As a parent, you get used to your kids getting sick. They catch every cold and flu bug that comes around, you take care of them (cough syrup, fever reducers, etc.) they share it with you, life goes on.
Then what you thought was a simple case of the flu takes on nightmare aspects.
My daughter came home early monday morning with the flu, the whole school is getting it right now. She threw up a few times Monday, same thing Tuesday. Tuesday night it went to hell in a handbasket. She threw up repeatedly all night long.
Here comes the nightmare: She is at the age where she wants mom close by when she’s sick, but doesn’t want me in there when she is actually being sick. So I was aware she was throwing up all night but I didn’t see how bad she looked until morning. She looked like a walking skeleton, literally. She was severely dehydrated, incoherent and could barely stand.
So I took her to the emergency room to get her IV liquids. I was thinking at least 2 bags of saline fluid, then we’ld go home, have some soup and take a nap.
10 minutes after I got there I was informed that she didn’t have the flu, her blood sugar level was over 1000, and she was diagnosed with sudden onset of juvenile/Type 1 Diabetes. My whole world turned upside down in the space of ten minutes. I kept thinking, No she just has the flu, I don’t know what you people are talking about. She just needs fluids.
Everything is fine now, she is stable and responding to insulin, we brought her home this afternoon. I’m very nervous, but they taught us everything we need to do for her and we have the phone number of the Nurse who is in charge of Diabetic Education. I must tell you he is a wonderful man who walked us through everything and calmed all our fears. %|
Thanks guys, the last few days have been rough, but it seems everything will be okay now.
Now if mom here would just relax, life would be good. I’m really nervous about screwing up and making her sick.
We just did dinner and her first shot by ourselves. LOL, you should have seen us reading the ingredient info and counting, double checking and redouble checking. I bet we looked just as scared as we felt. %|
Thats very sad, im sorry to hear you and your daughters troubles. I hope you will be able to overcome this and live a nice normal ajusted life, and that there are no other big scares like that one you had.
I think I know how it feels. My mother, father, and one of my brother have diabetes. My mom and dad have had it for quite a while, so they’ve adjusted pretty fine to not being able to drink normal soda. (For those who don’t know: When you have diabetes, you can’t have too much sugar.)
My brother, however, hates diet soda, and drinks too much normal soda. He seems to be able to drink Diet Pepsi now, but I remember one time, he had eaten this whole bucket of something like “flavored ice” or “shredded ice” or something, and his whole mouth was swollen. Though he had Type 2 (I think), he had to start getting insulin injections (Type 1s need them, Type 2s don’t). It was awful.
But in all fairness, this brother deserves it. He never shuts up about stupid things, he always has to make things miserable, and he always has to have things his way.
Dreamsgate: Read “Sugar Isn’t Everything,” by Willo Davis Roberts. It sounds very much like your daughter’s experience.
BTW: Her blood sugar was 1000?! WHOA! I know that you’re supposed to keep it around 120 or so. I’m not sure about it right now (it’s been a while since I read “Sugar Isn’t Everything”), but doesn’t blood sugar being really high for diabetics get dangerous to the point where there’s a possibility of death? I might be wrong, but thank goodness you got her to the hospital.
Really, dreamsgate, read “Sugar Isn’t Everything.” It’s really good, and it helps to understand diabetes.
Thanks Cube, I will, In fact I will be doing alot of reading and research. And yes 1000 is way way too high. They want her between 80 and 120. Unfortunately when you are first diagnosed, the level is generally very high.
My bro got Diabetes when he was five. He had a hard time with it, and having a horrible nurse didn’t help. He’s ten now, and still doesn’t like shots.
I wish you luck. I would hate it to happen to me…
You have to cut back on chocolate, except the sugar free variaty. And don’t stop your daughter playing sport. My brother still loves football, and is about 1000x as active as me. Just keep things in control…
My daughter is 10. She seems to be fairly okay with shots and finger pokes. We have full plans to have her be as active as possible. We aren’t going to let this stop her from doing anything she wants.
In fact mommy here is doing much better this morning. BG was 154, we survived the night on our own and we are feeling a lot more confident.
Thanks everybody for all your good wishes. It helps more than you all know.
geez, that sounds serious! i know two diabetics that’re at my school, and they’re having a pretty hard time. i hope your daughter doesnt suffer from this too much. good luck!
seval: she seems to be taking it well, we have kept nothing back from her. Yesterday it did dawn on her that this was forever, she cried for a little bit, but I explained that she could do everything just like before, we just had to watch her blood sugar, that was the only difference in her life.
LOL, she still has chores, homework, taking care of her dog, life goes on.
Timondies: Mommy is doing much better today, it gets easier as you go along.
Heh, my first post after all this time on elysiun and it is in the off-topic forum. However, this is a subject that I am at least somewhat qualified to post an opinion on… My mate was diagnosed with type 2 almost 2 years ago and has done so well in complying with the dietary and exercise requirements that her hemoglobin A1C tests ( a 3 month average blood sugar test) are now in the normal range ( ~110 ). In fact she is actually in better shape than she was when diagnosed. This is just to show you that with a bit of determination she can do extremely well and be healthier than ever.
Here are a few quick tips:
Check with your doctor about getting a Lifescan One touch ultra blood sugar monitor—takes a much smaller drop of blood === you can take readings on your forearm so no sore fingers! Also has an interface (optional) and program (free download) to record and graph many different trends on your pc
sugar is not your only worry - any complex carbohydrate can be a problem:
a baked potato can spike your BS (blood sugar) more than a tablespoon of pure sugar
thin white pasta, white bread, white rice and chips also spike the BS badly- whole wheat products and brown rice seem to be much better as they are absorbed much more slowly (thick pastas are better for the same reason)
veggies are your friend! (just what any kid wants to hear)
exercise is an essential part of treatment!
There is lots more of course, the web is full of good into. I hope that this helps a bit.
Just keep things in control…