May 28, 2016

No May Meeting, Not Intentional

Tim called me this morning and said we were not having a May meeting. He had called several others and would be sending out an email to that effect. He said with what Sue, Brenda, Allen, Ben, and Barry were working on, he felt that some were busy enough without a meeting taking up their time.

The woman had been discharged from the hospital and Brenda and Sue were busy counseling her as well as getting her to classes the doctor had ordered her to take. Her husband was taking vacation to be able to attend the classes with her. In addition, he had told his wife that the children knew and she could accept that. From what Sue has told us, she is very unhappy that the children know, but the doctor has told her that is the reason for the classes and he was the one that informed the children.

Barry had said that the three of them were working with the fellow and his wife to teach them about diabetes and how to plan meals and carb counting. Allen had been with him and his wife at his last appointment. With the information from the doctor for determining the insulin to carb ratio needed and how to adjust his insulin they were making progress and he was now injecting before eating.

Barry added that working with his wife, she now had foods available to treating lows and she was working with her husband on adjusting his insulin use. He is starting to lose the weight the doctor said he should and would need to be careful in his insulin use.

Tim also informed us about another individual that A.J and Jerry were helping and he was having a difficult time with depression. He was not on insulin, but using metformin and was having stomach problems. They had talked to his doctor and were able to change to the extended release pill and he was doing much better.

The individual needed to lose about 40 pounds and Jerry had brought in Allison to help set out a meal plan he could follow. He is protesting the reduced carbohydrates, but Jerry told him that this would help him lose the weight. Because he could not exercise other than sitting in a chair, he needed to reduce the carbohydrates he consumed. Allison had explained this to him and he still does not want to eat any fat. Allison told him that it was not the fat that added his weight, but the carbohydrates that had contributed to his weight gain.

A.J had told him that he should be on insulin, but his doctor will not prescribe it and started to ask him is he was failing to manage his diabetes. A.J happened to be waiting for him and when he said this, A.J said he needed to change doctors and he knew one that would work with him to help make managing his diabetes easier. The individual said you do this when a doctor will not prescribe insulin. A.J said especially one that tries to make patients feel like they have failed.

A.J continued that he had started on insulin and then moved to an oral medication and finally was able to get off of all medications. This surprised the individual and he asked if this was possible. A.J said the fact that he was confined to a wheel chair, the odds were not in his favor, but it may still be possible if he followed Allison's advice and continued to work on his weights.

The last paragraph of the email asked if everyone would like an early June meeting, possibly on June 4.

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