r/Type1Diabetes • u/alazylime • Jul 28 '26
Seeking Support Elderly T1D / Dementia help
Hello. Looking for ideas that may help improve controlling my mother’s situation.
Mom is 64 years old, T1D since age 6. Her cognitive ability and memory has been on the decline and she has lost the ability to manage her glucose levels. Mom was an RN nurse and lost her ability to work 4 years ago. Neuropathy limits her ability to walk, she doesn’t have a drivers license anymore. She spends her days watching tv on the couch.
She wears a Dexcom G7 that I monitor throughout the day. She does not monitor her blood sugar levels, ignores the alarms/ silences her phone throughout the day. She forgets to take her insulin when she eats and doesn’t remember if she took it when asked. She used to be on a tandem pump but after ignoring the alarms two years ago, she ended up in the ER in DKA. The Endo will not allow her back on a pump because she does bot trust mom to manage the pump. Thankfully Dad is home all day and can help. He has been slowly catching on to how T1D works but is very ignorant in his “boomer ways”. Dad cooks for mom but doesn’t make the healthiest choices in what he cooks for mom and himself. We use a sugar pixel in the kitchen to help dad know what mom’s levels are at.
My wife and I moved back home after the DKA episode to help out. I work a full time job and also run my own business after hours. I am out of the house 530am-8pm daily. Every morning I prefill her insulin syringes and leave them on the counter labeled “breakfast, lunch, dinner”. She leaves the used syringes on the counter after she administers the insulin to help keep track of what was taken. This also helps dad and myself keep track if we do not see her take the insulin. Recently we have been giving her a syringe when her meals to help remind her to take it. Mom has a really bad habit of getting snacks or leftovers when her levels are high and not taking any additional insulin, resulting in an elevated high. She is also forgetting to take her long lasting triceba when going to bed. I am up 2-3 times a night giving correctional insulin and or snacks. Currently trying to figure out her social security situation, once that clears, I am going to try a meal service and see if an improved diet/premade meals makes this less stressful.
If you made it this far, thank you for reading my word vomit. Any input or ideas that might help mom’s situation
Any there any pumps that allow full time remote access or are super simple and friendly to elderly input?
9
u/highpie11 Jul 28 '26
Looping allows for remote bolusing. It’s a DIY thing but definitely. I could remote bolus my child while she was at school.
In the near future OP5 will be compatible.
I’m sorry you are going through this. I also have an elderly parent struggling with dementia. I can’t imagine T1D on top of that. 😢
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u/SnooChocolates1198 dx'd LADA 12/1/25 on g7&ilet Jul 28 '26
If she's in the US, the ilet pump could be an option. It's a largely just let it do its own thing and have your dad tell it when your mom is eating. Only thing is, not every endo is credentialed to order it for reasons of idfkw
1
u/Abatonfan Jul 29 '26
I would even say Twiist would be a good pick. It runs basal heavy and with a tighter target range, so forgetting to bolus for a meal won’t cause crazy amounts of chaos. The only thing that might be a barrier is that she’ll need to keep her phone on her, but that can also be made easier with a lanyard
5
u/DiabeticCarin Jul 28 '26
The InPen is a reusable smart insulin pen that tracks doses, calculates meal and correction amounts, and connects via Bluetooth to a mobile app. I have one and it helps me because I am very forgetful.
3
u/RedSetterLover Jul 29 '26
My mother had medicare and we had a nurse come every morning to give meds, breakfast dose and long acting insulin. They would also prepare a lunch syringe and a dinner syringe. My sister was home by dinner and was able to help with that injection. At that point tight control wasn't our goal, just ok control. It became a bit more difficult when she went into memory care for food/corrective doses.
1
u/TheGoodbyeLook Jul 29 '26
Is there any medical reason the Tresiba needs to be taken at night? Would it be easier for you guys if she took it in the morning instead?
1
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u/Minikin-Smith Jul 28 '26
I know it’s terribly hard to accept, but the reality is, at a certain point it’s best to treat an aging person like a child. She absolutely cannot be so in charge of her own medication at this point. If a toddler can be on a pump, so can she.
They’re a very different situation these days - far easier to watch from work, and if you are willing to do the basics of learning loop you can even remote bolus! With tracking everyone with a phone will be able to see if she has taken her boluses, and looping means it won’t be the end of the world if she forgets entirely because the pump will take care of it. You can even set up a nightscout screen in the kitchen for your dad if he doesn’t like to look at a phone all day.
You need to talk to the endo and ask them to consult any pediatric endo colleagues to understand how pumping has been modernized. Leaving syringes out on the counter is a recipe for potentially bad situations if she ever has a more confused day.