I just got home from a pumpers' support group Christmas party, and saw the CDE who helped take care of me when I was in the hospital. And found out some frightening things. At the time, I was too out of it to realize what was going on -- it's a good thing she advocated for me!
The most frightening thing was because they assumed I was a classic Type 2, they also assumed that I didn't need insulin before meals. What??? That may be true for some early-stage Type 2's, but not for me -- and then they wondered why my BGs were always high.
Second, they assumed that if my bed-time BG was OK, then they didn't need to give me any insulin for overnight. And wondered why I was waking up sky-high.
She finally told them I was a Type 1 and that I had to have a constant supply of insulin. That's not exactly true -- I'm actually somewhere in the middle, with characteristics of both, but if it takes telling people I'm a Type 1 in order to get appropriate care, then I'm going to do that.
The take-away lesson is that you absolutely need to have someone familiar with you and your diabetic needs when you are in the hospital -- you may not be mentally alert enough to tell them yourself, and they may not listen to you anyway, so another emphatic voice may make the difference between getting well and NOT getting well.