Need serious help for grandma (diabetes) page

[echoyjeff222]

I'm currently in China right now, visiting my grandma who has recently become very ill. She's in the hospital right now -- has been for two weeks now -- and is suffering from type 2 diabetes, lost eyesight in one eye, hearing is basically almost gone, had a semi-stroke, and has a small tumor growing in her brain.

It's all started since my grandpa died about 3-4 months ago - since then, I think stress has taken over and crippled her.

I can understand some of what's going on -- apparently they're going to try to temporarily get rid of the tumor first, which is going to be done with some sort of 'light' insert in the brain (?) -- it sounded like some sort of radiation to me, but I'm not entirely sure. It's some sort of new procedure.

Other than that, she's stuck in the hospital. Her legs can't really work well anymore, she's getting insulin shots everyday, and she's recently begun throwing up.

Everything just kind of seems bad at the moment. I can sort of help with food and such, but the thing is, she's already restricting her sugar. The big thing is her blood sugar drops and rises a LOT -- a few days ago it was 13 (not sure what the units are) but it sounded pretty bad.

I am wondering if anyone here knows any way to reverse this, or at least help. Thanks.

[afsjesse]

Sorry to hear about your grandmother. I don't have an answer for you, but maybe increasing the amount of cruciferous vegetables and foods like seaweed for their iodine would help, as in the case with that one Dr. who cured her MS.

My prayers and thoughts are with you.

[JackieKessler]

I wish I had something to add to help. As afsjesse said, my thoughts and prayers are with you.

[ThePrimalOhioan]

I will not profess myself as an expert at treating diabetes, however my Fiance has type 2 and we've been experimenting with ways to help her control her sugars without her insulin. The single most effective thing we have found... wild game meat... ground elk/bison/buffalo, deer jerky...etc. Not something easily (or cheaply) gotten, but my Fiance can eat just a few pieces of jerky a day and her blood sugars become amazingly stable for the rest of the day! She's even had to decrease the amount of insulin she takes with each meal because it makes her sugars go too low. We get our meat from a place that has a license to sell it. However there are many websites (found with just a Google search), that will allow you to find and purchase offline. I'm not saying that this fix will work for every diabetic but it can't hurt right? It's wild game meat, healthiest in the world by my opinion so there ya go!

[emmie]

Your poor grandmother! Although I don't have diabetes, all my siblings do, and I know that stress can cause terrible blood sugar problems for diabetics, so I'm sure that losing her husband is the basic cause for her current crisis.

The procedure you're referring to with the tumor suggest to me that it might be the Cyberknife, which is amazing science. Without any type of invastive procedure, using lasers, various types of brain injuries can be treated.

As to her nutrition, if she's begun 'throwing up,' I assume that they're testing to find the cause for this? Until you know what the cause of her digestive upset is, you should not do anything about food.

As I'm sure you know, the critical issue for a diabetic is to stabilize blood sugars within an acceptable range. Unfortunately, medical personnel are prone to doing that with insulin rather than diet.

But until this crisis is over, and your grandmother has left the hospital, I doubt that you can influence her diet in any signficant way.

[EyeOfRound]

Is she on prednisone or some other steroid to shrink the tumor? Because that will also wreak havoc on your blood sugars.

[echoyjeff222]

I think that they're planning to do the 'cyberknife' procedure sometime next week, so is that supposed to also help with the diabetes? How is the tumor linked to blood sugar levels?

Could the throwing up be linked to the tumor as well? Accompanying my relatives to the neurosurgeon, I gathered that the tumor had been there for awhile already, and that it has been slowly growing the last few months (i'm assuming since my grandfather died). They gave this alternative procedure because they didn't necessarily need to open up the head to remove the tumor.

They also mentioned that she wouldn't be able to receive direct sunlight after the procedure, for a varying amount of time.

EDIT: I just looked up cyberknife and it doesn't seem to be the same. The procedure that my grandma is going to do requires a bit of cutting to allow the device to go into the brain.

NEVERMIND, I found the procedure. I translated it and got Photodynamic Therapy..

[JamesS]

I'm currently in China right now, visiting my grandma who has recently become very ill. She's in the hospital right now -- has been for two weeks now -- and is suffering from type 2 diabetes, lost eyesight in one eye, hearing is basically almost gone, had a semi-stroke, and has a small tumor growing in her brain.

It's all started since my grandpa died about 3-4 months ago - since then, I think stress has taken over and crippled her.

I can understand some of what's going on -- apparently they're going to try to temporarily get rid of the tumor first, which is going to be done with some sort of 'light' insert in the brain (?) -- it sounded like some sort of radiation to me, but I'm not entirely sure. It's some sort of new procedure.

It would not be radiation. If they are using lasers then they would be referring to photodynamic therapy, which has been around for quite a while. I first heard of it over 30 years ago, but it is not widely used, at least not in the U.S.

Basically the process involves the use of light sensitive chemicals such as hematoporphyrin derivative (HPD) or psoralen compounds. The chemicals are injected where they are taken up by all cells. Healthy cells though rapidly flush out the chemicals while cancer cells retain it. After 24-48 hours only the cancer cells will still contain the chemicals. At this point a blue laser is used with fiber optics to fluoresce the chemicals allowing the surgeon to pinpoint the tumor. Then the blue laser is switched with a red laser that causes a photochemical reaction with the HPD or psoralens destroying the cancer cells without harming any healthy tissue.

Other than that, she's stuck in the hospital. Her legs can't really work well anymore, she's getting insulin shots everyday, and she's recently begun throwing up.

Everything just kind of seems bad at the moment. I can sort of help with food and such, but the thing is, she's already restricting her sugar. The big thing is her blood sugar drops and rises a LOT -- a few days ago it was 13 (not sure what the units are) but it sounded pretty bad.

I am wondering if anyone here knows any way to reverse this, or at least help. Thanks.

There are a number of herbs that can be used to reverse both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. For example bitter melon, Devil's club or juniper berry all work like insulin. Gymnema will block sugar absorption and increase insulin sensitivity, while mulberry leaf is an amylase inhibitor to block starch breakdown. Chromium and magnesium will increase insulin sensitivity:

Chromium and blood sugar abstracts

Chromium and magnesium effects on blood sugar-abstracts

There are many others. Problem is that being in China I don't know what you would have access to.

[emmie]

Yes, the throwing up could be from the effects of the tumor--depending on where it is in the brain.

As to the diabetes, most illnesses will cause havoc with a diabetic's blood sugar, but the recent stress she's experienced from your grandfather's death and now this hospitalization would also cause problems with blood sugar. The 'drops and rises a lot' is dangerous because the goal is stable blood sugars in an acceptable range, but that's also an indication that it's stress and/or illness that's negatively affecting her.

I just realized that you're in China, and I know nothing about health care there. I wish the best for all of you and recovery for your grandmother.

[Pamsc]

There are two really good approaches to diabetes--eating low carb or taking the right amount of insulin. The best insulin approach is to take a shot of short acting insulin at the beginning of each meal, calculating the amount of insulin needed for what you are going to eat. Someone who makes no insulin themselves also needs a low dose of long acting insulin for metabolic needs. So in the short run the thing that might help the most would be to get them to try to control her blood glucose more carefully, which will help healing. A reading of 13 in mmol/L would be 234 in US units of mg/dL. Bad but not horrible. Ideally she should be between 90 and 160 (5 and 9) at all times, but it is very important not to go low so they tend to be cautious.