At 96 I think the best time for a snack is when the old dear wants one. An
afternoon reading is not a fasting reading. And if the nurse knew what she
was talking about the 10 am snack would be 4 hours after breakfast according
to her. Her testing regimen is crap. Who is the doctor for the facility?
Nurse's generally have to follow a doctor's written order. Maybe you could
speak to the doctor. I eat every two houors to keep my bg stable and normal.
I don't eat a lot of carbs though. That's probably not the way in the
facility.

i'm not even sure why she needs an afternoon snack.....................
but i also remember that when i was on NPH insulin, there was a good
chance that around 4pm i DID need a snack to 'tide me over' to dinner
time at 5 to 5:30 pm

she's 96 yrs old

i agree with your brother

kate

My 96-year old mother is a type 2 diabetic and is taking NPH insulin
two times per day. She now takes 24 units in the morning around 7:30
am and 9 units in the afternoon around 5 pm.
She lives in an adult foster care facility (a family home) where a
total of 5 elderly individuals reside under 24 hour supervision. Mom
has been using NPH since starting insulin injections about 30 years
ago. I have discussed switching Mom to a different type of insulin but
my brother thinks it is best to leave things as they are considering
Mom’s age.

Her current testing routine is to take a blood glucose test around
7:30 am (followed by 24 units of NPH) and eat breakfast before 8 am.
She gets a snack around 10 am (I think) and eats lunch around 11:30 to
11:45 am.

Mom has a second blood test about 3:45 to 4 pm and has a snack (which
is adjusted if she has a high or low blood test reading). She then
starts dinner about 4:45 to 5 pm.

I thought 4 hours was a long time from lunch (11:30 to 11:45 am) until
she takes her afternoon blood test (3:45 to 4 pm) and gets her
afternoon snack. The manager (a licensed nurse) of the facility told
me it takes four hours (information from the Mayo Clinic) to get a
true fasting blood glucose test. I also mentioned the fact that a 4
hour wait for a snack followed by a 1 hour wait until dinner did not
place the snack midway between lunch and dinner. The manager agreed
but felt waiting four hours before testing was the best option to
follow.

Any comments about moving the second blood test (followed by a snack)
to 3 pm so the snack is closer to midway between lunch and dinner?

Talking to a worker at the home today, I was informed that if Mom’s
blood test was too high (let’s say above 240), Mom would just skip her
afternoon snack and eat again at dinner time.

It seems I had read that a diabetic should not skip snacks but it was
OK to cut back on the carbs in a snack (e.g. perhaps half a snack
serving) if the reading was too high. I would appreciate your thoughts
on skipping snacks.

Thanks for you help.

I think most of us don't need snacks.  I only eat one between breakfast and
dinner because I don't eat lunch.  And I eat one before bed because if I
don't, my BG goes higher.

But we're all different.