My mom refuses to take care of her high blood sugar?!

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She's clearly depressed. No emotionally healthy person would say "I hope to be dead by 60" to her own child.

She could die before 60, yes. She could also die after 60. She's doing irreparable damage to her body with persistently high blood sugar, but there's just no telling when and what she'll die of, exactly. I know diabetics who have been abusing their bodies for years and yet they lived into old age. It's not a bet with my health that I'd be willing to make, though. Whether she dies by 60 remains to be seen, but there's no doubt that she's hurting her health and probably even decreasing the quality of her life. A person can get used to anything, but I'm sure she won't enjoy her feet and hands falling asleep, going numb or tingling and burning, kidney disease and even dialysis, a heart attack or stroke, blindness, urinating all the time, constant thirst, etc.

You can't make her care, but you can try to get her in touch with a diabetes support group. Diabetics usually go through periods of depression and be a great source of inspiration for others.

there are many complications from not maintaining your glucose levels. diabetic coma, stroke, end stage renal disease, visual impairment,(blindness, glaucoma,) vascular disease which can lead to loss of limb, and there are a lot more. your mom needs a psych eval. thats not normal for someone to give up on themselves like that. diabetes can be controlled with diet and exercise. medications are also helpful.

At the rate she is going, she's not going to make it to 60, and it's not going to be quick or pretty. Ask her how she's going to like being blind, paralyzed from a stroke, or having her legs amputated, and see if that wakes her up.

Your mother sounds like she needs some treatment for depression. Who on earth would tell their 17 year old that they want to be dead by 60? Next, your mother needs to make an appointment with a diabetic dietitian who can give her instruction on managing a diabetic diet. Then, she needs to start exercising which will keep her blood glucose levels down and promote some weight loss. You also have the right to call her doctor and tell him/her what she is doing and voice your concerns that she will die too young. Diabetes does not kill you quickly - it can be a slow, painful process as you have heart attack after heart attack that impairs your ability to work/function but does not kill you. Amputations of toes/feet so that you are wheelchair bound followed by later limb amputations. Dialysis because your kidneys no longer work. Blindness. You can go into the memory of her blood glucose machine (if she checks this at all) and see what her numbers are running. Good diabetes control is UNDER 120 for most people who do not use insulin. You can also go to WebMd.com and type in Diabetes Type 2 and read up on this. When you have knowledge, when you start pushing her to do more about her condition, you are giving the correct information. Lastly, you cannot make her do anything - this has to be her doing but you can encourage her when she makes correct food selections, encourage exercise or ask her to go for walks with you, encourage her to get treated for depression. Hope some of this helps.

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