While at work today, a pharmacy assistant calls me to assist a gentleman. She tells me that he brought in a blood glucose machine and seems to have problems with it.
The gentleman has not been using his monitor for a few months, and wanted me to have a look at it to see if it was still working fine. As he did a test, instead of displaying a reading, his meter prompted: "HIGH KETONES".
Hmm...
As I looked through his previous test results (done earlier this morning) I see that his readings were 27.8mmol/L! As a reference, blood glucose readings above 10mmol/L could be counted as uncontrolled. This patient was OFF THE CHARTS!
After asking the patient about his diabetes medications, I find that he has not been taking his medications for a while. He was constantly experiencing dryness in his mouth, and has also been going frequently to the bathroom. I guess those were signs that his body was telling him his diabetes was out of control.
I tried to reinforce to the patient the importance to see his doctor and get it under control. However the patient had his excuses and reasons why he didn't take his medication and why he doesn't want to see the doctor yet.
While it is my job to look out for the patient's well being, there is only so much I can do other than give him suggestions.
In the end, the patient went on with his daily life. I doubt he would have gone to see his doctor.
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