The low down on the lows

Hi.  First, the Tweet Hearts can be found in Blackbird Designs book, For My Friend.  The blue I used was DMC 926 and the wing GAST Sable.

More info about the nephew.

It would take several pages to explain fully.  My nephew has a pump along with a sensor.  He works shifts so although they set the insulin infusion rate, there are obviously times when he is working and not getting enough, sleeping and getting too much.  He adjusts and suspends as needed.  The Tegaderm and glues that he uses to keep the sensor secure to his body do not hold well enough when he perspires.  But even when they do and the alarm sounds, if he is sleeping he does not hear it nor always feel the vibration.  There is no setting to increase the volume. The sensor reading is somewhat delayed and by the time it registers 75 to set off the alarm, he is far lower than that.  It happens rapidly. But even when admitted to the hospital to follow his ups and downs, they could not explain the sudden and severe drops.  Many times the alarm will go off and he is already unable to process his thoughts and react.  The low glucose affects the brain.  This is why he is difficult to handle when trying to administer a remedy.  He also has to deal with ADD and flits from one thing to another, is always in high gear, and that speed prevents him from getting everything being said.  This is why I attend any important meetings with the pump people for changes.  Patience and diligence are difficult and both are necessary to monitor your numbers and swings throughout the entire day, every day.  The newest pump is very sophisticated and would help tremendously, but the contract for his current model is until 2019.  I am trying to get an upgrade outside of his insurance and pay the difference, so far, no answers.  Buying outright is over 10 grand.  To make things even more complicated, for the sixth time, the endocrinologist here that understands the pump, is leaving.  He will need to start over again and drive 45 minutes to a new doctor.  There will be no one locally he can see when he needs help and adjustments, like now.  Many times the disease progression causes these weeks of hell and it takes a while for the doctor to find the right mix for the unit.  He can go for months without incident, then it starts again.  We're hoping that the new doctor will be more of a help and also be sympathetic to his issues.  Until then, his glucose tablets, gels, orange juice containers, and candy will stay on his night stand, but usually he is already too far gone to understand what is happening.  If he happens to awaken during his sleep and is rational, he will drink a box of juice before falling back to sleep.  Eating something sugary or high carb before sleep works for a while, but causes the rapid drop a few hours later.

Until two years ago he was living with his girlfriend and she was wonderful, but they are no longer together.  With Carole's financial situation and also her fears about her heart condition, she wants him to live upstairs.  It's also too scary for him to be alone, he would have been lost years ago.  Since he does all the yard work and maintenance any way, he agreed to stay.

 

We just came back from there, Carole requested we get her a piece of pizza, the first food she has felt like eating in a week.  To me, she looked a little better than yesterday, but oh my that cough is sickening.  She can't lie down at all even with a wedge, the cough is incessant and she has trouble breathing.  So she hasn't really had any rest and is trying to sleep upright.  It's comical, but I made a wide nylon strap with buckle to hold her upright in a chair during her heart issues.  It fits around the chair and across her chest, and that's how she slept since lying down had her gasping for air.  She used a U-shaped travel pillow backward to hold her head up.  So I told her to buckle up buttercup.  It helped before and I'm sure it will now.  It's a sight!  I'm hoping the lack of air is all congestion and not the heart again causing fluid in the lungs.

 

To those of you that celebrate Easter have a wonderful and blessed Sunday.

 

*************************