Thanks for sharing your experiences . . .

[Dandygal76]

Hi Mo, what a nightmare the day before to go through all of this. I cannot recall but are you a specialist centre for pancreatic cancer? It is highly recommended by every Pancreatic Cancer Website that you are overseen at one of these centres.

It is a very tough decision and there are no rights and wrong. You and Peter know his personality, whether he is dogmatic enough and how fit he has been on a day to day to basis. As with everything around this cancer you are behind the devil and the deep blue sea and a lot of it is taking a punt in the direction your instincts tell you and hope for the best. I know that is an awful answer but it is the only answer sometimes with this awful diesease.

If you feel you have time I would get a second opinion or definitely get to a centre. As regards his anemia and blood sugar I would also be pushing for that to be brought under control. There is a lot of supportive things they can do to assist with this and I agree with Sandra... a lot of his feeling ill could surround that rather than the cancer. Also, his age is not off the scale and he should be looked at as an individual and obviously part of that is looking at his age and fitness but by saying he is 'off the scale' suggests he is being measured against a standard age that is acceptable by the doctor rather than by his own strength and fitness. I am sure it is Age Concern that lobby against this and it may be worth a call to them for advice or exactly what age the consider 'is off the scale'. It does feel a little bit like the anesthetist has walked in all last minute and that is certainly worth some polite challenge.

I also agree with PW with her assessment that quality over quantity for some patients but if Peter wants to fight back then that is the answer. I say the same about my dad, as long as he wants to fight I will find every means at my disposable to keep those choices open. The anesthetist may say that if it was her father she would not do it but we are all individuals and shaped by our experiences and it would not be her decision, he may have another view to his daughter. She doesn't know you, her father could be frail and elderly.

I think what I am trying to say is that there are many different considerations and all you can do is listen to all the advice (including the anesthetist) and yourselves and then trust your instincts.

I am afraid these twists and turns are all part of PC and I doubt this will be your first hurdle!

This all could a mute point by now with Peter in the op.

I wish you all the best, whatever the decision.

DG

[PCUK Nurse Dianne]

Dear Mo,

Thinking of you today on what is a very difficult day. I do apologise that I have only just caught up with your thread and the dilemma you must be facing. I appreciate that at this time of the day you will have had some input and/or made some decisions.

Mo please feel free to be in touch so we can chat through things with you. If you are at the hospital during the day, you know you can be in contact by email.

Dianne

Pancreatic Cancer Specialist Nurse

Pancreatic Cancer UK Support Team

[Guest]

Hi Mo,

I don't know if you are even reading this today and my heart breaking reading about your terrible shock. My daughter is a consultant anaesthetist and works in a University hospital which is a regional centre for major trauma and cancer. I am truly sorry that your experience with anaesthetist has been so devastating but unbeknown to most people anaesthetists are a) highly qualified doctors in their own right and b) the people responsible for keeping the patient alive during surgery. They are not always on the multidisciplinary teams and may not have seen Peters notes until very recently.

I see things slightly differently to others I admit, but I do think that some disciplines, oncology, and surgeons in particular present an unrealistic view of treatments and outcomes for this cancer. I know why they do it, because the evidence says that if patients have a positive attitude they do better, but to give people false hope is not a good thing as some poor devil has to burst the bubble at some point and deal with what feels like a betrayal.

If Peter feels he wants to fight this awful disease and believes that the time gained is worth the trauma then he should be helped to do so by all possible means and you must back him 100%. He should not however agree to treatment because of the distress of those around him, and if he decides on quality over quantity, then he should be helped to have the very best time he can have, hospital free, pain free and with the people he loves and should not feel he has failed in any way.

I know that Peter will make the right decision for him and that you will be there for him. I send you every ounce of love and every good wish I have left. M xx

Edited September 15, 2016 by Anonymous

[sandraW]

Thanks Marmalade, yes I think we do forget all that the anesthetist is responsible for and tend to think they just stick the needle in and watch that black thing go up and down while we are asleep, I suffer with high blood pressure and went to the hospital with an injury to my leg, it left a massive blood blister, they thought I was at risk of blood poisoning so needed surgery that day, when they took my blood pressure it was off the scale not helped by Trevor being in tears, he was undergoing chemo at the time, at me being ill.

The anesthetist was lovely told Trevor very nicely to go home, sent me across to the main hospital for an ECG and told me to relax and think peaceful thoughts, it did finally came down enough for me to have the operation. He explained that is was so high he just was not able to give me anesthetic as it would have been too dangerous, there is no good having a fabulous surgeon do his job if the patient is not going to make it due to other issues.

I suppose that is why we go for the pr-op assessment, to have things finalised, but it was very late in the day to have that thrown at them when you have worked yourselves up to have such a massive surgery. just wishing for the best out come for them sandrax xx

[Justamo]

I see that my last post was at 0530 this morning. It feels like a lifetime ago.

We reported to the admission ward at 0745 this morning, and Peter changed into a stripey frock and some stockings and a blanket, because his temperature was quite low. Blood pressure, more bloods, and general fuss and at 0800 the Anesthetist appeared towing a rather reluctant surgeon with her. She asked us if we had come to a decision, and then said that as there wasn't an ICU bed available she wasn't prepared to proceed with the op, so no matter what we had decided it wasn't going to happen today. She also gave us to understand that if Peter's operation was a horse, she wouldn't back it. Then she said she'd leave us for a Little Chat with the surgeon, and whisked off. Actually, I'm going to start a fan club for her, but more of that later.

Mr XXX sat down rather nervously and asked how Peter felt. Then he began to talk. All the 'little risks' of a fortnight ago now appeared to be major risks. The 'little problems' were now described as life threatening. Far from being up for it and gung-ho he was very subdued, and when I mentioned infections and hernias (Thanks, Victoria) he muttered an admission that of course, everything carried a risk . . . . In short, Mr XXX couldn't wait to get his important little arse out of the ward and I got the distinct feeling that Mr XXX's arse had been quite thoroughly kicked by Ms Consultant Anesthetist.

So we had a cup of tea, and the lovely nurses brought a plate of hot toast and butter for Peter, and by the time Mr XXX came creeping back in back in we were feeling a bit more level-headed. Peter said that the only reason he wanted to go ahead with surgery was because he didn't want to spend one more day feeling as ill as he did. Mr XXX immediately offered to rectify some immediate problems: his special NHS X-Ray eyes told him that Peter's stent may have blocked, and he could fit a metal one within a week and that would be much more effective and get rid of the lingering jaundice. Peter's unacceptable blood sugar of 29.7 could be dealt with by a Specialist Nurse RIGHT NOW, and he would arrange that STRAIGHT AWAY. We could have Creons. (I have been asking for Creons for the past three weeks). We could see the Dietician IMMEDIATELY. He would order a bag of iron to be infused STAT and that would temporarily alleviate the anaemia. He would arrange for the rain to stop and the sun to come out. You get the idea . . . . Then he slithered out of the door and I hope I never see him again because I want to punch him. Hard.

So they set up a drip of what looked like Coq au Vin sauce, and the Nurse Specialist arrived with a trolley bag full of insulin goodies for us, and she taught us how to do insulin injections and use a blood sugar monitor. We played Casualty for a while, and then an enormously fat lady appeared with a badge on her huge bosom saying 'Dietician' and she gave us lots of little leaflets and books and - wait for it - a prescription for Creons. I've got to feed Peter on carbs, and carbs, and fat, and carbs and Creons until he gains some weight. Fortunately I had a shopping bag in my handbag and we crammed it full with all the leaflets and books and needles and test thingies and insulin pens.

It was 13.30 by now, and the nurses gave us some sandwiches and ice cream, and the Nurse Specialist popped back to make sure we were OK. They really wanted Peter to stay in for the night, but he was desperate to go home, and they agreed. So he changed out of his striped frock and stockings, packed his pyjamas and teddy and slippers into his little case and we went off home. I had to go back to collect the Creons, because the Hospital Pharmacy hadn't delivered them to the ward, but I was able to get Peter settled, in front of the telly and contented just to be home again.

We had a minor crisis this evening when we couldn't get the blood sugar monitor to work, and we dripped blood all over the cat, and the oven timer went off (the oven was full of carbs), and the phone rang, but we managed eventually. We've got another Nurse Specialist coming to the house tomorrow morning, and it happens to be somebody that Peter plays golf with, so I hope they stop talking for long enough for this chap to show us what we did wrong with the monitor thingy.

The heroine of the piece is Ms Consultant Anesthetist. She told the truth, the whole truth, etc. She voiced every one of my concerns and dealt with them all in a factual and totally professional manner. She spent over an hour with us yesterday, and it was possibly the most important hour either of us will have during this spell. Every single issue was explained to us, unvarnished, and every tiny detail became clear. "The surgeon cuts you up", she said. "I keep you alive afterwards".

I just couldn't wait to get back home, relax in front of my PC instead of the silly little tablet with its stupid keyboard, and catch up with you all. I can't talk like this to anybody else, the cat is a good listener but he's inclined to go to sleep before I've finished.

So I've got my darling Peter home, I can make him comfortable for now, his various symptoms will be dealt with as well as possible, and he can relax in peace and dignity and not struggle to recover from surgery on top of everything else. Marmalade is a role model: her concern for her beloved Louis mirrors mine for Peter. I just hope I can make him as happy as she did Louis.

As so many of you have said, "One day at a time".

I'm really tired, I'm probably talking nonsense, and I want to go to sleep. But I had to dump all these feelings on somebody, and get it out of my system.

Thank you all so much for your support. I hope I will be able to offer the same to you once I have settled down a bit.

Love, Mo.

Edited September 15, 2016 by Justamo

[sandraW]

Night night Mo, I hope you have a better nights sleep tonight now you know what path you are on, sandrax xx

[Proud Wife]

Hello mo

I will reply fully tomorrow as its late now but as a diabetic myself, I feel I should perhaps comment on peters diet. Was it mrs huge fat dietician that told you lots of carbs because if it was, I believe she was talking our her big fat bottom. I can call her that as I too am of large proportions or well fed as my husband used to say before he crossed the PC divide.

Did she realise or know that peters blood sugars were that high? Take it from me, at 29.7 no wonder he was feeling ghastly from that alone without any of his other problems. Carbs although needed for a balanced diet will push his sugars up. He needs to have the slow release kind such as oats, sweet pot sit and whole grain bread in moderation.

I must make it clear as per forum rules I'm not qualified to give any advice and perhaps there was a.good reason to suggest loads of carbs but surely not from a diabetes perspective. I can understand you being told to feed him up with high calorie food but carbs?

Please check with the doctors tomorrow just to make sure the advice you have been given is correct.

Wishing you both a peaceful night xx

[Proud Wife]

Mo I have just re-read your post. Perhaps I am wrong. Maybe the advice for carbs was for weight gain and insulin to deal with blood sugars. Rather than delete my post in case I'm wrong and in PC, carbs should be eaten in bulk despite diabetic status? My hubby never needed creons or had high blood sugar so I'm talking as a self inflicted obesity related diabetic .... Only because I gave up smoking to become healthier only to gain 4 stone and become diabetic!!! I'm not on insulin so perhaps it's different?

Just check in the morning though would you if you have any doubt or callour lovely specialist nurses here .

Hopefully you are both sleeping soundly in the land of nod and you've not even read my ramblings!!!

I will of course happily delete both posts if I'm wrong about the carbs as the last thing I want to do is confuse anyone!

[Justamo]

Oh, thank you so much PW, Peter does need to gain weight. In February this year, pre PC he was 12st, about 1st 7lbs overweight. He went on the 5/2 and came down to 10st 8lbs in June and was delighted. Then in July he'd lost more weight, despite finishing the diet and during August all the trouble started, with him being 'official' diagnosed on 31 August. I had guessed the outcome in early July. No, I don't know why either, but I first came onto this website round about 9 - 10 July.

Yesterday he was 9st. He says he's 5ft 7 but since a laminectomy 30 years ago he's 5ft 5.

I'm off to Lidl shortly to buy butter (last bought that in 1970 - is it still three shillings and sixpence a quarter ?), full cream milk, and those yogurts you usually leave on the shelves after scanning the little box on the side. Then I'll check Diabetes UK for weight-gain diets and I'll phone our lovely nurses after the diabetes specialist nurse has been round.

I gained a stone after stopping smoking, but made Aran jumpers for everybody I knew which kept my hands busy, and after a couple of months the weight came off naturally. I was a career smoker and had persevered since I was about 13. I was 67 when I had surgery which was offered as an alternative to the strong possibility of having my legs amputated in a couple of year's time.

Thanks for your posts though because it's prompted me to research this a bit further.

You're so kind PW and I'll probably have more diabetic questions for you soon. Thus morning's blood was 14.7 - a huge variation from last night.

Enjoy your day everybody, I'm doing shopping, Peter's doing TV and dozing and Boris is doing sleeping.

Love, Mo

[Proud Wife]

Yes, agree that you need to try to fatten Peter up. I managed to get just under 4 stone on hubby at one stage which helped his overall survival time I'm sure...simply because he had reserves when he needed them most.

Not sure if Peter has no appetite, can't face food etc in which case there are high calories products your GP can prescribe but if he's able to tolerate a normal diet, then go for double cream, butter, cheese etc. Another tip I was given was to add ground almonds whenever I could. So if you are making meals from scratch, fry everything and see if you can hide the ground almonds so it adds calories not flavour. Ground almonds are good to add to milkshakes with ice cream but subject to what dietician says about sugars and carbs, you may want to get diabetic ice cream.

I don't know anything about insulin controlled diabetes (I am type 2 on medication only) but if the team say he can have loads of carbs but with the appropriate amount of insulin to control blood glucose, then that's the way to go!

Good luck xx

[Guest]

Hi Mo,

So sorry to read of your experiences but read your comments to my daughter who was terribly upset about the timing of you seeing the anaesthetist only a day before the scheduled op and the shock you faced.

She puts it like this to her patients, a surgeon will decide if it is technically possible to perform an operation. An anaesthetist will consider whether the patient will survive the operation taking into account all their medical conditions and what survival beyond hospital looks like.

She also tells me that the MDT is really only about treating the cancer, Surgeon, Gastroenterologist, Oncologist etc and rarely has an anaesthetist on it. It does not necessarily consider pre existing conditions or non cancer related issues.

I am not sure what other options you may consider now or if Chemo is being offered, it usually is. Often people try it as it can always be stopped if it is too much for them. Nothing ventured attitude. Louis decided that he didn't want to waste time or have the stress of going to hospital for tests and being messed about with for marginal gain.

Our daughters advice to us was to get out of the hospital system as soon as possible and into good quality palliative care with your GP and the local hospice. The hospice approach is about comfort and quality, they have fantastic doctors of their own who have lots of experience, can offer courses for you both on coping and caring and have a wealth of experience in dealing with everything from finances to alternative therapies and diet. Having your GP and staff fully mobilised on your team will help tremendously. These people are there to help you and Peter get the most out of your time together. Palliative care does not mean that his symptoms and issues will be ignored, quite the reverse. He will get help from people who do nothing else but help keep people comfortable including any procedures required.

We found that doing the courses and clearing up finances and organising things at the outset left us free to not mention them again. Louis always said that he could drop down with a heart attack or aneurism at any time so he was not going to wait for the cancer to get him, he was going to forget about it as much as possible and carry on doing what he liked doing.

My thoughts on diet, Louis also had the big sugar highs and these can be controlled with medication. Our daughter and the GP agreed that at this point in Louis life, and with his decisions made, the most important thing was to enjoy it. Eat something, anything, and enjoy it and let the medics manage the side effects. Palliative care is a different philosophy and it often comes as a blessed relief.

If you would like to be in touch privately then just contact the nurses and they will give you my email.

In the meantime don't feel pressured into hospital treatment or palliative care, take some breaths and try and have a chat about what is important to you, what your fears are and what you want to do with the time you have, however long that be. When you have decided what is important the way forward will be clear and easier to follow.

Much love M xx

[Veema]

Have just laughed out loud at the fat dietician...I remember going to see the doctor when I was about 26...I have massive boobs and wanted a reduction...she told me there was no way, as I was clinically obese (I was about 10.5 stone and I'm 5'2", so technically, yes)...the doctor was about 30 stone!!!

If I'm totally honest, I think this is the right thing for Peter. If there was a better chance of the cancer not coming back, I'd say go for it, but with it being a huge risky op, with a still high chance of recurrence, then it's probably not worth the trauma.

Good luck with the diet...I managed to get Nige nicely bulked up after his op, he's like {comment deleted - moderator}

Vx

[Justamo]

Slowly, oh so slowly, getting into a routine. Peter is getting the different testing and insulin procedures muddled up. I think it's important that he does things for himself so that he feels that he is 'in control' of everything, so I do my best to offer subtle reminders and nudges, but sometimes he looks at me blankly. Yesterday morning I heard him in the kitchen at about 0630, and I rushed downstairs just as he was taking toast out of the toaster. I casually handed him his blood test monitor and he just didn't know why. I reminded him that his blood test has to be before meals, and then the penny dropped. As soon as we'd recorded the reading I handed him his insulin pen, and he said, "But I thought we already did that". I showed him the chart the Nurse left us and the spaces we had to fill in, and he complied quite happily, but I think he had completely forgotten what we are supposed to do.

Marmalade, did Louis get vague about things if his blood sugar was whooshing up and down the way Peter's is ? We go from off the scale on the meter (It says Hi, and I thought that was nice and friendly until I read the instructions again - it means it's too high to register) down to 7.7.

Having been on a diet this year Peter is very co-operative indeed about high carbs/high fat foods and keeps on suggesting forbidden fruits like pizzas (definitely not part of your 5 a day) and dolcelatte cheese.

I have been on a sortie in a brave new world in Tesco - the pastries and cakes aisle ! And the butter and cream section ! Our lovely nurses have given me plenty of get-fat-quick tips, and I think I will make some marscapone ice cream. Easy to pile the calories into that, and if I top it with forest fruits then it won't be too cloying. If the GP will give me some Fortisip I can incorporate that into a vanilla ice cream, and of course there's the ultimate treat : Fried Rice. I haven't made that for years and years. Mackerel is a favourite too, and that's been rationed a bit this year. (Bossy Google has just tried to change mackerel into smacker - why ?).

I've always thought that food should be a pleasure, not a therapy, and as Marmalade said as far as I am concerned Peter can have whatever he wants to eat - the only proviso is that he enjoys it. Of course we'll keep filling in the charts for his diabetes and then the medics can tweak the doses of insulin accordingly.

We've had two hospital appointments through the post. The first is for an overnight stay to remove the plastic stent and replace it with a metal one under sedation. Mr XXXX certainly sorted that one out quickly. The second (on the following day) is to have an endoscopy, and I think that's for the investigation into the enlarged adrenal gland that Mr XXX has shrugged off but Ms Consultant Anaesthetist questioned. I'm not sure if these two hospital departments are actually speaking to each other or not and if they really want to do the two procedures so close together, but we're seeing Peter's GP tomorrow so I'll ask him to check it out.

Our lovely nurses have sent me lots of information on diets, creon and pain relief. I don't really know Peter's GP terribly well, but I'll tell him that I've got this info and then whip it out of my handbag if he seems happy about it. If he doesn't I'll write to him and enclose it - you never really know just how receptive doctors are to outside agencies, or if they're going to be all precious about it and start talking about MY Patient. If he gets stroppy I'll offer DandyGal a million £s to come and sort him out.

Once again I'm wittering on and on. Somebody please tell me to shut up. I hope all of you are OK or at least OK-ish and I've no doubt I'll be back on here tomorrow with some drama queen hysterics. Meantime all is calm, and if not actually bright there is at least some happiness in the air again.

Talking of bright, did anybody else see that fabulous harvest moon on Friday night ?

Love

Mo

[Proud Wife]

Missed it Mo!

I don't think you will find anyone on here that will tell you to shut up, just the opposite. I like your sense of humour, my blood glucose meter says "hello fatso, stop eating, lose weight and get better control" so I suppose Peter's is kinder! Good luck for tomorrow, I hope you find Peter's GP as supportive as most of ours have been. Marmalade's GP sounded EXCEPTIONAL! with something like PC, I'd like to hope the GP would be only too happy to have the experts advise and for him to give support and answer questions when needed.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend xx

[Guest]

Hi Mo,

It sounds all go at your end! Good that the hospital appointments are coming through quickly and that you can get them over with.

Yes, very high or low sugars can have an effect on memory and have other side effects too so that is par for the course.

I'm glad you are seeing the GP. The situation is that Peter is her patient, she asks other agencies and hospitals to investigate and treat but you remain that GP's patient at all times. When it comes to palliative care the relationship with the GP is absolutely crucial to good symptom control and the local palliative care team will still revert to the GP for prescriptions etc. Very lazy GP's just write out whatever prescriptions the community or hospice nurses tell them to but if you can get your GP interested and working hard for you things will be much easier for you and better for Peter. I find honey works better than a big hammer, although I am not averse to using a hammer if the need arises!

The blood sugar thing is a bit of a nightmare as, when his appetite declines again as it probably will at some point the need to manage blood sugar alters again and it is very important to get the GP to regularly review the medication. We took Louis off all "preventative medication" as most of it is pretty low level prevention and it gets in the way of top notch pain killers and other helpful drugs. The one you need to keep on the alert for is constipation. It is especially a problem with morphine. Its very common but can cause huge problems so make sure you have the right remedies to hand and use them early. Constipation is a subject on it's own, lots of different types and some remedies work by hydration and some cause stomach cramps to encourage movement, for someone with stomach pain that is not good. The doctor daughter says senna or syrup of figs at the outset but consult with the GP or dietician if you are not sure.

I'm going to buzz off now, I loved your remark about Google correcting your words, happens to me all the time!

Best love M xx

[Justamo]

What a lot of plans I had for today. I woke up at 3.30 this morning, my brain was in overdrive; I made lists and plans and determined to get some sort of routine going now that Peter is able to do his own insulin injections.

So I got up nice and early, rushed off to the gym, had a brief chat with the girls, and then rushed back home again to attend to my lengthy list.

And do you know what ? Peter had a dose of the blues, so I was dealing with bits of gardening and trying to listen to him at the same time when an awful thought suddenly struck me.

Would he be here to look at the results of me planting spring bulbs ? So I put away the gardening tools and cajoled him into the car for a little jaunt along the coast road. And the sun came out, and the sea was stunning, and the rowan trees are so heavy with berries it looks as though they're flowering. Peter was happy and I'll remember this afternoon for quite a long time.

Good night folks.

[Guest]

Wonderful Mo! You are absolutely right, live for the moment and spend as much time making good memories as you can while Peter is well enough, other stuff really doesn't matter.

much love, m xx

[Veema]

That sounds lovely x

[Ruthus]

That sounds lovely Mo and living in the moment is so important. To make those memories and cherish this time.

Love Ruth X

[sandraW]

Mo, I hope Peter is starting to feel a little better now he has treatment for his diabetes, good that you got out, spending those happy times together is much more important than gardening, even though jobs do have to be done.

Trevor used to eat whatever he wanted too and we soon got the hang of the insulin though he only needed it when he was on chemo, as even without steroids his blood sugar went up amazingly, the rest of the time he was just treated with Metformin. He said he felt better when he was using the insulin though, thinking of you both, take care sandrax xx

[Dandygal76]

Hey Mo, it is lovely to hear of your impromptu drive with Peter and I hope he is feeling a bit better in both mind and body after the insulin solution and the sea air.

Beautiful treasured memories is definitely the order of the day.

I hope you are doing okay in yourself and get some better sleep tonight and some more gym time in tomorrow.

xxx

[Justamo]

Hey DG, nice to hear from you.

A good-ish day today and the postman brought two more hospital appointments: one for the eye clinic (Peter has wet macular degeneration which necessitates injection into his eye every two months. The other appointment is to see the cancer dietician tomorrow. We hear on the grapevine that there are three dieticians at the hospital.

There's the Fat Dietician, who gave us a little book when we saw her, there's the Cancer Dietician who we are seeing tomorrow, and there's the Gastrointestinal Dietician who we haven't seen at all. Evidently they cordially dislike each other and contradict one another all the time. I imagine there's an element of exaggeration in this story, and since I've had the usual comprehensive advice from our PC nurses, along with Creon and medication info and some further help from forum members I'm not too bothered.

Our Diabetic Nurse (no, he's not diabetic, but Nurse Specialist Diabetic Practitioner is too long to type when you're fighting with a Google keyboard) rang this morning, asked about sugar levels and hefted up the insulin. (Google just typed insulation)

My Guy has had a good day, I've had the usual busy one. This morning I snapped that I was so busy running his life that I didn't have enough time to run my own, and he fell about laughing. He wants to go and watch some golf but I've told him he's grounded until he can measure his own blood sugar. He does the injections OK. I'm trying to keep everything normal for as long as I can . . . . I'd like him to go with his mates and not trail around after him with my little bag of medications so he's practising. Just so long as he doesn't practice on the cat, that's all.

Hope everyone is OK this evening.

Love and God Bless,

Mo

[Justamo]

PS. I would like to share with you the fact that I have just spent five minutes trying to insert a blood test strip into Peter's phone. It is a grandad phone and therefore the same size and shape as the monitor thingy.

Perhaps it's me that shouldn't be allowed out alone.

[Proud Wife]

Hi Mo

I use an ACCU-CHEK mobile blood monitor. I bought it myself for around £20-£30 but then the cartridges and needles I get on prescription because I have a wonderful GP!! It is a day and night difference from using strips and Peter would find it so much easier. It's an all in one thing - you prick your finger and then rub the drop of blood on the underside of the transaction and it digitally gives you readings 5 seconds later. You can also download onto PC and it gives you a graph, trends etc of your blood sugars. You don't need to faff around with inserting needles or strips etc - its marvellous!! Google it xx

[Veema]

Oh Mo...you do make me laugh, but really it isn't a laughing situation...

I don't know how this would affect Peters sugar level, but our dietician has given us procal powders...they are amazing, just stir a scoop into almost any food or drink and it instantly adds calories and a bit of protein too without any bulk or change to taste. Nige is really only eating a weetabix and a scandishake a day now, but man am I heaping the procal into the milk for those two things...he'll be a right fat pig before he's done.