Help!

[Ezmo]

Hi so my fiance is type 1 poorly controlled diabetic and has been for over 13 years. He is just getting over a nasty bout of cellulitis in his foot which has meant numerous antibiotics and hospital visits. As a result hes having regular check ups at the hospital with the foot specialist. They are highly concerned by the fact his bloods are so poorly controlled to the point they have warned he wont live to see 30! Obviously I am terrified. I do most of the cooking in the house and just dont know where to start.
I have no idea about carb counting etc. He's so blasé about the whole situation I just dont know how to help/ support him. Has anybody got any tips or advice about caring for someone with T1 diabetes.
Thanks 🙂

 

[Thebearcametoo]

That sounds very worrying.

You can’t make anyone take care of themselves which puts you in a difficult position. Does he do any testing and any insulin? If he feels overwhelmed with things like the carb count you could offer to do that for him. Using the carbs and calls app or book (I find the book easier) or other carb counting apps to work out his food. His GP could support him with his mental health and his diabetes team could support him with relearning his diabetes control and maybe offering a Libre or other easier ways for him to see where his sugar is at.

 

[Ezmo]

It is
He rarely tests his bloods and I have to nag him to do what little he does.... and I dont want to have to nag him. He's on insulin Novorapid and Levimir. I'll check out some apps and that book and see what I can do. I dont have a lot of experience with diabetes and I just trusted he was in control.... obviously the hospital has shown he isn't. I'll encourage him to seek some more support.
Many thanks for your reply! 🙂

 

[trophywench]

WHY are the hospital experts in the Diabetes Clinic there, helping him?

He shouldn't be injecting insulin without testing his blood glucose first! If his BG is over 'normal' ie around 5.0 before he eats, as well as injecting enough for the carbohydrate count in the meal, he would need extra to address how much over 5-ish it was. In the same way if he is below 5-ish, he should reduce the dose to address the low.

Does he go to the Clinic? Blimey - the people who work at mine are like mates - because we've known each other so blooming long! Just only see each other twice a year - real mates you have a chat and a drink with, there we do other things instead of alcohol, whilst having a chat and catching up about where we've been on holiday. When I make wrong decisions, get in a mess and need to ring to ask Help! What Do I Do Now please? I get no criticism, don't even say I was silly doing that - simply say it probably wasn't the best plan, perhaps I should try doing whatever instead? Definitely friendly, not confrontational.