Greater Concerns for Minuet

Minuet isn’t doing very well right now. Her doctor’s appointment revealed some startling surprises. For one thing, she has lost a tremendous amount of weight – five pounds – in just the five weeks. When she went to the hospital for her abscess, she weighed 5.9 kilograms (13 pounds); now, she weighs just 3.7 kilograms (8.16 pounds). As well, yesterday, Min had a blood-glucose reading of 30!

These changes came on suddenly. It may be that the loss of poundage occurred in the last couple of weeks, rather than over a month, but even so, it is a precipitous drop in weight. And from where and when Minuet’s high blood-sugars came, I can’t guess. Her noticeable change of appetite and behaviour began only at with this week, which is why I scheduled a medical appointment. Yet avoidance of food and water, which Min is experiencing, is a sign of prolonged untreated diabetes.

Her problems are being attacked now with two units of insulin twice a day, Mirtazapine to stimulate the appetite, and syringe-feeding of small amounts of Recovery. I will wait another day before testing her blood-sugar; I want the insulin to have a fair chance of affecting it. The Mirtazapine seems not to be having an effect, while the syringe seems to be the only means by which any nutrition is getting into my very-oldster.

I feel very bad about not having caught Minuet’s issues sooner. She certainly did not have diabetes when she arrived at the apartment, back at the end of January. My tests and the doctor’s confirmation demonstrated that. When it developed, I can’t say. It may be the cause of her problems, or it may be caused by them. In any case, we are working toward the solutions we think will help. If Madame gives us the time, we may yet win.