[Diabetes-talk] Help needed

Sat Nov 1 23:39:53 UTC 2014

Good Evening Miss Bonnie:

Bernadette Jacobs here...

Firstly, I would like to echo Mike Freeman's sentiments exactly. I would 
also strongly urge this lady to get herself under the supervision of 
either a Certified Diabetic Educator, (CDE), A top-notch internist, or 
an endocrinologist, and a podiatrist. Medicare does cover podiatry 
services, (nail care every nine weeks).  I, myself have this done.  
Bottom line here is, the more good folks one can get in one's corner, if 
complications arise, if you yourself don't have the resources, one of 
your team should have or be able to easily obtain such needed INFO.  As 
far as the rest is concerned, I can't say it better than Mike has said 
it all himself.

Have a great day gang!!

Bonnie, if you have other questions of me, please feel free to e me 
offlist and I'll be happy to help you!!

Bern
On 10/31/2014 6:36 PM, Mike Freeman via Diabetes-talk wrote:
> Bonnie:
>
> Is the lady you propose to work with already diabetic? In other words, is
> she already connected with a physician, certified diabetes educator and
> perhaps other specialists as needed? If yes, then presumably she already
> knows how to compute her insulin doses based upon carbohydrate intake or at
> least according to a formua and your job would merely be to teach her how to
> measure blood sugar using a talking meter and/or perhaps how to use an
> insulin pen or syringes using the Prodigy Count-a-dose; the latter is
> available from the NFB Independence Market.
>
> If the lady has recently become diabetic, though, I would strongly caution
> you and she against going it totally alone; diabetes can be a complex
> subject (though once one learns the ropes, it need not be so). Is the lady a
> Type 1 or Type 2? Has she been seen recently by a physician and CDE? What,
> if any, diabetic complications does the lady have? Is she cognitively
> impaired?
>
> If you really want to have a go, I would strongly urge you to read "the
> American Diabetes Association complete Guide to Diabetes" or the "Joslin
> Guide to Diabetes", both available on BARD, and also "Think Like a Pancreas"
> also on BARD which teaches you how to compute insulin doses. But really this
> is the territory of doctors and Certified Diabetes Educators (CDEs) and even
> if you do the go-it-alone route, the lady and you as her helper should be
> under the supervision of a certified diabetes educator and at least an
> internist, if not an endocrinologist.
>
> Incidentally, the Count-a-dose is a frame into which one can put two viles
> of insulin and which contains a mechanism to control the plunger of an
> insulin syringe which clicks for each unit of insulin selected. It's a
> simple device but does take some knowledge and practice to use -- knowledge
> best imparted by a CDE unless you are quite clever.BD 50-unit syringes fit
> this instrument; the unit that worked with 100-unit syringes is no longer
> made.
>
> I am sending you in a private message a book which you can find in HTML form
> on the NFB website, "Bridging the Gap" which will give you an idea of coping
> with diabetes as a blind person. The advice is not out of date although I'm
> using different insulins now than I used at the time my article in the
> booklet was written.
>
> If the lady is a Type 2, you might also want to read "Type 2 Diabetes -- the
> First Year: a guide for the Newly Diagnosed" by Gretchen Becker; it's also
> available on BARD. And in Braille on BARD is also Hope Warshaw's "Complete
> Guide to Carb Counting".
>
> More than you bargained for, eh?
>
> Mike Freeman, President
> National Federation of the Blind Diabetes Action Network
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Diabetes-talk [mailto:diabetes-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
> Bonnie Lucas via Diabetes-talk
> Sent: Friday, October 31, 2014 3:07 PM
> To: diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [Diabetes-talk] Help needed
>
> Hello everyone,
>
> I am not diabetic but I am blind and a CVRT here in Alaska. I have a lady
> who has recently lost her sight and has had pretty much no blindness
> training. She is unstable on her feet, at home a lot and needs to learn to
> take her blood sugar and give herself insulin. So, I need to learn how to do
> insulin, I have the supplies, and then teach her how. This seems difficult
> to me and I have put it off so if someone could walk me through the process,
> perhaps on the phone, that would be great. Then, she apparently has to take
> differing amounts, depending on what her blood sugar is. I figure that this
> means she needs to have several marked syringes or to have several marks on
> one syringe. Any advice would be very appreciated. She does not use the
> computer or I would have had her on this list some time ago.
>
> My desk phone number is below and you may also email me at
> lucas.bonnie at gmail.com<mailto:lucas.bonnie at gmail.com>. We are 4 hours
> earlier than Eastern time.
>
> Thanks again.
>
> Bonnie
>
>
> Bonnie Lucas, CVRT, MSW
> Braille and Technology Instructor, VISA Coordinator Equipping Alaskans for
> Success Alaska Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired
> 3903 Taft Drive
> Anchorage, Alaska  99517
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