Fairfield Memorial Hospital is offering a special Diabetes Dialogue Meeting on Thursday, March 15th at 4:00 pm in the FMH Medical Arts Complex Education Room. Fairfield Memorial Hospital’s Certified Diabetes Educator, Stephen Welty, RN, CDE, will lead a discussion on the various diabetes medications, from pills to injectables, new ideas and old ideas. While the idea for some may be to control diabetes without medication, many people with diabetes will need some form of diabetes medication at some point in their life. Stephen is a strong advocate for using exercise, weight control, and meal planning as their medicine; however, he realizes the importance of focusing on what is best for each individual and helping them obtain good blood sugar control and balance.
As the Certified Diabetes Educator, Stephen is not a prescriber of medications, but has several years of experience working with individuals who have Diabetes. Therefore, he has an easy-to-understand approach to breaking down the different medication classes, side effects of medications, reason to take a certain diabetes medication or reasons why an individual shouldn’t take certain meds, proper use of injectable medications, and how to afford some of these expensive medications.
“I’ve found that many people are not taking or injecting their medicine correctly. This is often a key reason why their blood sugar is not under control. While there are several options in today’s world for Diabetes medications, all too often people are not using them correctly,” stated Stephen.
Using Diabetes medication incorrectly can be a serious safety issue for people with Diabetes. Also, when used incorrectly, many people may have other side effects, poorly controlled blood sugar, or may be spending too much money on diabetes medications that may not be working for their body.
“My role is to help everyone with Diabetes understand the best way to keep the balance of their blood sugar for optimal control of their Diabetes and set them up for success,” added Stephen.
While some medications are affordable, many diabetes medications are very expensive. There are coupons available to assist in making them more affordable. Some may not be aware of which diabetes medications provide certain side effects or may cause other problems. If you find yourself in this position, please plan to attend and learn more on this very important, safety topic about diabetes medications.
Using diabetes medications properly, can provide good, safe control at affordable prices, providing a better quality of life, and limiting complications. My goal is to ensure that the many
individuals using Diabetes medications incorrectly are educated to use them properly for optimal health outcomes,” emphasized Steve.
Event details can be found on FMH’s Facebook page. Feel free to contact Stephen Welty, RN, CDE, at 618-842-4617 ext. 4812, who sees patients through Horizon Healthcare. He is available Thursday and Fridays to answer any questions or you can schedule an individual Diabetes Education appointment through Horizon Healthcare at 618-842-4617.
