They're no lark for type II's, either. This past January, my 28 year old son was in the hospital for an MRSA infection in his leg. I had read Jenny's essay on her hospital experience, but still found the meals they brought him of toast, applesauce, pasta salads and mashed potates shocking. He was on oral meds but they took him off those and put him on insulin before every meal, and since (assumably) they were bolusing for the amount of carb they were bringing him, I was afraid to recommend to him not to eat the meals, even though he wanted to eat low carb. But their target BG seemed to be about 200. So I started bringing him salads and roast chicken from the cafeteria, and we got him back in the low 100's at least. Which worried the nurses.

LOLOL....for me...that IS a recipe

I rebel from the opression of the measuring cup

If it helps any, I just put a thin layer of hot ground beef on the plate and topped it with the chili mix (it filled about 3/4 of my crock pot when everything was added) and then plopped a big blob ofsour cream on top of the chili. It didn't last long

I'll have to try them then. I did eat some real pasta with a unconventional bolus of Humalog/Regular/NPH recently, but found myself nonplussed and not missing it.

Are you doing 6-12-12?

It's absolutely infuriating the way they try to take over your diabetes management and they're no experts either. I've gotten into shouting matches with both nurses an doctors over the issue and now I refuse to relinquish control. Diabetics who maintain the best control are those who do not let the medical profession micromanage their meds or food. I stopped paying attention to any of them 20 years ago.

I believe that most are probably well intended, just misguided. I mean, after all, look at the standards they use for acceptability... But if it takes shouting, I say shout!

/sigh

Stupid is what they are. When I had my accident, the doctor kept my glucose levels at 400 with tiny bits of IV insulin. They wanted to keep me under observation because I had a stomach ache, but my stomach hurt from high blood sugars. I basically told them I thought they were insane and left AMA. I don't suffer fools gladly.

The only doctor I have any respect for is the one who 25 years ago taught me how to control BG levels with MDA and carb bolusing. He probably saved my life.

OMG...and then there are just plain ol' idiots...

Last trip to my cardiologist, whom I really respect, he was congratulating me on the wonderful progress I had made with my BP, BG, and weight. I told him, "yeah, I take what the AHA recommends and then do the opposite"... he gave me a questioned look and then asked about my most recent lipid profile (from my internist, the idiot). I told him it was good...

/smile

Mind if I chime in? I have to tell you the story of my mother's care in the hospital. SHe's a Type2, goes hypo at the drop of a hat, too. Now almost blind and has lost a leg (84yrs old). Anyway, when she was first admitted to the hospital with an infected foot ulcer (before losing the leg from knee down), her sugar was high but not too too bad. She and her doctor kept her sugar around 7-8 because any lower she would get dizzy, and should her sugar decide to drop it gave her some wiggleroom to grab a snack. (long boring story there, I'll spare you). Anyway, I was there when they brought her her breakfast. Oatmeal, skim milk, toast and a muffin. Her snack that day, a fruit pack and a muffin. Lunch, pasta a salad and 2 cookies. Dinner, white rice, teriyaki mystery-meat, and carrots. OH and of course a nice blast of insulin each time. Keep in mind she was not on any meds when she went in. I sat down with her and figured out the carbs at the time and was horrified. Hell, that day's meals didn't even fit in with the stupid ADA (or CDA in this case). At one point, the next day, we were talking and I could see she was flushed. I knew her sugar was dropping. I called the nurse. She said "oh she's fine, she just had a snack." I said "I don't care, she's low, can you bring her something and check her?" "Well, we'll see, I dont think she needs anything." SO I yanked out my test kit and tested her myself. She was at 3.1. So got up, walked out to the nursing station and said "Where's your snack area? She needs food. And don't tell me she doesn't." So what does the woman do? Hands me OREO COOKIES. Cripes! ANyway, long stupid story, but the bottom line is that I have NEVER ever....and this is NO exaggeration....seen any diabetic in my family properly managed in a hospital. As my mom would say "I need to get out of here to get well." My family started bringing her meals in to her, including a no-carb protein shake we added flax to to build her strength. She did amazingly well and even after losing the leg (infection went right to the bone) she was home in 2 months and had no muscle loss. She's now at home, doing great, and does take insulin just before dinner, because her mid-day BG she has trouble bringing down. For 84, that's damned good. Her eyesight..well, yeah, not much we can do about that. But I tell you one thing, those hospitals can kill you.

Holy Guacamole!

Just reading that made my teeth itch!

Just received DaVinci Gourmet nocarb pancake syrup.
Spread it and butter over a large locarb pancake.
Throw in a couple of strips of bacon and coffee.
Yum!
Eddie

I love pancakes too.

oooh... might need to get some of that.

I think I can tolerate rice bran. It makes a decent bowl muffin, might work out as a pancake flour too.

Folks,

If you have that kind of hospital experience, once you are home safe, write to the president of the hospital and copy the director of patient care. Keep it brief. Ask why they aren't aware of the studies linking healing in the ICU and elsewhere to maintaining blood sugars under 140. Tell them you are warning your friends with diabetes that at their hospital "blood sugar control stops at the hospital door."

This does get attention. These hospitals are competing for patients and with 1 out of 4 people in the age group who use hospitals most having diabetes, all they need is for the word to get around that they are killing diabetics.

This is the ONLY way we will make an impact. You can talk to the doctors and nurses til you turn blue. Scare the administrators about either a) law suits or b) bad publicity and things may change.

Good idea, Jenny!

I did just that, and it elicited a half hour long phone call from the director of patient care (whose wife is a pediatric endocrinologist who told him everything I'd complained about was true) and a letter from the president that was pretty generic, but confirmed that I had raised the issue to where he heard about it.

It will take fifty people writing them that kind of letter to make a serious change, but I went through this same thing back when I had my kids and hospitals were still making it very hard for new mothers to breastfeed. We changed that culture with our dollars and the choices we made about where to go to give birth. So now that the diabetes generation is going to be hitting the hospitals and nursing homes we do have a chance to change treatment too.