Recently, my mother went through a knee replacement surgery. And for making it a success, all her health parameters needed to be in place. Of all the parameters, the two most concerning health parameters were blood pressure and diabetes. Before the surgery, blood pressure was in the normal range thanks to timely medication but blood sugar levels were above the recommended range. Though the sugar levels were just above the normal range, we still needed to bring them under control.
To bring the blood sugar levels under control, we (as a family) with advice and inputs from our doctor, chalked out a plan. The plan focused on three factors: Diet, Exercise and Continuous Monitoring. The success of the surgery depended on these factors.
Now, allow me to explain these factors one by one, basically their role in managing the diabetes for a planned surgery.
Diet
The first thing we did as caregivers is we changed her diet. We started preparing food as prescribed by the dietitian. The reason for consulting a dietitian was because we just didn’t just want to reduce her blood sugar levels, we wanted to reduce g her weight as well. Bodyweight plays a huge role in knee replacement so, we needed the help of a dietitian to plan her diet. We wanted her to lose weight without losing her core strength.
The dietitian gave us a plan keeping my mom’s sugar levels in mind. The best part about that diet was, mom was happy with it. The plan basically eliminated all the sweeteners and added vegetables which strengthen the body. She also had a fixed time slot for every meal. Mom followed that plan religiously and ignored her sweet tooth for the time being. Moreover, she had the habit of eating late at night but as it was not in the diet plan, it was replaced with exercise.
Exercise
Due to severe pain in the knees, mom couldn’t do much exercise except walk and even that too with a lot of breaks. Thus, to bring her sugar levels down, we made her walk 2 times a day: evening and night. The doctor had instructed us that she shouldn’t walk pushing her limits. Due to that, we added two slots for walking to the schedule. Mom used to go for the evening walk with her friends from the housing society as it made this task easy and fun.
The night walk was planned with us (family). Mostly, I accompanied mom for the night walk after having dinner. I used to take my year old son along and he made the night walk for mom happy and satisfying. He cheered mom with his cute smile and that helped her in performing the task happily. Ultimately, these walks reduced mom’s late-night cravings and gave her adequate sleep.
As a caregiver, you must push the person living with diabetes for regular exercise. You should plan the outdoor activities which are easy to do and are enjoyable.
Constant Monitoring
Continuous monitoring of glucose levels is as important as making a diet plan or exercise regime. Continuous glucose monitoring will tell you if your diet plan and/or exercise regime is successful or not! In our case, we had to prepare for the surgery so, the constant monitoring was even more important. Normally, continuous monitoring needs a lot of finger pricks but while chalking this plan for mom, I came across a sensor-based glucose monitoring system called FreeStyle Libre.
FreeStyle Libre comes with a sensor and a reader. It is a very convenient and user-friendly device. Mom was not fond of pricking her fingers even once hence, finding this device was part of a plan. FreeStyle Libre helped us in monitoring the impact of diet plan and exercise regime. And we kept sending the readings to the doctor regularly. The data full of readings helped doctor in tweaking her diet and exercise regime and checking the time-in-range.
As soon as the doctor felt that sugar levels are under control (after checking the readings regularly), he performed the surgery and relieved my mom from the endless knee pain.
This way, the above mentioned factors helped us in managing mom’s diabetes in a better way for the planned knee replacement surgery.
For people living with diabetes, I would recommend that they use wearable tech devices like FreeStyle Libre. It helps you monitor glucose levels continuously, with convenience and confidence. In fact, it’s very simple to be used by senior citizens too.
Buy FreeStyle Libre here.
Know more about Continuous Glucose Monitoring.
Totally agree, diet changes help a lot. Love the easy way to monitor glucose levels. Pain free. Going to try this.
Thanks for this useful information. I need to check out this device.
Very informational post. Diabetes management is very important for healthy living if done right.
Managing diabetes needn’t be something to worry about anymore. So nice.
Exercising trule helps a lot in cotrolling diabetes. Thanks for sharing information.
FreeStyle Libre sounds really easy to use. Such a great tool.
Tech has improved so much now. Glad to see such innovations.
I am glad I reached your post and learnt so much about living fully with diabetes.
Monitoring glucose levels is one of the most important aspect of managing diabetes. It’s good that your blog post made it so easy.
Monitoring glucose readings with FreeStyle Libre sounds pretty straightforward.
Very insightful post. Thank you for sharing.
Managing diabetes is one of the importnat parameters before going for a planned surgery. This is an informed post.
One of the most critical aspects of diabetes management is glucose monitoring. Thank you for making it easy to understand.
This appears to be a fantastic product for people with diabetes.
Yes, dietary changes are quite effective. I like how simple it is to keep track of my glucose levels. There is no discomfort.
I knew that diet and exercise helped manage diabetes. You have additionally told us about continuous glucose monitoring.
I never knew managing glucose levels were so important for any surgical procedure. Thanks for sharing your mom’s routine.
FreeStyle Libre is a very good option for monitoring and measuring blood glucose levels.
Using FreeStyle Libre to monitor glucose levels sounds very convenient.
This looks like a wonderful product for people living with diabetes.
Tech has improved so much now. Glad to see such innovations.
Thanks to FreeStyle Libre, at least monitoring sugar levels is no more stress.
Diabetics need to moniter sugar regularly. Thanks for this insightful piece.
FreeStyle Libre certainly makes the entire process of monitoring glucose simpler, pain free and more reliable.
I don’t know if it’s a coincidence or just the correct timing, we are planning a knee replacement surgery for my father-in-law and he is a diabetic patient with high blood glucose levels, we have been asked to keep a close watch so we can plan the surgery. I will surely follow the tips suggested and a continuous blood glucose monitoring system is a great way to monitor will surely checkout for him.