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Permalink Reply by marie on March 3, 2012 at 11:18am

I was in the hospital 2 years ago for Asma type symptoms and they gave me steroids to help with my difficulty with breathing , in the emergency room they were very good with my type 1 diabetes . It was a different story after I got admitted , because when I woke up the next morning my bl was in the high 300s and I was also starving cause I hadn't eaten since lunch the day before . So I tool a bolouss with correction and I still managed to stay at 300 all day and when lunch arrived I was around 340 and when I told the nurse that laying in this bed all day with a 350 bl is only gonna make it worse since I'm not moving much and she just looked at me and said you are eating to much and I told her I'm only eating the diabetic foods from the meal plan that they have me on ( very bland food , horrible ) As a nurse she didn't know that the steroids were making me high , I was even told from the doc that they even make non - diabetics sugar rise above normal 

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Permalink Reply by acidrock23 on March 3, 2012 at 10:53am

At least in the US, a pump/ CGM is generally paid for by employer benefits which would generally cease if you were arrested as your employer would likely fire you? There'd be COBRA but it would be impossible to arrange supplies without a phone/ mail so you'd likely be left with whatever state-funded treatment would be made available to someone in that situation.

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Permalink Reply by Gary on March 3, 2012 at 11:30am

My dad was in the hospital a few years ago and his sugars were consistently between 350 and 400 while he was there. All they are trained to do is keep you out of hypoglycemia because it could end in fatality. When I was in the hospital a few weeks back the doctor told me most diabetics come in with 250 to 300 sugars and they see no reason to be concerned.

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Permalink Reply by MyBustedPancreas on March 3, 2012 at 11:34am

I've heard similar things, which really frightens me. With a T2, there is natural insulin production, so while running a BG that high can cause damage, the person is generally not going to slip into DKA. However, with T1s, a BG of 300 can quickly become a BG of 600+ and result in DKA. My endo, who is a bit more knowledgeable of T1 compared to most other adult endos I've seen, told me once that this is a not insignificant problem in the hospital setting. She has always emphasized to me that should I end up in the hospital, she needs to be contacted because of this very issue. Serious quality of care issue as far as I'm concerned, because it amounts to a medical establishment not understanding the basic condition which they might be treating!!!

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Permalink Reply by acidrock23 on March 3, 2012 at 11:50am

I think the reason hospitals are hyper about hypos is because a hypo would obligate them to "HURRY!" which is one thing hospitals, except maybe the ER, are extremely poor at? If you "need" juice, the nurse who stumbles upon you twitching on the floor, has to take emergency measures, the doc has to evalute you, then he has to write an order for some dude in the cafeteria to get you some juice, then the juice arrives and, since that will probably take 45 minutes, they don't bother waiting and crank your BG up to 400 w/ IV dextrose and glucagon.

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Permalink Reply by marie on March 3, 2012 at 12:53pm

This is so true , about a year ago I was considering becoming a nurse but then I changed my mind cause I would probably get fired . I would be to sensitive to all diabetics needs that when they would have a low I would probably hand them some of my glucose gels and tablets . It seems like the hospital staffs are still trained to care for a diabetic the same way they did before we even had blood sugar monitors . It's so outdated I think that they should have a wing in all hospitals thAt would only be for diabetics 

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Permalink Reply by Trudy on March 3, 2012 at 1:41pm

Marie, now there's a thought. I would love a wing for diabetics, although it would kind of depend on your reason for being admitted in the first place. When I had a knee replacement, my doctor gave orders for me to take care of myself on my pump, and I did. The nurses were interested in what I was doing, but I did it myself. But there was no substitute for being in the knee replacement wing, where we all learned to walk again.

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Permalink Reply by marie on March 3, 2012 at 2:03pm

You have a good point there , but even if there was a diabetic with a knee injury staying in the diabetic wing they would still be aloud to leave and go to the floor where they do rehabilitation 

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