Sugar

We were able to see Jeff's GP Wednesday of last week. He gave him some oral meds to start with, and ran a test to see how much insulin his pancreas was producing. Thursday he got a call saying that the test showed he was producing very little, and that he would need to be put on insulin. We had that appointment Monday. Since we've found about about the problem we've been really monitoring what Jeff eats. He's had to learn, and still is, some of the basics about nutrition...what is fat, protein, and carbs, why the body needs them, and how to balance them. Jeff has never really had to worry about what he's eaten, never had to count calories/fat/carbs, never had to balance what he's eaten. If he wanted a bag of cool ranch Doritos, he had it. It didn't put an extra ounce on him--Yeah, I know..so unfair, most would gain three times what the bag weighs, but not Jeff. So it's been a little bit of a struggle to eat in balance. Plus, he's been extra hungry because of his raised blood sugar, and has wanted to constantly snack. We've been trying to measure his blood sugar as often as possible, it's gotten up as high as 438--that we know of. His first dose of insulin was last night. I gave him the shot, which didn't hurt. It's in the form of a pen...looks like one...tiny tiny needle. Basically I just put it in his arm a press a button...not much too it. The doc has doubled him up on some of his oral meds to see if that can jump start his pancreas into producing it's own insulin. This morning he was at 64, after breakfast 187, and at 4:30 after some balanced snacking 298. So we'll see what happens as we continue this course. It's going to take a while to figure out exactly what his body is going to respond properly to.
Here's a few pictures:
The blood glucose monitor


Jeff about to prick his finger. He HATES this. I admit it does sting, but I think the anticipation of it is worse. He's not smiling here, but grimacing.


The insulin pen...about the size of a large pen, or marker. Teeny needle.