Diabetes or septic shock?...

My 42 year old brother-in-law died Thursday morning around 5:00 a.m. He was admitted to Medical Center East Wednesday morning after his wife couldn't wake him. His blood sugar was over 600 and we assumed he had gone into a diabetic coma even though he had never been diagnosed as being diabetic. His blood pressure was extremely low and his heart rate over 100, at one point around 170. He saw his physician the previous Monday after a bout with nausea and was given a steroid shot because the doctor believed he had a stomach flu. The next day, he almost passed out and the paramedics were called. They checked his vital signs and said he was OK. The next day he was in the hospital fighting for his life. As I said, we all assumed he was diabetic, but after a CAT scan, it was discovered his pancreas was damaged. My question is did my brother-in-law die from diabetes or septic shock? Did his physician and/or the paramedics, screw up and miss what was happening? Is there anything that could have been done differently, within reason, that could have saved his life?

[JDRF-Team-LRS]

Oh, I'm so sorry for your sudden loss.  

It must be devastating for everyone to have the situation turn so quickly and unexpectedly.

None of us here are physicians, so unfortunately we can't really help you interpret what's happened or provide a second medical opinion.

I hope that soon the medical staff involved will do a more thorough debriefing to see what, if any, details may've been missed or if his passing was the result of a tragic mix of conditions and treatments.  

I'm so sorry for your loss, as I'm sure everyone who read your post is, and only hope that you & your family will find the strength and support you need to deal with it.

[JDRF-Team-maw]

All of us here at the Forum are very sorry to hear of your loss.  Just as LRS has stated, we are only volunteers here for support and are not able to provide any medical expertise.  The best advice we can offer is what LRS has already suggested...Have the doctors do a little more research into finding what the problem was with your brother-in-law.  It is a terrible thing to lose a loved one and even worse when you have no explanation as to why or what caused the tragedy.

Please take care of yourself and post here with any more questions.

[sueki]

Steroids can raise the blood glucose level even in people without diabetes. If he was given steriods, this might have happened. SueK