Hospital Stay & Diabetes Management

When I was in the hospital the first week of August, I was concerned about how I would manage my diabetes. Medications are usually given 4 times per day except PRN meds. The hospital did not use carb counting so I needed to come up with a sliding scale for my Novolog injections. With the help of my doctor, we came up with a decent dose that would cover meals, the increase due to infection and to cover the increase in blood sugar due to the steroids that I am on. We settled on 25 units at mealtime and I am used to taking my Novolog after meals but found that this was going to be difficult to get my shot at this odd time so I took the chance and was getting my Novolog before meals, this made me nervous to say the least. And then I was nervous about the size of the carb servings, which were mostly small except for the "modified mashed potatoes" that was served nightly. I would get my blood checked at 6AM, 11AM, 4PM AND 8PM. I remember one morning I tested at 65 and you would have thought this was the end of the world. The nurse brought regular chocolate pudding, 3 packs of graham crackers and a carton of milk and told me to eat up. I ate the pudding but didn't eat the rest and they kept testing my blood glucose to see if it had come up. I explained that this was a low number but not for me. If I would have eaten everything that they told me to, I would have then been high. And what they gave me to eat was not exactly fast acting carbs. I also had several times when I got my Novolog 2 hours after eating and then I was due for more Novolog in 3 hours and refused a couple of shots. Diabetes management really needs to be stepped up while you are in the hospital. If there is a next time, I will have my glucose meter brought from home and will smuggle in my own Novolog. Oh, they also don't stock Lantus so I was using Levemir.