SKY, Re: post 82486

[Guest guest]

Sky and others, I can add a couple of words of explanation to that

post.

I appreciate all the encourging replies to my post more than I can

say.

First the thing that made me hit the panic button when I read Skys

post was that it could possibly sound like I was giving advice to

someone, anyone.

Yes, that was " ancient history " and that is part of the explanation.

There were no home blood test, urine test were totally useless for

glucose purposes. I believe that is generally accepted now. We did

have home urine test for ketons and that was the vital aspect of it.

Ketons, not glucose kills. I could never see because there were no

test what it did to the glucose but as I said I did not consider that

the important factor. It just got rid of the ketons.

During the hospital event I mentioned the hospital did have lab tests

for blood glucose but in her condition the only way a blood sample

could be obtained was to have a surgeon go into a major blood supply

and obtain it. Obviously something that could not be repeated

frequently enough for the purpose. I thought the doctor did a

wonderful job with the electrolytes balances without lab reports and

those are the other major worries. Ketones could be tested for under

the circumstances.

The original post was regarding giving glucose IVs to diabetics. And

I am only expressing my opinions here and not giving advice. I have

absolutely no problem with a diabetic with glucose IVs IF frequent

blood glucose tests are done and with today's technology there is no

reason they cannot be done as frequently as wanted. It seems to me,

and of course I could be wrong again, that usually when IVs are given

when a hospitalized person is NPO or unable to take fuel for the body

in some other way it is needed. Bodies under stress need help. This

of course should be balanced with insulin. The IVs that are almost

always done now immediately before anything else is done for any

reason I would object to glucose unless the blood glucose test

indicated a need for it. Giving juice to a thirsty diabetic is

ignoran is to the limit but I have encountered doctors who did not

know there were different insulins, which is just as ignorant.

Actually in that bad episode in the hospital there was one good

example of medical incompetence. We were 800+ miles from her and in

a severe ice storm when my sister called me to tell me my daughter

was sick. She had received word by the grape fine about 9 PM and she

had chased it down and found where my daughter was and went to her.

She wanted to immediately take her to the hospital but my daughter

would not agree. Shortly thereafter she lapsed into a coma and my

sister called me. I told her to call the hospital and tell them she

was bringing in a diabetic in coma and most importantly that her

records were in their clinic with important information they would

need. It was more than a 45 minute drive to the hospital which

should have given them ample time. Due to distance and ice we did

not arrive at the hospital until 1AM the next morning. The doctor

was furious but the nurse did talk to me. I asked her about which

insulin she was given and the nurse told me that until earlier that

evening she had been on a certain one, one which had absolutely no

effect. But when they had gotten the record they changed the type.

When I asked why she was there in ICU for more than 12 hours before

they got the record she said they were too busy. Too busy saving

this poor kid to see what she needed. And they had been told it was

very important to pull her record with the initial telephone call.

Upon arrival they again were told and time again. I don't know what

my sister did that finally got them to look at the record. My sister

saved her life but she did not know the details of what was in the

record, just that I had told her it was very important.

At 72 I am the youngest of 8 siblings all but one have passed on, as

has most of my generation of relatives and I have seen instance after

instance where a patient always needs someone to watch after them.

That isn't always enough but often provides a safety net of sorts.

BVan (Betty)

[Guest guest]

Yeah, I think we need to tell our horror stories, and our good stories

every once in awhile because there are newbies here all the time.

Except that after I read Sky's response to her response to that original

story, after having posted my own response to Sky's response I realized

that I had been a tad hasty, not to mention I think I sounded rather

harsh, and I apologize for that - only reason for it is careless use of

language - sorry, Sky - you didn't deserve the " tone " I used.

CarolR

Bev Thoman wrote:

> I agree with Carol, I hadn't read that story before either and I think

> there's something that we can all learn from it. Don't put all of your

> faith in the medical professionals and when you have done some research and

> know something that you think might be helpful then share that info with

> your Dr. Bev