Prior to NPH+ Reg, I used Lente only for almost 20 years. To me N+R was improvement in regards to A1C ! But by then, damage to eyes already occurred.
Fortunately, since T1D, have only been in hospital twice.
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Keep up the good work @MM2!
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Around 5 years ago I ended up in the hospital for pancreatitis due to bile duct stones blocking and scarring up my bile duct and just making me sicker than a dog and in a lot of pain. The one nurse almost held my lantus , I had to put up a fight so I could get half the dose. I woke up really low one time i was there, but it was over corrected within 15 minutes and I was like almost 300 mg/dL I think ( from 40 D: ) . Because that , she was like âI DONâT WANT YOU TO GO INTO A COMA!â I reported her and got half of it from the dr who actually understood. I woke up 80 mg/dL and fine. Go figure. I also never got mealtime or correction insulin, ever. I had surgery, I was in pain, I was doped up , but I still had the sense to know how my blood sugar works. I had been a diabetic for a year at this point, which isnât much, I know but I had a routine and an awesome a1c and my doctor trusted me a lot on my own care due to being diligent as hell about itâŚbut the hospital wouldnât let that happen and wanted to go by a house doctor that didnât know anything about me and how diligent I was and how much I pay attention to my numbers and cared about staying under 200 mg/dL. They just wanted to like throw my xanax at me so Iâd chill and stop remembering I was 200+ mg/dL a lot of the stay, it sucked.
I work in healthcare myself (though Iâm only a CNA) , and I get the importance of avoiding hypoglycemiaâŚbut hyperglycemia slows healing, and goes against any treatment of DKA , it makes no dang sense. I felt so miserable because for the entire year before that I did everything to be under 200, I hadnât seen one in a while, and it made me feel so sick and worse than I think I woulda felt if I did my own diabetes care.
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i use to be a CNA 
âŚi miss working as a CNA. us CNAs are angels for the nurses, etc. we are angels to the patients too âŚit seems you have had a bad experience in staying in a hospital. when they ask what did i do for work i tell them what i use to do. sometimes that straightens some of it out but not my diabetes care tho. im learning a lot here
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Zero times; last time I was in hospital was 1971 when I was 11 and had worked out that I was a T1D (my mother was a nurse, her extensive volumes of nursing text books helped). Iâm counting on not being in hospital again, I suspect the experience will be terminal.
mod edit to remove personal information.
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Lol, ER staff are way better trained and experienced than most floor nurses. Not all. I always bring my own tester, insulin and syringes, even if Iâm on the pump. Donât tell them, make sure no one admins insulin though your IV heaven forbid, watch that you donât stack too much insulin. But DKA means you have not received enough insulin, so give yourself time to recover, but once youâre out of danger GO HOME, hydrate, watch your sugar.
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Thereâs no way I let any of the hospital staff manage any part of my diabetes if I am conscious! I have managed BS, insulin dosing, and meals 24/7, 365 days a year for decade! I am the expert on my diabetes.
For planned hospital stays, I bring what I need with me, and for the few unplanned hospitalizations I have had, I call some and they bring me what I need shortly. I donât even let them do blood draws or use their vintage meters for BS when I am lying in a bed. 1) I donât need to pay $100 for something I can do myself. 2) I did it myself yesterday, and I am doing it myself tomorrow. Why does anyone think I canât do it in a hospital bed today. If their LUCKY, I might share the BS value with them from my meter.
AND they certainly have ZERO choice in ALLOWING me to do this. My body, my health, my choice according to the law. Any endo I have had has always had that same philosophy. If an endo didnât, the Endo would be immediately replaced.
And I know some of you will say âthe nurses have to because the doctor ordered it.â Thatâs wrong. PATIENTS have the final say in allowing procedures to be performed. I certainly have experienced staff that feels in the middle because of orders a physician wrote. I always inform staff that they can tell the physician what I said, and if the physician disagrees, the physician can certainly come discuss it with me directly.
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Oh and the terrible lancing devices that are one-size-fits-all-nail-guns!! My nurses had no idea which part of the fingers to use either.
Bring your own lancing device 
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i get a lick when they say a little pinch. im like i know what it feels like its not new to me. i think ill do my own levels for them and just let them know what my sugar levels is.
I have had a few stays in hospital but refuse point blank to hand over my Diabetic care, (all hospital stays were not Diabetes related) I take care of my diabetes. I do my own blood tests and administer my insulin. I instructed the hospital how to put me on a sliding scale for an operation. Knowledge is powder, Iâm been Diabetic for over 30 years So I cant see some fresh face nurse knowing what they are doing better than I. On a sliding scale you donât require long acting insulin as you are constantly giving short acting, (so the scale is working like a pump) but you are required to be placed on the scale 12 hours prior to an operation, and you must be the first one on the operating table the following morning.
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due to my numerous ER visits and longer stays in hospital, i know without equivocation that they rarely have all meds available (and many MDs and RNs do not even know nor are they familiar with many rather common meds). so, on the rare occation that i must make the trip to any local hospital, i bring ALL of my medications with me. but hereâs the rub: legally, you are not permitted to take your own meds while under their âsupervision/care.â however, what they dont know will not kill them. on the down-low, a nurse kindly said to me, âtake what you have with you, just dont tell anyopne about it.â
this has worked well for me ever since. (also, i take some meds which, if not taken, will cause my body great distress. they cannot just be stopped bc the hospital does not have them or know what they are.) its not the same as needing insulin to stay alive, but it does come in as a close second. IMHO.
thanks for bring this topic to light. i think it is brilliant and neccessary.
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welcomeâŚnext time ill tell them i have the meds i need to take that you guys dont have. especially if im going to be there for a week. i guess next time i should just go into boston and go to the hospital my endos out of. but thats a far trip for me
@daisymae I like your style! I thought I was the only one gaming the system. Itâs nice to know that I have compatriots who think the same way.
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However, if you take your own meds, without telling them, and they give you other drugs with possible contraindications, you may get bad outcome due to your deception.
I decided it wasnât worth that risk, and let them bill my insurance for each pill and for the service of them administering it. For a couple days after surgery, I had lots of pains meds, and wasnât always thinking clearly about my meds. (Insurance wise, had already hit max oop with the ER visit and CT scan that led to diagnosis and surgery.)
this is an excellent point. i just know, for myself, when i am not in the hospital for something as daring as surgery, that i take many meds (not D related) that if i dont take them i will become very ill. often their pharmacy doesnt even carry the medication that i need. also, i am never in the hospital alone. my husband or other family memeber is with me and can assist, making transistions easier. IMHO.
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[quote=âdaisymae, post:31, topic:7986â]
legally, you are not permitted to take your own meds while under their âsupervision/care.â
Might that be a hospital policy? I have never heard of that law. As a matter of fact when I have had scheduled hospitalizations, the Endo has always told me to bring insulin, because âthe hospital doesnât have Novolog / Humalogâ and added âif you just want to bring all your own meds, thatâs fine.â
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Haha, Iâm going to use that oneâŚ
My non-D mother was just in the hospital in the US for a short stay (overnight) to have a pacemaker put in. The Nurse said âgo get her regular meds from home, give them to her and only THEN tell the nurse what meds from home she took. That way the nurse on duty is aware of the meds she took and also so the nurse can return any meds ordered by the hospital back to their pharmacy.â It worked like a charm!
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this absolutely blows my mind. a gazzilllion of us are using fast acting insulin now. what is wrong with these people? i have had some of the worst experiences in hospitals relating to me D. but, btw, for whatever reason, i never had these problems in the ER, only when i was given a room for overnight stays.
I found this webinar on Tidepoolâs site. It is a great discussion. It is titled â Redefining Diabetes Spotlight: Seniors | Tidepool Webinarâ of which I am one, but any of us can end up in hospital care having control taken away from us.
I know this is an old topic, but needs to be revisitied in honor of our great friend who is no longer with us, Amy.
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