Diabetics? and a couple other newbie questions too

Me again.... I hope I don't blow up the forum hehe. But the more peer-related information I can get , the better I feel about things even though my doctor kicks butt. 

I'm wondering if anyone here is a Type 1 diabetic? Quite a few people in the diabetes forum are American and have different mmol values of what's a "normal range". I'm worried about having low blood sugars with such a change in diet. My sugars are pretty well controlled, and have been since I had my daughter 3 years ago. But I know that hypoglycemia can be a bit of an issue. 

Any insight would be wonderful, thank you!

Also, what is the Opti that I keep reading about? 

And is there anything where a doctor will tell you that you absolutely can't have the surgery? 

 

 

I had been a Type 2 diabetic pre-surgery.  It has been over 18 months now post-surgery with NO MEDS!!!

 

What is Opti?  It is a prescription liquid diet that surgeon prescribes for you to be on pre-surgery (2 to 6 weeks before surgery date).  It is called Optifast 900 as you have 4 packages of them to mix up and drink per day.  Each package has 225 calories.

 

Yes, if you do not meet the guidelines for surgery then you will not be approved.  However, your PCP that referred you had to have enough history to provide them with your medical background for qualification.  If you have a treatable disease and you are not following protocol to keep it under control.  e.g.  if you are diabetic and you cannot keep your blood sugars stable at a particular level, or if you refuse to quit smoking.  However, with each of these if you comply then things will progress.  If you have a cancer that is not treated, then you may need to get it under control (may take a number of years) and which case you would need to be re-referred.

 

Good luck.

 

Judy

I have type 1 since I was 3. I am 10 months post. I have not had any problems treating my lows with glucose tablets or orange juice. I was also very scared of not being able to treat lows prior to surgery. Private message me any time if you wish. I have only found one other type 1 on this board.

When I had surgery, my room mate was a Type 1 diabetic.  She didn't take her dose of insulin the night before surgery because her tester broke.  They gave her an amount of insulin in pre-op, but in our room she had problems with getting her sugar down, then it went too low and they had to get it back up.  I'm sure that this is because she missed the one dose.

So my tip of the day, make sure you test and take your insulin on schedule, if it breaks, go to the drug store and get a new tester.  You'll still need it after surgery for a while.

Opti is the liquid diet that you are put on the weeks before surgery.  It's used to shrink the liver (can cause some weight loss as well, but not with everyone).  When you meet the surgeon, he will give you a prescription for it, and you get it filled at the clinic.  There are 2 choices of flavors, chocolate and vanilla.   Some like chocolate, some like vanilla, some need coffee or sf syrops added to either one.

It depends on what your medical situation is.  There is a minimum requirement to get surgery, but you could be denied if you are at too high of a risk for surgery.  But the ones that are denied, are few and far between.

Cathy