We were all getting ready for bed when we heard a LOUD crash. I knew instantly it was Aunt Connie. She is not supposed to do anything without her walker since she was just finally recovering from her broken pelvis but she had been trying so hard to walk on her own for small journeys, like from the kitchen table to the powder room just a few feet away or from her bed to her dresser and back. She hadn't been feeling well for some time. We thought it was the stress of leaving her home, friends and family in Harrisburg, getting hearing aids and/or her heart was acting up. She had to go to the potty many times, was thirsty and just downright frustrated. All these were signs of something physically wrong. We thought it was emotional.
This evening she didn't make it back to the bed. She was screaming "Grace, Grace" when I flew down the stairs with Sam right behind me then my mom. She was crumpled up against the "entertainment center" which is more like an armoire. It is tall and big and hard. She was leaning on her right side against it moaning. We couldn't move her when we saw what looked like a bone jutting up from her right collar area. She was dead weight and needed pillows behind her because she wanted to lay down (sitting up). I kept saying "Call an ambulance; she broke something". She kept saying, "Nooo. I'm fine. Just give me a minute". Then she would try to move her arm. Finally she said "I think I broke it". The ambulance was called. She was in so much despair. How could she fall again. "What have I done to myself? Why do I keep falling". "God just take me home". Then she looked up and saw all the firemen standing around her and her eyes got big and she said "Ooooh My What a handsome group of guys. Oh but I'm single. Too bad!!!" We all broke out in laughter. Comic relief for a moment then back to moaning and crying out for God to just take her home. This was hard to watch. After waiting forever in the hospital she got x-rayed and she HAD indeed broken her collar bone when she fell into the piece of furniture. But that is not why they admitted her that night.
Diabetes........That's what the paramedic asked after he took her sugar levels. "Is she a diabetic?"
Her sugar was 444 and kept rising as the night went on - into the 600's. Normal range for fasting or before breakfast is 70 - 100. After a meal normal is 135 - 140. Not a big difference.
Research I have done shows that in diabetic patients we see both low blood sugar levels that we call hypoglycemia, or elevated blood sugars, hyperglycemia.
Mild hypoglycemia is when the blood sugar drops below about 60 or 65 milligrams per deciliter and people get symptoms such as some shakiness, feeling of hunger, maybe a little racing of the heart. After they eat something, it goes away right away.
But if blood sugar drops below 50 and can get down as low as 40 or 30 or even 20, then there is a progressive loss of mental function and eventually unconsciousness and seizures. And of course that is very dangerous and a medical emergency.
On the other side, if blood sugar gets up above 180 to 200, then it exceeds the capacity of the kidneys to reabsorb the glucose and we begin to spill glucose into the urine. And if it gets way up high, up in the 400s or even 500s, it can be associated with some alteration in mental function. And in this situation, if it persists for a long time, we can actually see mental changes as well. So either too low or very exceedingly high can cause changes in mental function.
In order to get her sugar levels stabilized she had to be given medicine in pill form, metformin. They also needed to give her insulin shots. At the same time she was eating regularly and correctly.
In Harrisburg Aunt Connie was on a pill that was a combination of Metformin and something else. After speaking with her doctor here I found out why she bottomed out while on the diabetes medicine prescribed in Harrisburg. If you do not eat enough sugar(carbs) for the insulin to transfer to the cells the insulin becomes too much for the system and you crash as mentioned above. It is very dangerous. Her food intake will have to be regulated and scheduled. A meter will help us check her sugar levels. There shouldn't be any problems if she is eating correctly and she may not need much medicine if we get her enough but not too much carbs and protein.
Diabetes is a progressive disease and unfortunately has gotten worse over the years for Aunt Connie. It is just her age. Her pancreas is not working like it should. As we look back at the previous times she fell she had just come from eating dinner out or at someone's house. The time she broke her pelvis I don't know if she had just eaten. I don't think anyone was there.
In the hospital in Atlanta they did the following test:
Glycated hemoglobin (A1C) test. This blood test
indicates your average blood sugar level for the past two to three
months. It works by measuring the percentage of blood sugar attached to
hemoglobin. An A1C level of 6.5 percent or higher on two separate tests
indicates you have diabetes. Normal levels are below 5.7 percent.
Her test showed her levels had been high for over 3 months. She had been at our house for 2 months. She wasn't feeling very good the whole time she was here. She thought it was her heart and started taking her heart pills. It may have seemed to help her but she still was mentioning how she didn't feel good and needed to get something to snack on(usually sweets which didn't metabolize in a helpful way). When your sugar is high you can't eat sugar; you have to eat protein......you already have too much sugar in the system. Her symptoms and self treatment point to sugar problems in general. She also had developed a urinary tract infection (always in the restroom).
Back to her recent fall that broke her collar bone..........After a month in Rehab she is now almost 100% healed!! Her strength and endurance has increased tremendously. The physical therapists have urged us to let her do as much walking and dressing and in house things on her own.....don't baby her and don't wait on her. Her muscles will atrophy again. That is good news. She walked the entire hall at the rehab and was not huffing and puffing. She is in amazing shape when she exercizes regularly. It's going to be tough to get her to exercise because when you are in a place where someone doesn't make you do something it is so easy to just NOT do it!!! She can't sit all day and not get out of shape again. We have to help her see SHE CAN DO IT. They even said with help she can walk up the stairs twice a month for a nice "shower"!!! Wish us luck!!
She will be coming home with "Home Health Care". They will keep her therapy going and help us regulate her food and sugar levels. They will help her with bathing. They will make sure she gets 3 meals a day and snacks in between. My mom and I don't eat a lot so we aren't good at making sure someone eats. We forget to eat ourselves. We fed her but not the way they are now. And she is going to have to not eat so many "snacks that are sweet". Big change for us!!
She still loves her hearing aids and puts them in herself now. I think she is finally getting used to them except the phone is still a problem. She has lost some weight - IN A GOOD WAY and looks GREAT!!
She can't wait to get home and we can't wait for her to. I know that was a lot but I wanted to get caught up on all that's been going on.
We had the nicest surprise yesterday when Michael Graci popped in in between business appointments yesterday. Aunt Connie was thrilled (and so were we). We love you Michael!! We know you've been here many times on business and are so thrilled you were able to see us for a short time.
Aunt Connie (Carmella as she's known at the center) got to leave for a special Mother's Day Dinner out on the town! She deserves a treat!!!!!!!!!!!! She will be home from rehab Wednesday May 16th.
PS.................Aunt Connie will be 95 on the 30th of this month! I hope feeling better is going to make for a good birthday this year!
