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"What have you eaten" Parallel Chat

DIL was kept in for at least another day until the hospital thinks she is stable, so another night without Mum for Em. She'll be here again tomorrow and we really must try to do some school work. It didn't happen today because she had had a late night last night and was too sleepy so I just put her into my bed and let her sleep from about 9 am until about 1.15 pm. She really needed it. She was telling me how strange it is that she keeps on thinking about death. It's not that she is afraid, just that she is fascinated by the subject at present. I seem to remember being aware of death at about the same age, but I was worried and didn't really want to go to sleep in case I didn't wake up. Can't blame the modern world for that.
 
DIL is home and onto another insulin so here's hoping that will work better - her BG was 35.7 when she went into the hospital and her ketones something over 4 - can't quite remember what she said. From what I have been reading, a keto diet is not for insulin dependent T2s. No idea what my ketones have been but I did feel pretty awful with very low carbs. Probably a good idea to give it up then. DIL has also been supplied with a Libre meter to help her keep track. DN is happy for her to be around the 12 at present - which is what her Libre was showing at lunch time today.

She was telling me about how slack some of the nursing staff on the medical ward were about the Covid rules. Never backward and coming forward, and having a nursing degree herself, she told them what she thought about that! If that is the case, it's no wonder that patients have been catching the virus in the hospital.

4 thin slices of salami for breakfast and then I had a few chips at lunchtime (I'd done them for Em and she didn't eat them all). I have some cold chicken and some red cabbage out of the freezer for this evening. Might heat it up in gravy.
 
I'm going to try a new idea after talking to DIL. She is reducing her carbs but not as drastically as I've been trying to do. She has also been advised to take her basal insulin in the morning (not at midnight, like me). She is on a new insulin but is finding that minute doses now control her BG - actually 1/10th of what I take. She believes it is the timing of the basal injection (which she takes alongside the bolus one before breakfast). It gets her BG down early in the day and it stays down. In fact, she is going to have to keep and eye on her injections because she had a hypo this afternoon - first time in years!

I'll be giving the diabetic nurse a call tomorrow and see what she says. It won't be as straightforward as it sounds, but it might help. Carbs were pretty low today - less than 50 g. BG wasn't too bad earlier, but it is rising now.
 
Annb said:
I'm going to try a new idea after talking to DIL. She is reducing her carbs but not as drastically as I've been trying to do. She has also been advised to take her basal insulin in the morning (not at midnight, like me). She is on a new insulin but is finding that minute doses now control her BG - actually 1/10th of what I take. She believes it is the timing of the basal injection (which she takes alongside the bolus one before breakfast). It gets her BG down early in the day and it stays down. In fact, she is going to have to keep and eye on her injections because she had a hypo this afternoon - first time in years!

I'll be giving the diabetic nurse a call tomorrow and see what she says. It won't be as straightforward as it sounds, but it might help. Carbs were pretty low today - less than 50 g. BG wasn't too bad earlier, but it is rising now.
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It might be worth a try. I don't know enough about insulin other than I thought it kept you in check but it is a mystery in your case @Annb. That was a scary level for you DIL too. I've gone through the whole death thing with grandson too. Oddly, after losing two of the guineas in quick succession, he seems a lot better and is nowhere near as anxious. Little brother is back at school so big brother is coming with me to "help" collect him and his friend. We've had two great home schooling days as well. Sadly my brother isn't doing well though.
 
So sorry to hear that your brother isn't doing too well just now. I suppose you have to be prepared for the worst and hope the whole process will be as easy on him as possible. My heart goes out to him and to you. I know that I've worried about my brother for years - he has always had a problem with his heart and, to be honest, has no right to be around still but he plugs on - finally admitting that he is slowing down and feeling his age, which also worries me. He's the only one I've got! And he is in Swindon, way out of my reach at the moment. I don't know if you have any time for people who pray, but I have been praying for both you and your brother regularly since I saw from your post that he was sick. It can't do any harm, even if you think it can't do any good.

I didn't take any insulin last night and left it for 6 am for my basal dose. Breakfast was not until 9 am, so there was a gap between the 2 injections. Oddly my FBG was only 7.0. After the basal dose, it rose to 9.2. After breakfast and 60 units Humilin S it rose to 11.2. Had an early lunch of a bacon toastie and, again after 60 units of Humilin S, it reads out at 5.7. Now that is strange. The basal dose must be kicking in - 61/2 hours later.

Em doesn't seem to be uncomfortable about death, just very aware of it. Maybe because nobody got very uptight when her beloved granddad died (my late husband). We all made a great effort to stay calm and just carry on (he died suddenly after enduring a very long illness, but we did not expect it at that point). She still talks about him and tells me how much she loves him and I reassure her that he still loves her. Maybe that helps. I have only just started to have stronger feelings about his life and death - I had to shut down all feelings during the years of his decline and could never weep for him or for my loss. It's taken over 3 years to reach this stage. I suppose it is a good development really.
 
Update: 4.45 pm - BG has dropped to 4.2 and I am beginning to shake. That's despite risking eating the crust off of a new white loaf, which I decided not to resist - and that with no insulin. Currently eating a buttered roll to stop the drop. I hope.
 
Went to bed early - I knew it would be a mistake, I had to get up again at 2.45! Got back to sleep again in the kitchen chair around 5 am and then slept in until 7 am. So my newly timed basal dose didn't happen until 7 am. BG at that stage was 9.8.

Breakfast at 8.30 (BG 10 at that stage) was the second half of the frittata from last night with 2 fried eggs.8.9 BG at 10.30 was 12.3. Not good - the breakfast shouldn't have done that.

Lunch at 1.15 was stir fried liver and bacon with an onion and some peas - Chinese style. Result - 8.9. Better than I expected. Loads of lamb's liver left, so I had to make some liver pate. There will be lots of it, so must find some space in the freezer.

DIL now has to go to the hospital on Tuesday morning (7.30 am) for endo and colonoscropy. So for the first time since she lived with us as a baby, Em will get her wish for a sleep over here. She'll have to share my bed - I got rid of the single beds a couple of years ago - never expected to need them. Just as well she isn't at school just now, I don't suppose she'll settle very well so I don't suppose she'll be too happy to get up. Of course, I might be quite wrong and she'll be making me get up before I want to!
 
BG isn't low under the new regime, but it is lower than it has been in the last months. It seems that the slow release insulin doesn't really kick in for about 6 hours, so earlier in the day BGs are a bit on the high side but around now, it should start to drop. It might not just yet because I had a late breakfast and have only just had lunch (4.30 pm).

Decided to check yesterday early evening and see what effect some carbs, in the form of toast to put my avocado on, would have. BG was sort of OK - 8.8 after 2 hours but dear goodness my stomach! Not the greatest idea I ever had.

Just heard that my friend who had a stroke and who had been starved of food and fluids before catching Covid 19 was discharged from the hospital to the care of her daughter who had flown in from Alaska. So she has gone back to Uist. But the hospital/doctor won't supply her with either food (she could have it via a tube as my husband did) or fluid. They have withdrawn all treatment, except a nurse coming in to turn her in her bed. This just can't be right. A DNR notice is one thing, but they are starving her to death. And her daughter has to watch it happen. Not only that, doctors and nurses are criticising the daughter for wanting to give her mother fluid via a straw (which she did swallow, so she must be conscious in some way). They tell her she is being selfish, wanting her mother to have a chance to live. What ever happened to compassion in the medical services? It can't go on for much longer - my friend has had no food for 2 weeks and no fluid to speak of for several days.
 
Annb said:
BG isn't low under the new regime, but it is lower than it has been in the last months. It seems that the slow release insulin doesn't really kick in for about 6 hours, so earlier in the day BGs are a bit on the high side but around now, it should start to drop. It might not just yet because I had a late breakfast and have only just had lunch (4.30 pm).

Decided to check yesterday early evening and see what effect some carbs, in the form of toast to put my avocado on, would have. BG was sort of OK - 8.8 after 2 hours but dear goodness my stomach! Not the greatest idea I ever had.

Just heard that my friend who had a stroke and who had been starved of food and fluids before catching Covid 19 was discharged from the hospital to the care of her daughter who had flown in from Alaska. So she has gone back to Uist. But the hospital/doctor won't supply her with either food (she could have it via a tube as my husband did) or fluid. They have withdrawn all treatment, except a nurse coming in to turn her in her bed. This just can't be right. A DNR notice is one thing, but they are starving her to death. And her daughter has to watch it happen. Not only that, doctors and nurses are criticising the daughter for wanting to give her mother fluid via a straw (which she did swallow, so she must be conscious in some way). They tell her she is being selfish, wanting her mother to have a chance to live. What ever happened to compassion in the medical services? It can't go on for much longer - my friend has had no food for 2 weeks and no fluid to speak of for several days.
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You seem to be doing a better job of working out your BGs/insulin than the "experts". I have to say I am shocked at the non treatment of your friend but I'm more inclined to say what has happened to Scotland during Covid. Nothing else seems to matter. At least my brother was a lot better yesterday. He'd certainly rallied. I'm not deluding myself he'll get better (he won't) but it was nice to see him more alert and talkative.
Both his daughters are there currently although the younger one is confident enough to head back South in a couple of days to catch up with work. Fingers crossed for more good days.
 
maglil55 said:
You seem to be doing a better job of working out your BGs/insulin than the "experts". I have to say I am shocked at the non treatment of your friend but I'm more inclined to say what has happened to Scotland during Covid. Nothing else seems to matter. At least my brother was a lot better yesterday. He'd certainly rallied. I'm not deluding myself he'll get better (he won't) but it was nice to see him more alert and talkative.
Both his daughters are there currently although the younger one is confident enough to head back South in a couple of days to catch up with work. Fingers crossed for more good days.
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The treatment of my friend is what I think is known as "the Liverpool protocol" but I thought it had been abandoned years ago. I know it was being used in 2003 when my father was dying - that was the first time I heard of it. Under it, food and fluids are regarded as "treatment" and all treatment is withdrawn from the dying person. The hospital here attempted to put it into practice with my dad, but he rallied briefly and demanded his porridge for breakfast - astonishing the staff at the Western Isles hospital! It doesn't make sense to me that the medics on Uist are saying to my friend's daughter that SHE is being cruel, wanting to keep her mother alive and suffering but at the same time telling her that her mother is not aware of her lack of food or fluid. They can't have it both ways. From my point of view, the suffering is being caused by the medics both to my friend and to her daughter.

I'm glad to hear that your brother was a lot better yesterday. At least if he feels better in himself, it will be easier on him and on you. I do hope your doctors there are better and more compassionate than many of the ones we have here on the Western Isles.

In 2016, the year before my husband died, he was in the hospital here for treatment because he couldn't eat or drink (they gave him a tube into his stomach so that we could get nutrition into him). One of the doctors took us aside for a "conference" with some other staff members and told me that, should his heart give out, he would not be resuscitated and they were placing a DNR notice on his file. No introduction to the subject and quite unexpected by us - we thought they wanted to talk about how to manage the feeding tube. I asked, "Do I have any input into this?" But the answer was "No. He has no quality of life so we have decided not to resuscitate." I was appalled - what right did some unknown doctor have to decide what quality of life he had? But they were immovable. In the end, in 2017, it wasn't his heart that gave out - not until, after a mistake by a nurse led to an infection of his feeding tube and then a morphine injection to deal with the pain. I still believe that he was given too much morphine and that is what killed him. Anger isn't the word for what I felt, but I had no evidence and we were just shooed out pretty rapidly without even an expression of sympathy. Perhaps that's why I clamped down on my emotions - who knows? I'm beginning to be less sure than I was that I have dealt with it in my head. Sorry to go on at length about this. It's my problem, not yours. We all have our own problems to deal with, but talking about it helps.
 
I too thought the Liverpool protocol had been ditched. I recognise your anger as I felt the same with my Mum. I believed in her case that morphine poisoning was the real cause of her death. With my other brother they probably gave him enough to down an elephant but they couldn't settle him. The hospice managed though. Currently and thankfully this brother has no need of morphine and is eating well.
 
@maglil55, I do hope your brother remains in reasonable humour and with no pain.

DIL has been told she is anaemic and doctors are looking for some kind of internal bleeding - that's one reason for the endo/colonoscopy on Tuesday. She has also been suffering some severe pain (as though her long gone appendix has been causing problems). Saw the new baby today - she has had to be evacuated from her home because her big brother's cat brought some fleas in, which seem to have overtaken the house. The house is being treated with some sort of treatment which could harm her, so her gran (DIL) and grandpa (No 2 son) are looking after her for a couple of days. She'll be going home on Monday. She's growing well and putting on weight, but she's still smaller than either of my boys were.

FBG 6.3
Breakfast 2 slices Lorne sausage and 2 eggs fried.
BG at 11 am 8.3
Lunch fish fingers (saw them in the shop and had a sudden craving).
BG now 8.6
Not complaining about those readings - much better than recently and not dropping too low this afternoon.

I'm making some chicken pie filling to have as a sort of stew later this evening. No carbs with it or in it.
 
This morning I had some GF bread, as an experiment. It raised my BG by 2 points after 2 hours but then it dropped away and into the target range. But then - silly me - after lunch I made a soda scone for Neil, using soya marg and soya milk. BG shot up by 6 points! That was by 3 pm and it it just beginning to drop back (11.5 just now). But not only that, I am feeling nauseous and bloated again. That happens after yeasted bread but I thought, without the yeast, it would be OK. Not! But it was OK after the GF bread. Interesting. I have never thought of myself as either gluten or wheat intolerant, but who knows?
 
GF bread bacon sarnie this morning. A bit of a spike, but it soon dropped away again. Stomach seems quite comfortable with the GF bread.
Lunch was salmon with some broccoli and one boiled potato. BG dropped by 1.5.
Tea - the last 2 little slices of GF bread with some ham. BG dropped again to 4.6 and then to 3.6! I only realised when I started shaking and over-heating. A chocolate finger and a packet of crisps. Still shaky so had a couple of boiled sweets. Just about stopped shaking a few minutes ago.
Still have to do some work on the insulin amounts. My new prescription should come in tomorrow at the pharmacy - it was ordered last week, but hasn't arrived yet. I have enough Humilin S for another day and a half, so I do hope it comes in.
 
My old Alaskan friend in Uist died last night at 11.30. She was at home with her daughter and died in her sleep. The death certificate will, no doubt, have Covid 19 as a cause of death since she did have the virus less than 28 days ago. But I'm pretty sure she died of malnutrition and dehydration. We were advising her daughter to ask for a second opinion just a couple of days ago to see if another doctor would say she should receive food and fluids but, it was too late.

Two afternoons out of the last 3 I have had a hypo. Obviously I need to adjust the amounts of insulin I am taking but I'm not sure how - probably reduce the amount before lunch because that seems to be the problem.

Em stayed overnight (got to sleep when I got into bed and held her down for a few minutes - that was about 3 am) so I am pretty tired and she is still asleep. She reckons hypos should be called lowpos.
 
The new insulin (Humalog) seems to be working well. Of course, once my system gets used to it, it may not, but we shall see.

The regime now is Lantus solostar (64 units) around 6 am.
Humalog (30 units!!!) around 9.30 and breakfast (2 GF pancakes and 2 fried eggs today).
Humalog (30 units) around 1 pm and lunch (gumbo today with some rice).
Plan to have Humalog (25) around 7 pm and dinner (will be mushroom omelette to stay reasonably safe) but I'll have to watch from about now onwards for a sudden drop in BG and take action if needed.

The combination of timing for the basal dose, GF bread and the new insulin seems to be having an effect. Tried to talk to the diabetic nurse today about the afternoon drop, but she's working from home so she'll call me - probably tomorrow.

I don't know that anyone is even remotely interested in what I have to say - conversations here are very one-sided but I do think it might be of some interest for people on insulin that doesn't seem to be helping much, to see if small changes can make a difference.
 
I read too, but don't have much to add.
We seem to have lost many of the 'naughty chatty' posters the thread was set up for

I liked Ems naming of "lopos"
 
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