April 30, 2000
Complications
Question from Lake Forest, California, USA:
I work in home care and recently started to take care of a man in his 70’s who has diabetes and the beginning of Parkinson’s disease. He has other care givers working for him who give him a bed bath and dress him. He says he can’t do it because he’s to tired. He only gets out of bed to eat. He says he can’t walk because he can’t feel his feet. This man is a professional person; he was a lieutenant in the police force. I don’t think it’s doing him any good being treated like a baby (which he seems to like). He takes insulin twice a day. He also says he doesn’t know when he is having a bowel movement. Is this related to diabetes?
Answer:
The man you are looking after has a lot of problems which unfortunately we could not begin to deal with by e-mail. The best thing for you to do is to talk to the health professionals involved in his care and mention your concerns. They may also be able to give you some advice about his health problems and how to deal with them.
JS
