area. Then told that there was one, but the waiting list was over a year. Eventually I found a course which was not too far away, and the waiting list was around six months. It was the turning point. To know how to deal with problems that occur with diabetes instead of blindly trying to control my highs, and lows was great. After the course, and because type 3 is so difficult to control, my consultant suggested that I had a pump, and sensor. This has enabled me to have an almost normal life again. It’s a full time job dealing with my fluctuating glucose levels, but the pump whilst having some idiosyncrasies has been wonderful.
As far as carbohydrates are concerned, personally I have found that having a low carb diet has definitely helped.
I assume your husband is also having to take creons with every meal to help digest his food.
Bottom line is persevere to do a DAPNE course. Make sure you are seen by a diabetes consultant, and Give yourself time to adjust to the surgery, the diabetes, and your diet.
Stephen Lewis
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Although my operations were never this serious my body always reacted by making sure my glucose levels were high. This is needed to produce the high amount of energy that the body uses in healing. After my latest operation my health care people were excellent in monitoring my bg and adjusting (lowering) the insulin dose allowing my body to use the glucose as I needed. This was followed by a low carb diet to control my bg and my weight.
I hope the recovery is successful and that your husband can continue with a full active life.
I hope the recovery is successful and that your husband can continue with a full active life.
Thanks Ledzeptt. Hubby is home now after a 24 day hospital stay, with insulin and a whole load of other medicines as well as a Libre sensor. Blood sugars are now within a better range and we can see what effect home cooking is having on them. His next appointment is with the diabetes team.
Stephen Lewis
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 207
- Location
- Victoria BC Canada
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
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- Tablets (oral)
- Dislikes
- Hypocrites, liars, donald trump (no capitals for emphasis)
Good to hear that you are back as a family. The Libre will be invaluable. I will not suggest what foods should be eaten as we all react differently. I will suggest that to start you may want to take readings very often especially after meals so that you can see which foods have the biggest affect in the short term and which keep the bg levels higher for a longer period. Generally I believe that the glycemic index is not very helpful (putting it nicely) as for the same food each of us will have a different rate of absorption of the carbs. The Libre will help you help you discover how your husband's body works.
Ledzeptt
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 613
- Location
- Manchester
- Type of diabetes
- Type 3c
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- Insulin
- Dislikes
- Liquorice and aniseed (especially the tracer I have to drink in hospital before a CT scan - yuk!)
I'm new here . I have a full Prancreatomy splenectomy and 20% stomach left tubing all sown up . No gall bladder as that was taken out when i was 23. I was in hospital 30 days as bloods where so all over the place as having this life saving op has changed my life . Need to learn more about cas 3 diabetes.. im glad your husband has come through and lead a normal life.
KK123
Well-Known Member
Hi Sue and welcome, this post is over 2 years old so you might be better off popping your post on a new thread?
