A little restraint does wonders

[FenigDurak]

I just rang up a rather large snack sale for an older woman and her grandson. Normally, this wouldn't raise any flags with me, but there were a few things I heard that just makes me sad.

G = Grandma
B = Grandson


G- Don't tell your Momma that I'm buyin you candy. She said your diabetes is gettin' too bad to have candy.
Me -

B- -=wheeze wheeze wheeze=-
Me - *thinking* He's winded from walking 15 feet from the admitting area to my store?!

Kid places a huge bag of caramel corn, a Mars bar, a fistful of Airheads, a King Size Twix and a bottle of Pepsi on the counter, then leaves the counter to go find more.
G- Hurry up now. We gotta go get you back to your room. The nurse'll be mad if she sees you off the oxygen.

I weep for this child.

[BusyBee]

My face is now stuck like this
I think my brain broke.

[katie kaboom]

oh my lord, that is one evil, heartless grandma

[Foxglove8778]

huh. Isn't it usually the greedy grandchild trying to kill the wealthy grandma???

[Kara]

I don't know what standards or policies may dictate you at the store, but could you possibly report this? The grandmother, well meaning as she may be, is endangering this child's life. I guess if she didn't pay with check or credit card it may be hard to report. Maybe an anonymous tip to the children's ward of the hospital? I'm sure the nurses would know who the boy is.

[mariamousie1]

That sounds almost unbelievable. I wonder if it could be some kind of practical joke? But then again, it would be pretty lame...

[CrazedClerk]

Grandmothers will often do ANYTHING to please their grandkids, even if mom says no, but if it's a health risk....yeah there's no excuse.

[digilight]

If it was a child with diabetes then chances are it was juvinile diabetes or probably type 1 (most people who get it later in life get type 2).

FYI Type 1 is insuline dependent (they need insuline to counteract the sugar) and candy like that is even worse then type 2. (blood sugar goes from very low to very high the insuline helps regulate it and keep it as close to normal as possible)

type 2 or Adult onset diabetes you are not insuline dependent and can eat a moderate amount of "crap" but have to be careful about it. Here the blood sugar will get to high if not careful. Most treatment involves pill (Glucophage et al. ) to keep it under control. Only when it gets stupid high do you need insuline. My dad had to use insuline for a while when his hit real high 250+ with a high of over 700 (he was in the hospital and the steriods for his lungs sent it thru the roof).

Agree with the other poster saying that you should call the local hospital and give them a description of the boy and grandmother. Its not to late, you can still do it and possibly save a life.

[Sir Spaniard the 12th]

Ok.. the candy/diabetic part was bad enough to shock me.. but my jaw dropped when I read

'The nurse'll be mad if she sees you off the oxygen.'

[Myra]

Okay this is beyond grandma spoiling her grandbaby. This is some form of child abuse. At the very least, child endangerment. She KNOWS the candy could do detrimental things to his health...yet she's buying it for him anyway?? She KNOWS being off his oxygen is detrimental to his health...gah. Words fail me. I think I would've reported something. But I used to work in the medical field so I have no problem reporting someone when I see this sort of thing.

[mrsjfreak]

Upon hearing their conversation, you could have refused the sale. You have that right

[FenigDurak]

You're right, I did have the right to refuse their sale. I should have. I was just at that point in shock where my mind was relying on muscle memory to even ring anything up.

When I came in today, after reading the replies here, I called Peds and told them the whole thing. The charge nurse was astounded, to say the least. She knew exactly who I was referring to. It seems this is something of an ongoing issue with this little boy and his Grandmother. The little boy is undergoing physical therapy to help him lose a bit of weight in hopes of getting his diabetes under some semblance of control. I promised that in the future I wouldn't sell candy to them.

[IlovemyGeek]

can't she spoil him with something other then food?

[Andara Bledin]

OMFG! There is no way in hell I would even consider selling to that woman.

I tend to be pretty brassy normally, but if I had heard that conversation I would have told the woman (politely, mind you) that while I understand her desire to coddle her grandson that if she didn't want him to die before she did she would not take him from his hospital room and never in a million years give him candy when his blood sugar levels are already out of control.

I would have been blunt, and I would have been mean (to her, anyway), and I would hope to hell that the woman could be shocked into using her brain. I wonder if that kid even knows what will happen to him if he doesn't get things under control.

Now, since that's a kid, he's most likely got Type 1, which means that his system produces no insulin. Since he was in the hospital, his sugar levels were currently out of control which would mean he (or his parents) wasn't taking care of himself or that he was just diagnosed (not uncommon).

Type 1, while being difficult to deal with is actually much easier to control than Type 2. With Type 2 your body usually produces an uneven amount of insulin so that it's difficult to tell from day to day how much extra sugar you will have in your system after eating.

Most Type 1s have to eat at regular intervals to help keep everything under control. My ex was Type 1 and he could eat and drink absolutely anything he wanted as long as he kept himself tested and took his shots. Type 1s who aren't allergic to beef insulin can often be put on a much less restrictive regimen provided they are responsible about controlling their sugar levels.

^-.-^

[BookstoreEscapee]

I don't know, if this kid is significantly overweight (as another post by FD seems to indicate) there is a good chance he has Type 2...more and more kids are getting it because they are overweight and spend all their time watching TV and playing video games and eating junk. That's probably why they started calling it Type 2 - "adult onset" just isn't an accurate description anymore.

I can understand Grandma maybe slipping the kid a little piece of something sweet, a Hershey Kiss or something small, but all that?! While he's a patient in the hospital?!?! Methinks Grandma shouldn't be allowed unsupervised visits with this kid until someone gets it through her skull that she's killing him! If she wants to give him stuff, give him some books or a Gameboy to keep him occupied while he's stuck in bed...sheesh!