Stepson with new diagnosis of ALL
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| Fri, 05-30-2008 - 9:31pm |
My stepson was recently diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. He's almost 18 years old and has been a Type 1 diabetic since he was 8 years old. He lives with his mother who has never really encouraged him to manage his diabetes. Since his new diagnosis, he is on weekly IV chemo as well as twice daily oral chemo, among numerous other medications, including the steroid, Prednisone. Prednisone is known to increase blood sugar levels as well as make a person hungry all the time.
What is concerning me is that his doctors have reportedly told him to eat whatever he wants and just compensate with his insulin. (This is what he and his mother tell us, the doctors will not talk to us as his mother has told them they are not allowed to, even though we DO have the right to be informed of all information.) This really concerns me as he was already starting to have kidney problems because of the uncontrolled diabetes. Now he is eating as much of and whatever he wants. We try to encourage him to eat healthy, try to curb his hunger by increasing his water intake, etc.
Does this make sense to anyone? Has anyone had this experience with doctors telling a brittle diabetic to eat whatever they want and compensate with insulin?

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