Our story begins on Jan 25, 2009. My son Matthew age 8, had been feeling ill for a few days, vomiting, tired, pale and thirsty. (I myself had just gotten over a bout of the stomach flu), thinking he had more of the same, he just didn’t seem to be getting any better.
We called our doc and he suggested a trip to the ER for fluids for dehydration. We went in the put us in the back and did a blood draw and started an IV, with a med student and a nurse. A very short while later the ER MD came into the room to talk to us. Matthew’s blood sugar was 520, my jaw dropped to the floor ( I would of never thought of diabetes, no one in our family was diabetic) They quickly moved us in front over the nurses station, until a PICU bed was available.
The first night in PICU was very scary. our nurse helped a lot, her daughter had just been diagnosed a few months before. We then moved to the pediatric unit for a couple of nights to get the fast load of diabetes 101. then we were discharged, we came home and tried to adjust, a few days later our daughter Allison age 5, was becoming increasingly whiney and thirsty. I wanted to test her, my husband told me not to transfer my feeling of our son to her. Well, we waited a couple of more days and finally broke down and tested her on Feb 2, 2009, her blood sugar was 594. (I didn’t want to believe it) In shock we called our brand new Endocrinologist, he told us to come to the ER for confirmation, In DKA but let us go home, because hey we already got the diabetes 101 in the hospital.
Five months later, here we are a family with a whole new perspective on life, a new way of living day to day. Checking BG, counting carbs, and giving injections for 2. It could always be worse. We are a happy family living the new normal. Hopefully pumps will be in our near future, as the paperwork just faxed 2 days ago. One of the hardest things in our new life is the cost. We have insurance yet they only pay 50% for all diabetic supplies, you can all do the math all supplies x 2.
Yes, its hard, but we will do it, We are a strong family unit. I have learned how strong we are lately, and I am so proud of my children for their bravery.
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