Re: A question for a friend


"MaryL" <stancole1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:4bd0abd7$0$12439$bbae4d71@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I am writing this on behalf of a friend, and I wonder if some of you could help. Her mother (age 81) is T2. She has been on oral medication for some years. Unfortunately, I don't know what type. She fell and broke her hip and wrist several weeks ago, and she is now in a rehab/nursing home. She lived alone, and the expectation seems to be that she will be able to return to her home after therapy. As soon as she was transferred to the rehab/nursing center, she was shifted from oral medication to insulin, and the nursing home does not make any attempt to provide a suitable diet. Everyone gets the same thing - a "one size fits all" approach in dietary management. My friend called her mother's doctor's office to see if he could prescribe the same type of diet as she used at home so she could go back to oral medication. Her BG was under control at that time. She was unable to talk to the doctor, but his nurse said that insulin injections are easier on the kidneys and she would have to take insulin for the rest of her life. Both my friend and her mother prefer oral meds, and her mother has a lot of fear about this change and has been extremely depressed.

I have been able to control my BG through diet and have not needed any medication since March 2005, so I really have not done any reading about side-effects (and have not followed the threads in this NG that discussed it). Am I being overly suspicious that this is really being done simply for the convenience of the nursing home, or is the claim legitimate? I noticed when my mother was in a nursing home (she was *not* diabetic) that all diabetic patients were immediately switched to insulin after being admitted, and none were given what I would consider appropriate diets. All very high carb! If oral meds are really that bad, why do these doctors prescribe oral meds until they are admitted to nursing homes and rehab centers and only then decide that all of them need insulin?

Any ideas? I would like to be able to provide some appropriate feedback with questions that she could take to their doctor.

Thanks,
MaryL

Thanks, everyone. You gave me some very helpful information. I received e-mail from my friend last night saying that her mother had fallen out of bed at the nursing home, the doctor did not return the call for several hours and has not seen her, and her mother is depressed and showing increasing signs of confusion. She asked me to call her before she leaves for the hospital early in the morning. I'm going to suggest that this would be a good time to see an endocrinologist and will give her the information some of you have suggested. This sounds to me like there is also dementia--not at all surprising, under the circumstances. I have no expertise, but at least it helps her (my friend) a lot just to have someone who will listen.

MaryL

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Mom Update 11/7 Afternoon
    ... my mother was released from the hospital to the nursing home with instructions for insulin. ... The director of nursing from the nursing home even called the hospital to question how she could have diabetes when she did not have it two days earlier. ... I learned after she was released that she had not been tested a single time and had not been given her medication during her days in the hospital. ...
    (rec.pets.cats.anecdotes)
  • Re: A question for a friend
    ... the nursing home does not make any attempt to provide a suitable diet. ... unable to talk to the doctor, but his nurse said that insulin injections ... Both my friend and her mother prefer oral meds, ... with questions that she could take to their doctor. ...
    (alt.support.diabetes)
  • Re: A question for a friend
    ... the nursing home does not make any attempt to provide a suitable diet. ... unable to talk to the doctor, but his nurse said that insulin injections are ... Both my friend and her mother prefer oral meds, ... If oral meds are really that bad, why do these doctors prescribe oral ...
    (alt.support.diabetes)
  • A question for a friend
    ... As soon as she was transferred to the rehab/nursing center, she was shifted from oral medication to insulin, and the nursing home does not make any attempt to provide a suitable diet. ... Both my friend and her mother prefer oral meds, and her mother has a lot of fear about this change and has been extremely depressed. ...
    (alt.support.diabetes)
  • Re: A question for a friend
    ... Her mother is T2. ... She has been on oral medication for some ... the nursing home does not make any attempt to provide a suitable diet. ... unable to talk to the doctor, but his nurse said that insulin injections are ...
    (alt.support.diabetes)