MCH
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I haven?t posted much for a while although I have managed to keep up with a lot of what has been going on. Initially this was due to a change of timing of my working day which was taking a lot of getting used to (same number of hours but a shorter lunch so although we now finish a little earlier somehow I never got home any earlier or had any more time. Recently, however, I have been off work due to having fractured my humerus which has meant I had to type very slowly with only one hand for a while and as I was trying to continue with typing for work from home I had no time to add to the forum. I am now (four weeks and a bit on) able to use both hands and am getting quicker though I still need lots of breaks (unfortunate choice of word there!). 😱
A few weeks ago I caught a sickness/ diarrhoea bug and headed for bed about 4ish having eaten/injected for lunch. 3 hours later, I was sick and decided to persevere at home by not taking any insulin because I knew my BS was lowish (about 4). I hoped this would keep me going till I felt well enough to drink something sugary which I didn?t at the time. This wasn?t one of my better ideas
as about 9.30pm, I got up to go to the bathroom and felt terrible on my way back to bed. I called my husband (asleep in our room as he wasn?t well and had been trying not to give it to me) but he didn?t hear me though he did hear the thud as I passed out on the landing and came to help.
He said I was lying face down and when he called my name, instead of trying to get up, I rolled over onto my back and refused to move due to the pain in my left arm. He tried to do a blood test, but couldn?t get enough blood out of my finger and because I kept drifting in and out of consciousness, he phoned an ambulance. The ambulance men also had trouble but eventually got a BS of 3 and a blood pressure reading of 95/65 and I was taken to hospital. (I think I originally passed out because of the low blood pressure, as I have been below 3 on occasions and not passed out from this)
At the hospital, I got an ECG which was a problem as I had to hold my sore arm out of the way to get the sensors stuck on. I was then sent to get an X-ray where I got one but had to ask to sit down before the second as I felt faint again. Unfortunately, after the second one, I did pass out again and was taken back to bed and put onto a glucose drip which resulted later in a BS of 30. (When I reminded them I hadn?t taken any insulin, they said that they wanted to get my BS up so I wasn?t to get any at the time.) Shortly after this I was taken to a ward where I stayed the night.
The next morning I got a slice of toast for breakfast (I didn?t think I would get home unless I ate something) but on asking for insulin, was told none had been prescribed and they would need to get a doctor first. I eventually got some Levemir about 11.30am, but was refused any Humalog as it hadn?t been prescribed. After I had ordered my lunch, I called a nurse to ask if I would get insulin with lunch because if not, I wasn?t going eat anything. She came back and said yes that would be all right. At lunchtime, I was given my usual breakfast dose (3.5 units) and when I asked about this, I was told that this was the amount that had been prescribed. (When I was admitted, I was asked about amounts of insulin and said that I carbohydrate counted but that at breakfast ? because I always eat the same thing, I take 3.5 units so I assume this is where the amount came from and it hadn?t been written down very carefully at the time.)
After this episode, I was told that a DSN would come and see me ? I think to confirm that there was no diabetic reason for keeping me in ? before I could go home. She prescribed 3-5 units for all my meals so that I had some control depending on what I ate, but that from a diabetes point of view I could go home. Dinner time went well after this and I was discharged before I had to worry about my evening Levemir dose so I don?t know what would have happened then 🙄
The consultant came to see me after dinner and apologised because she had hoped I would be discharged by then but that the DSN hadn?t seen me. I told her the DSN had seen me about 2.30 and was happy for me to go home. (It turned out that the DSN had written her comments on the wrong page of my notes and no-one had seen them!) Eventually I was allowed to leave about 7.30pm, but had to phone my still ill husband to come and get me as when I had been taken in, although he had offered the ambulance men my blood testing kit, insulin pens and a dressing gown and as they had declined, I couldn?t go home until he brought a coat of some sort in for me! (Had I even had my dressing gown, I would simply have gone home in that and my slippers in a taxi as I could have paid for it when I got home.)
I have now been back at home for four weeks and my arm seems to be healing so it looks like I could be back to work in another couple of weeks, with some help as everything takes me so long at the moment, so things are getting there.
I think the most important thing I learnt is that if you end up heading to hospital, always take your blood testing stuff, insulin and a dressing gown with you as it would have saved a lot of time (every time someone came to do a blood test, they asked if I had my own machine and because I didn?t they had to spend time looking for one to use) though I?m not sure if I would have been allowed to hang on to the insulin and use it when needed or not ? mind you at the time I needed help to take the needle cover off before I could do an injection anyway.
Thank you for letting me ramble on - writing it down has made me feel better about all of this.
A few weeks ago I caught a sickness/ diarrhoea bug and headed for bed about 4ish having eaten/injected for lunch. 3 hours later, I was sick and decided to persevere at home by not taking any insulin because I knew my BS was lowish (about 4). I hoped this would keep me going till I felt well enough to drink something sugary which I didn?t at the time. This wasn?t one of my better ideas
as about 9.30pm, I got up to go to the bathroom and felt terrible on my way back to bed. I called my husband (asleep in our room as he wasn?t well and had been trying not to give it to me) but he didn?t hear me though he did hear the thud as I passed out on the landing and came to help. He said I was lying face down and when he called my name, instead of trying to get up, I rolled over onto my back and refused to move due to the pain in my left arm. He tried to do a blood test, but couldn?t get enough blood out of my finger and because I kept drifting in and out of consciousness, he phoned an ambulance. The ambulance men also had trouble but eventually got a BS of 3 and a blood pressure reading of 95/65 and I was taken to hospital. (I think I originally passed out because of the low blood pressure, as I have been below 3 on occasions and not passed out from this)
At the hospital, I got an ECG which was a problem as I had to hold my sore arm out of the way to get the sensors stuck on. I was then sent to get an X-ray where I got one but had to ask to sit down before the second as I felt faint again. Unfortunately, after the second one, I did pass out again and was taken back to bed and put onto a glucose drip which resulted later in a BS of 30. (When I reminded them I hadn?t taken any insulin, they said that they wanted to get my BS up so I wasn?t to get any at the time.) Shortly after this I was taken to a ward where I stayed the night.
The next morning I got a slice of toast for breakfast (I didn?t think I would get home unless I ate something) but on asking for insulin, was told none had been prescribed and they would need to get a doctor first. I eventually got some Levemir about 11.30am, but was refused any Humalog as it hadn?t been prescribed. After I had ordered my lunch, I called a nurse to ask if I would get insulin with lunch because if not, I wasn?t going eat anything. She came back and said yes that would be all right. At lunchtime, I was given my usual breakfast dose (3.5 units) and when I asked about this, I was told that this was the amount that had been prescribed. (When I was admitted, I was asked about amounts of insulin and said that I carbohydrate counted but that at breakfast ? because I always eat the same thing, I take 3.5 units so I assume this is where the amount came from and it hadn?t been written down very carefully at the time.)
After this episode, I was told that a DSN would come and see me ? I think to confirm that there was no diabetic reason for keeping me in ? before I could go home. She prescribed 3-5 units for all my meals so that I had some control depending on what I ate, but that from a diabetes point of view I could go home. Dinner time went well after this and I was discharged before I had to worry about my evening Levemir dose so I don?t know what would have happened then 🙄
The consultant came to see me after dinner and apologised because she had hoped I would be discharged by then but that the DSN hadn?t seen me. I told her the DSN had seen me about 2.30 and was happy for me to go home. (It turned out that the DSN had written her comments on the wrong page of my notes and no-one had seen them!) Eventually I was allowed to leave about 7.30pm, but had to phone my still ill husband to come and get me as when I had been taken in, although he had offered the ambulance men my blood testing kit, insulin pens and a dressing gown and as they had declined, I couldn?t go home until he brought a coat of some sort in for me! (Had I even had my dressing gown, I would simply have gone home in that and my slippers in a taxi as I could have paid for it when I got home.)
I have now been back at home for four weeks and my arm seems to be healing so it looks like I could be back to work in another couple of weeks, with some help as everything takes me so long at the moment, so things are getting there.
I think the most important thing I learnt is that if you end up heading to hospital, always take your blood testing stuff, insulin and a dressing gown with you as it would have saved a lot of time (every time someone came to do a blood test, they asked if I had my own machine and because I didn?t they had to spend time looking for one to use) though I?m not sure if I would have been allowed to hang on to the insulin and use it when needed or not ? mind you at the time I needed help to take the needle cover off before I could do an injection anyway.
Thank you for letting me ramble on - writing it down has made me feel better about all of this.
