-
Please Remember: Members are only permitted to share their own experiences. Members are not qualified to give medical advice. Additionally, everyone manages their health differently. Please be respectful of other people's opinions about their own diabetes management.
Developments
- Thread starter Tina63
- Start date
- Status
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Fingers crossed for a positive outcome for you and your son Tina
No call as yet - but it is clinic day so as lunchtime is all but over, I don't think we will get a call until at least 4pm now. I am so tense waiting.....! I bet if the call comes that late in the day, they will say wait and come in tomorrow. Will a consultant really want to wait around for an evening admission (for a non-emergency situation) when they have had a full clinic list - and the DSN for that matter? I know our DSN is hospital based Tuesday and Wednesday, so would make more sense to go in then, bed permitting.
Back to the waiting.......
Back to the waiting.......
After all the nail biting and tension of today, have just heard from my son's DSN and nothing is happening just yet.
The decision has been made to give him 1 week to sort himself out. He is to test regularly, inject as per instructions given last week incorporating the new regime, and they are booking him into clinic next Monday. The consultant has booked him a bed for then, and unless there is significant improvement by then they will keep him in.
He is to take his meter as well as his diary, so there is nowhere to hide.
He knew the phone went, but then refused to come down and talk when we called him, so he doens't yet know the score. I will make sure he does know before bedtime. Getting him there next week will be interesting I am sure!
So, at least I can plan a bit more now I know the score. I will have my ears open for any hint of a hypo tonight too, as he has just started taking a fixed dose of Humilin S at 3.30-4pm which will overlap with his Lantus at around 10-11pm. Feel a bit edgy about that but I always have an ear open anyway, I will just be mega alert tonight and have some Coke upstairs.
Not really sure if I want him to do well, or have a rubbish week and get kept in. Whichever, as long as he starts to toe the line I guess.
The decision has been made to give him 1 week to sort himself out. He is to test regularly, inject as per instructions given last week incorporating the new regime, and they are booking him into clinic next Monday. The consultant has booked him a bed for then, and unless there is significant improvement by then they will keep him in.
He is to take his meter as well as his diary, so there is nowhere to hide.
He knew the phone went, but then refused to come down and talk when we called him, so he doens't yet know the score. I will make sure he does know before bedtime. Getting him there next week will be interesting I am sure!
So, at least I can plan a bit more now I know the score. I will have my ears open for any hint of a hypo tonight too, as he has just started taking a fixed dose of Humilin S at 3.30-4pm which will overlap with his Lantus at around 10-11pm. Feel a bit edgy about that but I always have an ear open anyway, I will just be mega alert tonight and have some Coke upstairs.
Not really sure if I want him to do well, or have a rubbish week and get kept in. Whichever, as long as he starts to toe the line I guess.
Bless you Tina - not an easy situation! I hope all is ok tonight, and that your son starts to feel more ok about his diabetes. Maybe if he can see some sense coming out of the numbers after the enforced discipline of having to do & record for this week, he will start to feel there's a point to doing all the checking & jabbing etc. Will be thinking of you both. xx
He just came down, I told him the score, and he is now refusing to go next week!
Oh well, we have a week to work on him. He is often full of hot air, has to have an outburst then calms down again.
If he won't go, well what then???
It never rains but it pours!
Oh well, we have a week to work on him. He is often full of hot air, has to have an outburst then calms down again.
If he won't go, well what then???
It never rains but it pours!
Pumper_Sue
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Well Tina he has been given a last chance hasn't he? So he either takes it or pays the price.
If he is refusing to inject life saving medication then they might decide to treat him like a baby and send the district nurse round each day and do it for him.
Is there any chance what so ever his DSN can make an unanounced visit? Thus he is caught well and truly off guard. Obviously you need to know about the visit but can then disapear whilst they have a chat.
That's a good idea Sue. She is due to phone back tomorrow with the appointment time so I will tell her his reaction, and maybe if I am brave enough make the suggestion. He only has one lesson at school on Friday, so would be here all morning if she could call then. I really do despair though. He doesn't have a clue what he is doing to me behaving like this. His dad just gets angry over the whole thing, so not much help there!
Pumper_Sue
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Even better still if she can come out and then can see if he has done any injecting and if he hasn't then say to him point blank he is going in NOW and arange it then and there.
fencesitter
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Parent of person with diabetes
Only just caught up with this. So sorry about this situation. As you say, if he does get admitted, maybe it will be no bad thing. I expect the health care profs are well versed in how to handle it ... ((((Tina))))
Hopefully once his numbers are a bit more sensible he'll start feeling grotty if he's too high, which will be a bit of an incentive to keep them down. Wondering about his fear of hypos ... if he was encouraged to go a bit low in a safe environment, with a stack of jelly babies or whatever to hand, maybe that would help.
I wish I could help more. We only live a few miles down the road so if you think it would be of any use to meet up with another diabetic lad, I could ask William if he'd do it. I know neither of our boys fancied the Oxford meet but maybe we could meet to go bowling or something and include a meal as part of it? Completely understand if that's not appealing.
Anyway, rambling on here but mostly wanted to say good luck with it all.
Catherine
Hopefully once his numbers are a bit more sensible he'll start feeling grotty if he's too high, which will be a bit of an incentive to keep them down. Wondering about his fear of hypos ... if he was encouraged to go a bit low in a safe environment, with a stack of jelly babies or whatever to hand, maybe that would help.
I wish I could help more. We only live a few miles down the road so if you think it would be of any use to meet up with another diabetic lad, I could ask William if he'd do it. I know neither of our boys fancied the Oxford meet but maybe we could meet to go bowling or something and include a meal as part of it? Completely understand if that's not appealing.
Anyway, rambling on here but mostly wanted to say good luck with it all.
Catherine
Thanks everyone for your replies. As I suspected, after his initial reaction, he did come down a good while later and offer me a cup of tea (major event!!)
He did then actually initiate a talk about diabetes - the first one we have had in an age, and all calm too - major step forward! (Could this have anything to do with the fact he had had a dose of Humilin S before dinner and had better levels that he had had in a while???)
At the moment he is still staying he is not going to clinic next Monday "as they will force me to stay in and I am not going to!" I have said that everyone only has his best interests at heart. They are only trying to help him. He said that with exams coming up there is no way he is staying there, "If they want me to go in the summer holidays, fine, but not now!" I did then go on to say that if he does start doing exactly as they ask, and have figures in his meter to prove it, that I am sure they will be fine to let him come home again on Monday.
I did say to him that almost certainly the first few readings will be high, but if he does stick rigidly to his regime he will see the numbers start to fall, and that half the point of testing is to see if the dosage is right and if it's not it can be tweaked. He admitted that's half the reason he doesn't want to test at the moment because he knows it will be too high. I said again, if they can see the readings are coming the right way, it will give them a much clearer picture than just having one or two readings. I will definitely ask the DSN to contact us again at the end of the week, actually maybe on Wednesday too, to speak to him directly, so she can ask him what his levels are doing and suggest alterations to his doses if necessary. As I have said before, we have NEVER been given told how to calculate correction doses, so have never done that, but given that he is now on Humilin M3 and Humilin S as well as Lantus, he is just on fixed doses. We have never been told to restrict his carbs either though, so he eats whatever our main meal is and whatever else he can get his hands on and still takes the same amount. I don't even know if these other insulins are like Novorapid in that 1u equals x amount of carbs (10g in his case on Novorapid).
He did stay downstairs fairly late with me last night, he actually asked me to say down with him when his dad went to bed, something he hasn't done in an age so I think he is feeling quite vulnerable at the moment and is maybe backing down a little. I really did emphasise that both me and his dad and his team are only looking after his best interests. I told him all the soppy stuff that's its only because I love him that I want the very best for him, that I want him to remain well and complication free and that it really is possible to do with a little work and commitment from him. He did say for not the first time (and I totally understand his need to) that I can't possibly have a clue what it means to live with diabetes day after day, that there is no let up from it, and all I could do was sympathise and agree and say that it is a load of cr*p but he has no choice but to accept it and make the best of it. I quoted the 'you control it, don't let it control you'.
I am now going to be walking a bit of a tightrope this next week. I had agreed a while ago to completely back off and I did, but I do now feel I need to chase and remind him several times a day this week to test. I am dying to see what happens through the week as he hasn't tested regularly in ages. It would be so good to see some positive results to give him encouragement to carry on testing. I really do hope that the threat of hospital admission did the trick, that he now realises it's not just me, but that there really is a problem with how he has been handling it and he needs help to sort it all out.
I will of course be there, to guide him on his way, but will be mindful of not overstepping the mark.
He did then actually initiate a talk about diabetes - the first one we have had in an age, and all calm too - major step forward! (Could this have anything to do with the fact he had had a dose of Humilin S before dinner and had better levels that he had had in a while???)
At the moment he is still staying he is not going to clinic next Monday "as they will force me to stay in and I am not going to!" I have said that everyone only has his best interests at heart. They are only trying to help him. He said that with exams coming up there is no way he is staying there, "If they want me to go in the summer holidays, fine, but not now!" I did then go on to say that if he does start doing exactly as they ask, and have figures in his meter to prove it, that I am sure they will be fine to let him come home again on Monday.
I did say to him that almost certainly the first few readings will be high, but if he does stick rigidly to his regime he will see the numbers start to fall, and that half the point of testing is to see if the dosage is right and if it's not it can be tweaked. He admitted that's half the reason he doesn't want to test at the moment because he knows it will be too high. I said again, if they can see the readings are coming the right way, it will give them a much clearer picture than just having one or two readings. I will definitely ask the DSN to contact us again at the end of the week, actually maybe on Wednesday too, to speak to him directly, so she can ask him what his levels are doing and suggest alterations to his doses if necessary. As I have said before, we have NEVER been given told how to calculate correction doses, so have never done that, but given that he is now on Humilin M3 and Humilin S as well as Lantus, he is just on fixed doses. We have never been told to restrict his carbs either though, so he eats whatever our main meal is and whatever else he can get his hands on and still takes the same amount. I don't even know if these other insulins are like Novorapid in that 1u equals x amount of carbs (10g in his case on Novorapid).
He did stay downstairs fairly late with me last night, he actually asked me to say down with him when his dad went to bed, something he hasn't done in an age so I think he is feeling quite vulnerable at the moment and is maybe backing down a little. I really did emphasise that both me and his dad and his team are only looking after his best interests. I told him all the soppy stuff that's its only because I love him that I want the very best for him, that I want him to remain well and complication free and that it really is possible to do with a little work and commitment from him. He did say for not the first time (and I totally understand his need to) that I can't possibly have a clue what it means to live with diabetes day after day, that there is no let up from it, and all I could do was sympathise and agree and say that it is a load of cr*p but he has no choice but to accept it and make the best of it. I quoted the 'you control it, don't let it control you'.
I am now going to be walking a bit of a tightrope this next week. I had agreed a while ago to completely back off and I did, but I do now feel I need to chase and remind him several times a day this week to test. I am dying to see what happens through the week as he hasn't tested regularly in ages. It would be so good to see some positive results to give him encouragement to carry on testing. I really do hope that the threat of hospital admission did the trick, that he now realises it's not just me, but that there really is a problem with how he has been handling it and he needs help to sort it all out.
I will of course be there, to guide him on his way, but will be mindful of not overstepping the mark.
I really hope this is the turning point that your son needs (you're post shows that he needs his mom) - keep talking, keep reassuring and keep strong, you're doing a fantastic job and in years to come your son will come to understand and realise that what you're doing is in his best interests. Throwing you both a big hug {{{ }}}. Amanda x
Pumper_Sue
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Hi Tina,
this chart someone else put on the forum shows the duration of insulin http://www.diabetes.org.uk/Documents/Magazines/Insulinwallchart.pdf
As a starting point most start of with a correction of 1 unit to drop by 3 .
So if blood sugar 10 and you want it down to 7 then 1 unit correction will be needed.
Do discuss this with hos DSN though.
Also as your son is so afraid of hypos have a goal of 7 for blood sugars and not down in the 4's and 5's this gives him the much needed security blanket so to speak.
Also do point out to him that it's better to go in now and get himself sorted because if his numbers are so high he will end up in big trouble near his exams and thus miss them altogether.
Also try the method of the meter number is just that a number. So all he has to do is look at it and decide on action. Then forget about it so to speak.
this chart someone else put on the forum shows the duration of insulin http://www.diabetes.org.uk/Documents/Magazines/Insulinwallchart.pdf
As a starting point most start of with a correction of 1 unit to drop by 3 .
So if blood sugar 10 and you want it down to 7 then 1 unit correction will be needed.
Do discuss this with hos DSN though.
Also as your son is so afraid of hypos have a goal of 7 for blood sugars and not down in the 4's and 5's this gives him the much needed security blanket so to speak.
Also do point out to him that it's better to go in now and get himself sorted because if his numbers are so high he will end up in big trouble near his exams and thus miss them altogether.
Also try the method of the meter number is just that a number. So all he has to do is look at it and decide on action. Then forget about it so to speak.
Robster65
Senior Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
You're doing things spot on Tina.🙂
Would imagine also, they want him to get into the routines first and stable before worrying about corrections. Better to have a regular amount going in reliably than a few missed days and a correction here and there.
Patterns need to be established so they can see how things are going and then they can tweak everything.
You may find that the highs have (temporarily) affected his eyes, etc and that he'll find it a bit worrying as and when things settle. In effect they'll need to treat him as newly diagnosed I would imagine, so no one will be shocked by high numbers. In fact, if he presents them with a set of perfect BGs from today, they be highly suspicious. He'll do better to show them what he's coming down from so they can see a gradual adjustment. He could have got his mate to do the test for him otherwise (he can't make things up in a book like we used to!🙄).😉
All in the name of progress.🙂
Rob
Would imagine also, they want him to get into the routines first and stable before worrying about corrections. Better to have a regular amount going in reliably than a few missed days and a correction here and there.
Patterns need to be established so they can see how things are going and then they can tweak everything.
You may find that the highs have (temporarily) affected his eyes, etc and that he'll find it a bit worrying as and when things settle. In effect they'll need to treat him as newly diagnosed I would imagine, so no one will be shocked by high numbers. In fact, if he presents them with a set of perfect BGs from today, they be highly suspicious. He'll do better to show them what he's coming down from so they can see a gradual adjustment. He could have got his mate to do the test for him otherwise (he can't make things up in a book like we used to!🙄).😉
All in the name of progress.🙂
Rob
Thanks again everyone. I thought this morning I would repay his kindness of the cup of tea, so went in and woke him and offered him scrambled eggs on toast in return for doing a BG test. It worked. He registered a 12.2. I also saw he did test before bed last night - wait for it - a shocking 26! That was higher than when he was diagnosed! He also asked me to take a new M3 cartridge up.
Having checked all his bits after he went to school, it is a bit of a worry to see the cartridge still out on the edge of his desk, not put into his pen. I have been making a rough note of the levels in his pens each day and yesterday wrote 20 against his M3, today it looks as low as it will go but his dose of that one is I think 26. Not too sure that he had the full dose of that this morning then. Still, at least he has had some - that is progress I guess. He did have his Lantus last night too, and started on the Humilin S at teatime too. There was me worrying he might hypo last night!
He still seems very open and friendly, so fingers crossed the lines of communication are once more open. I'm not going to get heavy over it but will maybe wait until well into the evening and ask if he has felt any different today and see if we lead on from there. And if the cost is me pampering him and taking him breakfast in bed each morning, well it's a small price to pay to get things back on track.
Having checked all his bits after he went to school, it is a bit of a worry to see the cartridge still out on the edge of his desk, not put into his pen. I have been making a rough note of the levels in his pens each day and yesterday wrote 20 against his M3, today it looks as low as it will go but his dose of that one is I think 26. Not too sure that he had the full dose of that this morning then. Still, at least he has had some - that is progress I guess. He did have his Lantus last night too, and started on the Humilin S at teatime too. There was me worrying he might hypo last night!
He still seems very open and friendly, so fingers crossed the lines of communication are once more open. I'm not going to get heavy over it but will maybe wait until well into the evening and ask if he has felt any different today and see if we lead on from there. And if the cost is me pampering him and taking him breakfast in bed each morning, well it's a small price to pay to get things back on track.
Robster65
Senior Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
The main thing is to encourage testing at the moment. Preferably at regular times before and/or after meals. He'll see for himself how things are with or without insulin.
One of the biggest hurdles is going to be reducing the snacking and controlling carbs. Unless they give him an intensive course on carb counting so he can then feel he is controlling things.
The psychology of diabetes (and many other conditions I suppose) is complicated. There's a lot of subtle power play between 'it' and the diabetic.
Rebel and it'll punish you. Follow the rules and it can dominate you. Tightrope walking but he'll find his own balance. 🙂
Rob
One of the biggest hurdles is going to be reducing the snacking and controlling carbs. Unless they give him an intensive course on carb counting so he can then feel he is controlling things.
The psychology of diabetes (and many other conditions I suppose) is complicated. There's a lot of subtle power play between 'it' and the diabetic.
Rebel and it'll punish you. Follow the rules and it can dominate you. Tightrope walking but he'll find his own balance. 🙂
Rob
- Status