We now have seen all four that have
serious foot problems. All four are off the SGLT2 Inhibitors,
thankfully. They are now using insulin and doing much better.
The fellow with the infected cracked
heel did have the start of gangrene, but the doctor operated and
removed it. It will take several months for this to heal and he is
on crutches for several months so that he can keep his weight off it.
The doctor said the chances of success were good and it is now up to
him to treat it and keep his appointments for the doctor to examine
it weekly for at least two months. At that time, the doctor will
reevaluate it and see him every two weeks and then possibly monthly.
When we had our meeting with them, all
were thankful we had forced the issue and taken them directly to the
emergency room. The fellow that had two foot ulcers is also using
crutches and said he will be seeing his doctor every week for
possibly two months and then the doctor will reevaluate and possibly
change the frequency of checkups.
The other two are also using crutches
and are also seeing their doctor every week for a month and then they
will be reevaluated for longer times between appointments. Max and
Barry were very happy that with how serious they had looked and now
having them being able to get around with crutches, that the most
serious threats were behind them. Jerry said that the fellow that
thought he had LADA really had type 2 diabetes and the hospital
confirmed this with the correct tests. He decided to stay on insulin
because of the level of management he is achieving.
The five profusely thanked us and said
they had learned a lot in the last week and now know how important
caring for their feet is. Two said they will be adding a podiatrist
to their diabetes team and the other three said they were changing
doctors that would check their feet on a regular basis. All are
planning to remain on insulin and three have submitted their papers
to be seeing the Veteran Affairs doctors yet this year.
All five want to join our support group
and we will recommend them at our new member meeting in October. We
have decided as a support group to add members in the month of
October and plan our meeting accordingly. Tim said he would schedule
accordingly and have one or both nutritionists and our CDE available
to do a presentation and answer questions.
We are discussing in groups and by
email the idea of assessing dues in the amount of $15 split into
three months. Many are in favor, but a few are against dues. This
will be the subject for our September meeting and this is why we are
talking about this now to find out where the opposition is and their
reasons. Most of us feel the dues should go to speakers, but others
have other ideas. Several of us feel we will lose some members if we
have dues, but now we are discussing if this will be a good or bad
thing.
The potential new members feel that the
dues are reasonable and they feel we have earned it and that paying
for speakers would be a good thing. Tim said that at present, all
but one of the potential new members favor having dues.
Tim said that many of those opposing
$15 dues would accept $10 dues and this is being discussed also.
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