Insulin....

I learned how to us an insulin pump last night. It was scary to stick a needle into mom, but her blood sugar has been so high that we had no choice. I got instructions from the hospice nurse, gave mom a shot after the nurse left...The next morning, I checked her blood sugar and it was high again. I was nervous about giving the shot so I decided to review what the nurse told my sister and I by looking at the booklet that came with the insulin. I was horrified that the nurse had failed to give us some very important information! She did not tell us that the insulin did not have to be refrigerated after the first use, to be sure to prime the pen and get rid of all the bubbles, to hold the needle and the button down and count to 5 slowly when doing the injection, and to be sure to look into the little window for a diamond or an arrow to know that all the insulin was in for that dosage. (We are using an insulin delivery device.) Maybe she was in a hurry but she gave us the instructions on a friday and had I not read the instructions I would have been doing it wrong all weekend at the least! The biggest danger was that the dosage is not regulated if you don't prime the pen and if you don't hold the needle in for the right amount of time. This is the 3rd disappointmant we had with this nurse so I complained and now we have another nurse. I am still working on trying to get the insulin regulated....it has not been an easy task. I have been studying about diabetic diets and can honestly say the mom does not eat anything that is not diabetic approved. I have used whole wheat, lots of veggies, limited fruit, lean meat. I have "The Idiots Guide to Terrific Diabetic Meals" (Gee thanks, Larry) which I love to get recipes out of. All I can do is keep trying!! If you have any hints, please email them to me at gailwester@yahoo.com because I am not sure how to respond to comments yet! I do love reading your comments though...thanks for all of them!