My mum is in nursing home and has diabetes typte2

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Mumu190672
Mumu190672 Posts: 76 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I would like to give advice to my mum to lose weight but I find it extremely difficult.
She is 157cm tall and over 100 kg.
She has diabetes type 2 and is treated for this.
She is also hypothyroidic and is treated for this.
There is no specific menu for type 2 diabetics in her nursing home.
She tries to avoid sugar.
Not knowing how they prepare the food I just told her to reduce her portions to lose weight.
She walks about 30 minutes every day but at a rate that is 3 times slower than my 95 year old grand father.
She always was a very slow walker. She has no physical problem that would prevent her to go faster.
I would like to know what I could suggest her to do to improve her health and start losing weight.
Any suggestions?

Replies

  • yweight1969
    yweight1969 Posts: 64 Member
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    The nursing homes I worked at in California had diet specific meals for the residents/ patients and a diabetic diet should be available and offered. I agree if she wants and needs your help, to speak with the appropriate personnel regarding her diet and health and see what their goals and menu are for her I'm sure they have them because they want the residents healthy as possible.

    To the poster who said she's an adult this is try. But adults need help sometimes that's why we're here. And when it comes to aging or disabled parent the more help they may need. Just depends on your family dynamics, so.e are actually close and caring. OP best of care to you and your mother.
  • yweight1969
    yweight1969 Posts: 64 Member
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    Sorry for the errors meant this is true not try, and some are actually close.
  • fattothinmum
    fattothinmum Posts: 218 Member
    edited September 2016
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    Is she asking for your help? If she is, then helping is fine. If she isn't, and doesn't want to lose weight, nothing you say will change it. My mother and I are both Diabetes T2 and Hypothyroid. She is insulin controlled and I am food and exercise.

    It's not essential for her to exercise vigorously to control blood sugar, but it does help. There's nothing wrong with the walking, even slowly, if that's what she can do, and likes to do. How is she treated for her diabetes? That makes a big difference too.

    I look after my mothers diabetes as she lives with me, but when she's in respite, she has the same issue as your mother. Her insulin is higher there to cover the extra food they give her, but that causes her to gain weight. Catch 22. If the nursing home and your mother are not on board, especially if she is of sound mind, it's unlikely it will change.

    Trying to avoid sugar isn't enough sadly. It's all carbs which add up. That includes fruit and pasta, rice, potatoes etc etc etc. If she can eat good portion sizes, several times a day, rather than big meals, she might find it easier as she'd never be actually hungry and tempted to eat lots at one sitting. I still eat chocolate and dessert, but balance those with the other foods I eat. It's just getting into a habit of eating small and often rather than big meals which helps most, but in a nursing home, you might find them regimented in when they offer food. Some places are great though.

    If she reduced portions of everything, she may well be reducing portions of things that are perfectly good for her to eat and will keep her full for longer. There's not enough info in your post to be able to advise more really. I managed to get my mum to lose half a stone in six months, and she went into respite for two weeks and put it all back on. I was gutted after all that work to get her weight reduced, which reduces her risk of falls.
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,052 Member
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    newmeadow wrote: »
    JenniferNoll wrote: »
    You can talk to the nurses at the nursing home, and they can point you in the right direction. They can tell you who to speak to on this matter, and the kitchen staff can give her specially prepared meals. I dealt with many of the same problems with my mother-in-law. If they won't work with you, you may need to find another setting for her to live in.

    The diet is medically prescribed by the doctors as recommended by the Registered Dieticians in the nursing home who are assigned to the patients. The nurses and kitchen staff don't decide what the patients eat.

    According to Patient Rights, the patients can eat whatever the patient wants. Regardless of what's prescribed. If the patient wants to complain about and refuse the broiled chicken leg, baked potato, steamed carrots and broccoli, whole wheat dinner roll, low sodium lentil soup and sliced pears with sugar free whipped cream, believe me, they will.

    Then they'll have fried chicken, French fries, hot biscuits with gravy and a few slices of pecan pie with a large sweet tea delivered right to their room with the cash handy to pay for it.

    Visitors will bring in tins of cookies and bags of candy bars or the patient will also have this stuff delivered.

    Any nursing home employee who tries to offer gentle, well meaning advice or a quiet reminder of what the doctor ordered is met with seething hostility by the patient, in most cases, and sneaky retaliation attempts. The patient will complain to his or her family members about the nursing home employee(s) who said anything and try to get them fired.

    By the time lifestyle induced health problems meet nursing home level in a long term care setting, the likelihood of turning over a new leaf is about nil. Sorry OP, I don't know all the particulars about your mother's situation. But unless she tells you she wants specific interventions or disciplines imposed on her, she probably doesn't.

    Great post, especially the bolded part, IMHO. My mother is in the same state and very resistant, hostile even, to any behavior modification. I hope your mum is more receptive. I know how hard it is to see someone you care about suffering the consequences of their own bad choices.
  • Bocch
    Bocch Posts: 191 Member
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    My Father is in a nursing home and was admitted when he had type 2 diabetes. If he were to be at home he would not be with us today. The nursing home he is in has a dietician on staff. The nurses as well as doctors and dietician has him on a diet. They watch his carb intake as well as sugar, He is doing well. Being on this diet and being sedentary he has lost weight. Speak to the nurse and doctor about your concerns. You can not control her diet on your own.
  • lthames0810
    lthames0810 Posts: 722 Member
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    When my father ( obese, T2D, Alzheimer's, COPD, etc, etc, etc) went into a nursing home he lost weight rapidly. Although the RD gave him a prescribed diet, she became concerned by his sudden loss of appetite and allowed us to bring some home cooked favorite foods to him.

    Is your mother continuing to gain weight while in nursing care? If not, maybe give it time and see what happens and then consult with the dietician.
  • tinhproweb365
    tinhproweb365 Posts: 4 Member
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    Hi and welcome. What a worry for you when it can be hard enough to see your mum in a nursing home. Sorry to hear this. Joined up care it is not by the sounds of it. The multi disciplinary review sounds good to have and does your mum have a DSN and dietian. Have you been involved in her support planning? I would be speaking to the social work, and manager to be getting things sorted, and if necessary put your concern in writing so you have a record as well. Maybe it's a training issue and staff are maybe doing what they think is their best-but with little knowledge. You say that you think one place is blaming the other, but perhaps you can have that discussion with your mums GP to find yourself. Only ideas, so good luck with any path you chose to take.
  • HellYeahItsKriss
    HellYeahItsKriss Posts: 906 Member
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    By the time people are in a nursing home the guidelines change for diabetes management. Sugar control is different. The numbers for a blood sugar are not as strict as they are for the general public.

    Residents are to make their own choices for controlling their blood sugars if they are able. After that it would be the nurses who keep an eye on it
  • CTcutie
    CTcutie Posts: 649 Member
    edited December 2017
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    deleted
  • Lean59man
    Lean59man Posts: 714 Member
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    You can't save others, you can only save yourself.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
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    The nursing home should provide a dietician who can assist your mom with a diabetes meal plan.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,898 Member
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    lorrpb wrote: »
    The nursing home should provide a dietician who can assist your mom with a diabetes meal plan.

    While I agree with the above, the below is sadly the most likely outcome.
    newmeadow wrote: »
    ...By the time lifestyle induced health problems meet nursing home level in a long term care setting, the likelihood of turning over a new leaf is about nil. Sorry OP, I don't know all the particulars about your mother's situation. But unless she tells you she wants specific interventions or disciplines imposed on her, she probably doesn't.
  • manderson27
    manderson27 Posts: 3,510 Member
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    This is an old post from 2016. I expect the OP has sorted out the issue by now.

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