Nurses with Diabetes

nursemary9, BSN, RN · Oct 8, 2007

Hi

Was dx about 4 or 5 yrs ago. I have worked nights for past 30+ years.

For a long time worked 2 jobs---hospital nite shift & Home Health during the day/

Dx didn't really make much differance.The worst part, for me, was trying to decide when to take meds. That's tricky.

Now I just take it the same time every day.

I had bariatric surgery last year, so I'm down to taking only 1 med for DM. That makes it MUCH easier.

The really bad thing is that I have PVD. I have little feeling in my feet.

As you can imagine, this makes walking a bit iffy.

So, now I'm not proud. I walk into & out of work with my cane. However, while at work, I don't use it. I can walk without the cane, however, I just feel more confident with it. While at work, I tend to walk close to the wall, so I can grab the rail if I need to.

I work a VERY busy Med/Surg; Hem/Onc Unit. We need to really hustle at nite & I'm still able to do it; Do hope to retire in the not too distant future, tho.

I check my sugars often; at first I did them even more often. I keep a meter in my purse & also some glucose tabs. I tend to end up hypoglycemic so I'm careful.

I have excellent control right now & average from 65 to 85-90.

When first dx my HgBA1c was 14!!! Last time tested, it was 6!!

I'm rather pleased with myself on that front.

Any questions, PM me!!

Good Luck

llg, PhD, RN · Oct 8, 2007

Sure. There are lots of us with diabetes. And I am sure there will be many more in the near future as the baby boomers age and America's obesity epidemic continues. If you do a search of this site, you will find many threads on the topic.

My diabetes was caught very early a year ago and I have been successful at controlling it with diet and exercise so far. No need for meds -- yet. So, it hasn't really affected my work. My biggest problem is maintaining my diet with all the high carb food around at work. Everywhere I go, there are donuts, cookies, etc. and it's hard to avoid them. The cafeteria doesn't do well at providing low carb options, either.

cmo421 · Oct 8, 2007

Just diagnosed with type 2.............anyone else out there? Does it affect your work?

I was diagnosed in May. I had no clue. I gave a kidney 6 yrs ago and was given a perfect check up or they would not have let me do it. Had exams thoughout the years since and never a clue. The literature state s that potential diabetes can be brought on early due to high levels of stress. I think this is what happened to me. I reported someone for pt abuse last NOV and went through the worst month of my life, had to change units and was harassed at home,as were my children.Then I go to the ER,in a level 1 trauma center,loved it,loved it,,,,boom,450lb woman falls on me. End of career. LOL,,all at once. Then the diabetes diagnosis. WC tried to say I had neuropathy from it but my doc says no.

Sorry,off track,. I have gotton my glucose under control best I can. Ususally between 90-110. Due to my injury exercise is hard ,but soooooooooooo important. I joined the YMCA so I can at least do aquadic therapy all winter and loose some weight.Also in PT twice a week. I am trying to get down 20lbs to my ideal wgt. I was working nights.Hard to get the gist of meds,testing,days off,,,etc..... Take sometime and experiment and see what works for ur sugars. A nutrition consult helps alot with off shift workers. They have will help you.

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Oct 8, 2007

I know that to keep under control I need to be sticking with low carb stuff. That means I need to stay away from high carbohydrate sweets. I started really learning about diabetes when I found I had it. Diabetes for Dummies is a very nice book I like on the subject. At my doctor's recommendation I started following the Zone diet plan--kind of--and discovered, from playing around with food how sticking with low carbs affected my blood sugars. Stuff like ice cream, for me, will make my blood sugars soar and stay high for long periods of time so I stay away from them now or only eat small amounts of them if at all. My diabetes is part of metabolic syndrome. My doctor at one point did an Insulin level as part of my labwork and I was shocked to find that my insulin level was three times normal! How can that happen? The answer lies in the pathophysiology of insulin resistance one of the major culprits behind Type II diabetes. So I aim to rest my pancreas as much as possible and not overstress it to produce what crappy insulin it does make by eating low carb these days. If I don't it will eventually peter out and I'll end up having to give myself insulin injections and I don't want to do that. Since all this happened a few years ago I have had gastric bypass surgery which has helped me with not only my eating problem, but helping to drop my weight as well. Now, I can't put too many high calories into my system at one time or I'll get dumping syndrome. I'm still, however, having to taking Actos, and my fasting blood sugars are still slightly over 100 every morning much to my sadness. But I'm not on insulin and for that I am grateful.