CDE Carolyn Robertson advises people with diabetes, particularly type 1 or type 2 who use insulin, to have a letter from their doctor should they need to go into the hospital with coronavirus. Of course, I’m glad to have this letter should I need hospitalization for any reason. According to Carolyn the letter should make these points:
- You have insulin dependent diabetes and require insulin continuously to survive
- Your medical conditions, medications with dose and timing, allergies
- Diabetes team member name and phone number
I wrote my doctor a draft letter based on this information and then he finessed it and put it on his hospital’s stationary. Feel free to use this as a sample for your own doctor. (I have omitted my doctor’s identifying information).
At the bottom of the letter my endo put his name, telephone number and the hospital he’s affiliated with.
I asked my endo to do this over email and he sent it back in three days. Three years ago I lost my last endo after 9 years with her when her hospital stopped taking my insurance. My current endo is definitely the silver lining that emerged from that fiasco.
