Know of someone in trouble w/Type 1

[OSUMom]

I just don't get it! I know of someone/young adult female who has had high BG numbers and ketones :eek: who was hospitalized for a few days two weeks ago. She is currently over 500 with ketones and was all weekend, saw her endo today, and the endo did not put her in the hospital. I do not understand. :eek:

I do not know this young lady personally, but I have a friend who calls me who knows her. I think something very serious is going on with her health that she cannot keep her BG down. The endo is putting her on a pump - apparently against her will so to speak. Again, I do not know this young lady. I guess I'm just venting in a way and worried for her.......

I think I may meet her mid week if she is not in the hospital by then. I'm so confused. :confused: When I do meet her, if you have any words of wisdom for me as to what to say I'm happy to listen. This girl has had Type 1 since she was a young girl and been on shots. I think she's burnt out and doesn't care anymore. I also think she's very scared about what might be seriously wrong with her health and why her BG cannot be controlled right now it appears.

[OSUMom]

My husband and I have talked and talked about this situation for a good week now. We just feel like we must be missing some information on this. We've looked up her doctor, and she is with a reputable practice here in the area. We must be missing out on something. Anyway, just if you have any thoughts for me when I meet this young lady to encourage her I'd appreciate it. She's 23 years old. :cwds: I'm assuming she's been taking insulin, but I know she is not eating much right now. She's feeling horrible physically and she has lost over 20 pounds.

[Tarheel84]

I am so sorry to hear about this young woman's situation. I have no words of advice to offer since we are so new to my son's diagnosis. My son has forgotten to take his insulin and has made errors in dosing but nothing has been deliberate. Of course if she has had diabetes for awhile then I suspect that burn out is one possibility. Are her parents around and know what is going on? Is she in college or working?? Is she on her own or does she have any support around her?

I will definitely say a prayer for her today and hope that you are able to reach out to her in a way that will help.

[Amy C.]

I agree that you don't know the whole story here. It is hard to assess a situation when you don't know all the facts.

[Momof4gr8kids]

My advise would to be to see if you could take her to lunch or something like that. Don't try to dig or anything, just try to be a support.

You probably don't have the full story, but either which way she is an adult, so she might be refusing to care for herself and nothing the doctor can do about that. Sad, but it happens.

[Ellen]

It would be important to ascertain if she is intentionally omitting insulin to become thin or lose weight. If she is, she will need help from a professional team skilled in working with eating disorders (nutritionist, psychiatrist, endocrinologist, therapists...). What support does she have?

[LantusFiend]

Do you have the energy and time to be able to offer either of these:
-shadowing her/ having her shadow you once or twice per month for a day while you do all of her diabetes care- count her carbs and bolus or inject, check her blood sugar, etc.
-call every morning (if she lives alone or with roomates who don't check on her) to see that she's not dead, to alleviate the fear of going into severe hypoglycemia overnight with no one coming later.

Does she have gastroparesis? That's one very major factor that can complicate diabetes and that can stem from diabetes, where there's nerve death somewhere in the stomache so that food gets digested unevenly, and taking insulin can be scary because of not knowing if the food'll be digested, and then sometimes it all gets dumped together so the person goes way high. It varies from pretty mild to extremely severe. If that's the issue, then you might want to help out with figuring out foods that are easier on her stomache, but beyond that I don't know what helps.

[Lee]

Poor girl...the first thought that jumped into my mind is what Ellen said...is it intentional to loose weight...or I would blame it on burnout...I really hope you can help her..maybe get that cutey of a son involved (hope I don't offend, I just think your son is a super cutey ;)), hearing from a peer, that is an athletic, healthy, average type may help her overcome her anxieties about this...about being weird, being unhealthy, d care being impossible, etc.

[OSUMom]

hope I don't offend No offense taken. ;)

What I know today is she is going back to the family doctor within the hour. She was called yesterday with test results that she is in the onset of kidney and heart failure. I have just passed on the information of Dean's endocrinologist to my friend. This young woman has asked for the information. The girl would like to switch endos. She does live at home with her parents, but I have no idea what their relationship is like.

For the life of me, I do not understand why she wasn't sent to the hospital by either her family physician or endo. :confused::confused:

Perhaps at some point, I will be able to be more helpful to this young woman. I just do not know much. I think I may email Dean's endo in hopes to maybe be able to get this girl in to see our endo more quickly in the event she does call Dean's doctor for an appointment. I have no idea if that would help or not.

Thanks so much for your replies. :cwds: It would not surprise me if she is admitted to the hospital right from the doctor appt this afternoon - I think that's where she needs to be!!!

[Lee]

Poor girl...it sounds like she has just been given the run around. I will say a prayer that she pulls through and becomces more empowered in her own care.

[Abby-Dabby-Doo]

Laurie~
Keep us updated! I'll be thinking of her.
Sorry, I don't have more advice.

[susanH]

how sad.:( i'll keep her in my prayers.

please let us know how she does OSUMom.

[OSUMom]

This young lady was hospitalized yesterday, and the doctor who saw her said she should have been hospitalized 4-5 days ago!!! :mad:

Today she was told she is insulin resistant at this point (she is Type 1) - I kept thinking an infection was going on or something else in her body - but insulin resistant would be another reason her blood sugars would not come down I guess. She is also on a blood thinner. The best news to me at this point is that she is being cared for in a hospital by professionals in ICU right now where she needs to be. Thank you for your thoughts and letting me post as really this is none of my business but as a caring mom of a Type 1 young adult/child - my heart goes out to this young person - and I just wish I could help her.

[Hollyb]

I am just reading this thread now. Thank goodness she was finally admitted. I hope they manage to sort things out and find a way for her to feel and be healthy again.

This must be very difficult, to be sort of a bystander to this situation and unable to really do much to help.

[Boo]

I'm not sure how you know about this girl, but since she is an adult, would you consider calling her hospital room and offering to pay her a visit if she is willing? Now that she is hospitalized, perhaps she'd like some additional support. Sometimes it is good to talk with a stranger...someone who will be unbiased and perhaps not as judgemental as a parent might be.

[OSUMom]

I know my friend will be going when she is out of ICU. If she goes tomorrow, I could go with her. Otherwise it might be weird going by myself, never having met her. She has good support through her job - which is now my new job (2nd part-time).

I could talk to her about Dean's doctor too.

The way I am now employed at the same place as her - it could be a blessing, and we could be getting to know each other better. :cwds: I really do now have very little free time for a hospital visit, but tomorrow would work. Ohio State visit this weekend. :)

Boo, thanks for reminding me to bring this up today at work to my friend. :)

[OSUMom]

She was released from the hospital yesterday - doing better - awaiting the insulin pump start (in a month?)! She is extremely relieved that there is nothing more serious going on with her body like cancer, etc... Hopefully having the drip, drip, drip of insulin 24/7 on the pump will help her situation. :confused: Prayers welcome. :cwds: I think I will be meeting her and seeing her at this new job I have started so maybe we can start up a friendship. :cwds:

[Tarheel84]

Laurie,

Glad to hear that she's doing better. I just wanted to say that I think she is lucky to have someone like you who is so concerned about her. Hopefully through your job you will have the opportunity to get to know her and be in a position to offer advice or just an empathetic ear. Good luck and let us know how she's doing.

[OSUMom]

Laurie,

Glad to hear that she's doing better. I just wanted to say that I think she is lucky to have someone like you who is so concerned about her. Hopefully through your job you will have the opportunity to get to know her and be in a position to offer advice or just an empathetic ear. Good luck and let us know how she's doing.

Aww thanks Linda. I get a tear in my eye when I see your photo with your son. We have a lot in common with our guys being diagnosed later but still being our kiddos where we want the best for them and help them through this. :cwds: Lots of worries, but they're great kids. :cwds: That's the thing with this young lady at 23 - my heart just goes out to her she's old, yet she's still young (also has had D a long time), ya know.

[deafmack]

I am so sorry this is happening. Someone made the comment that she may be not taking her insulin to loose weight, not really realizing what she is doing and that it can be life threatening. Onet thing I thought of is: Would she be more willing to talk with other young adults her age who also have type 1 diabetes? I was thinking of the young adult teen message board on the American Diabetes Website. She clearly needs support and someone to lean on. I don't know about putting her on a pump because that takes work as well, but it may be something the doctor wants to try to get her numbers down.

[OSUMom]

She is doing better. Thanks for your kind thoughts, advice, and prayers.