Sunday, January 10, 2010

Update on TK

It’s time for an update on T and his diabetes. We won’t go into how he got in this situation because it doesn’t matter now. We are moving forward.

About a week before Christmas, T had a doctor’s appointment. We knew his blood sugar was up, but we weren’t sure how bad it was. Normal blood sugar levels are around 100-120. That day his was over 500!! The doctor looked at him & said “You can go in this insulin or you can go right to the hospital. What is your choice?” She has been working with him & calling if he hasn’t reported to her as soon as she wants him to. She’s great! She really cares about her patients. (I dream about the day I have insurance and can go se her!)

Back to T: He started testing his blood again & giving himself insulin. But that is never the end of the story. Each time you drop your blood sugar very much, you feel sick, to put it mildly! So we were watching him for blood sugar levels and insulin shock! Things went well and over about 2 weeks, the numbers came down to the 300-250 range. That is a really big change! But they got stuck right there and weren’t coming down anymore.

Up the insulin again! The numbers moved a little farther.

Change the insulin again! The numbers got really good!

The difficult part came as T learned how to time the insulin shots. There have been a few times that he has gone into insulin shock! Nothing gets a wife’s worry gland going like watching all the color leave her husband’s face as he lays there sweating and having a hard time talking & staying awake! This is actually a double edged sword—insulin shock is life threatening, but you got to eat a LOT of forbidden foods! One night his sugar got down to 41-- We were giving him glucose tablets, chocolate, candies, anything that was sweet! After about 90 minutes, it had come up to 120! Safe for the moment. (Big sigh)

That has happened a few more times, but it hasn’t been that drastic. After the first time, he learned what the symptoms were & how he would feel. Since that time, he has only gotten down to the 60’s before we main-lined the sugar! It’s amazing how much energy it takes from you when your blood sugar is so skewed! I remember having times of low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) and how tiring it was.

The last day or so, T’s numbers have been really good. They are almost always under 200, which is great considering he started over 500. While all this was going on, he stopped driving. Wise choice, but inconvenient for both of us. He finally is feeling good enough to try driving again on short trips. Now we need to work on his stamina—those short trips take every bit of energy he has!

By the way: IT IS REALLY EXPENSIVE TO BE DIABETIC!!!!

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2 Comments:

Blogger Crissie said...

I'm so sorry. That sounds horrible!! I didn't know things had gotten so out of control. Sounds like you're on the right road though. Hope he feels better.

January 10, 2010 at 10:47 PM  
Blogger Susanne said...

Yuck! Great job getting through it though. And good job to Terry figuring out how to pretict his insulin needs. Best wishes for the future.

January 11, 2010 at 11:25 AM  

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