Gratitude - by Jen Hilt

"Gratitude" - by Jen Hilt

"At least it's not cancer", I must have heard this phrase at least 3 times during the aftermath of my son's diagnosis. Hearing this as a response to Henry's new diagnosis fueled my confusion, anger and depression. I was supposed to be grateful he had diabetes instead of some other awful illness? Why did he have to have any medical condition?
Around the same time, while working as a nurse, I needed to give a teen living with cancer an injection. The patient was notably apprehensive so I said in hopes of offering reassurance that "my son had diabetes so in addition to all my years giving injections, I give them to him several times a day." I was surprised to receive a pitying look from the teen, "I will recover from this cancer but your son will always have diabetes."
This wasn't what I was expecting to hear. To be candid, until someone figures out how to jump start a failed organ function this is true. And this young person with cancer sounded grateful not to have diabetes. Gratitude springs up in the most surprising places.

World Diabetes Day. Diabetes Awareness!

So we woke at home this morning thankfully feeling good and the hospital visit behind us, and how fitting it was his first day back at school after his stay at childrens and it is diabetes awareness day! Jared asked, what does that mean... he was already aware of how diabetes feels...

I told him it is so others know how it could affect them to, and how rampant it is ....

I did not go into these details with him, but got these from another great blog
A few facts:
-Every 10 seconds a person dies from diabetes-related causes.
-Every 10 seconds two people develop diabetes.
-Over 250 million people live with diabetes worldwide. In 2025, this figure will reach 380 million.
-More than 200 children a day develop type 1 diabetes.
-In developing countries, close to 75,000 children live with diabetes in desperate circumstances.
-Type 1 diabetes is increasing fastest in pre-school children, at a rate of 5% each year.

I have really enjoyed wandering through others blogs today and watching the videos of thier diabetic kids talking about their experiences... it has been enlightening... thanks for sharing.

Like all other days since June 20, 2007, Diabetes has my attention today! ;) We are completely aware! Spread the word!

Home again, home again, jiggity jig...

What a day! we ended up at children's ER after wondering why i was wondering how sick I was going to let Jared get before taking him.. needless to say.. shortly after the last post we were off. (I reflected on my own question, of how long to wait... and found my own answer)

I was glad we made it when we did, the ER was quiet and Jared was borderline DKA.. what does that mean.. well, pretty much at the point whereby classification they call it DKA is by lab results, and his were below the specified amount, by 1 unit...so he was considered DK (minus the A) no acidosis .. thank goodness... that is a bridge we have not yet crossed.

So after 11 hours we are home, with thier deliberation of if we needed to overnight there or not.. we opted to come home and go back again tomorrow for more follow up labs...

The concensus was ???? you heard it.. ????!!!! ...they said, they have no reason to tell us why this happened that they know of, since he had no symptoms of why this occured, but from what they have been seeing of 'diabetic kids', this seems to come and go for a few weeks, once it begins :( I am hoping we are the exception... and will chalk this up to a bad diabetic day :( and be happy with no reason... the ??? question marks come in because he had elevated white blood cell counts which indicate the body trying to fight infection.. only there was no infection to be found today... so we will take that test again tomorrow and see what was up there... they are hoping the problem will present itself, i am hoping the problem will resolve itself. Their business, vs. my business! I hope we win ;)

They did mention if i had waited much longer we would have had DKA to deal with... so good thing we did not wait... I do have to say.. they mentioned why did i not check ketones earlier.. I have to be honest.. ,and not saying i am perfect and i am not going to beat myself up over this, but a kid with a weekly average of 148 BG was not indicating illness, did not lead me to feel the need to check... they mentioned that with abnormal lows, there is reason to check which did preceed the high before the ketones 3 days prior... albeit (or is it all be it?) I guess the bottom line, is to now add one more repetoire to the 'to do' list and do random ketones tests.. just because?!?!?

Bottom line: trust your mommy (or daddy) instincts... you know them best... and even if and when you question yourself... belive in yourself.

Tonight, Jared is playing and back to his normal self... strange...but glorious.. home again, home again.. jiggity jig :)

p.s they had 4 dr's check his cough.. they say it is a perfect age for boys to develop some sort of nervous tick... and for now... this is his.

The Ketones are not a band...

Woke up this morning.... (nope not the beginning of any hit song) but the anthem of a morning with ketones... not sure where they came from.... in fact Large ketones were, and are ...so.... left field...

We have been up since the wee hours and Jared has a bad tummy ache now. We are trying to treat them at home with consult of childrens hospital.. but this has not happened to us before except with the tummy flu...

the most interesting part of this, is the phone dr said well it sounds like his cough has developed him some ketones.. I told him we were told for the past 2 months that it is a habitual cough...
he suggested we get it checked out again by a different dr....

What and when do you go to the hospital for treatment? The ketones seem to be joined by vomiting now.... hummm...chicken or egg...??? ketones or flu???

interesting...

very interesting...

send us potent insulin wishes and no ketones dreams...

that feeling...

I have had a hard time today shaking 'that feeling' last night was one of those odd nights, when Jared ate something he often does, we know the carb count, we didn't do anything out of the extraordinary.. went to bed with a in range number... and when we checked him at 10:30.. he was 44! why? .. i know..., you know...., all us parents of diabetics and diabetics alike know..., there is no reason.. i rechecked the BG history, his carb history, and his bolus and basal history.. nothing again out of the ordinary...

we treated him and waited the 15 minutes... still needed more... but not too much.. don't want him waking up at 300~~ well... we waited 15 minutes more and barely in range... but on the rise we decided he was on an upward trend and it was safe for us all to go back to bed.. he woke at 65... again strange.. these strange days leave me with "that feeling" that unsettled feeling that no matter how hard we try to 'control' diabetes, it has its own agenda.

I am also still waiting on the celiac and vitamin D results from his last endo appt... and so i feel... unsettled. I was actually unable to really be alone and okay this am.. after dropping off the kids, i usually come home to do freelance work, or run errands, or have a whole list of things to do, or that i could do.. but today I chose (i think) to erase my mind... well, i could not think of one thing that i wanted or was supposed to do... Thank goodness my neighbor and good friend called and asked me if i wanted to join her for a bit and carpool to pick up our kids. I think that feeling was that i really needed a hug, and a friend...I was feeling down and needed a hug.. those nights suck and really make me appreciate that we catch the lows and so far have avoided the consesquences of not... but that low, made me feel 'low' and carried right to the morning... I think it was waking my little boy over and over to force him to drink in the night, from his slumber... to wake him from his peaceful dreams to poke him with a glucose test.. or his reality (yes, pun intended!)

.. thankfully the sun is shining, and I am feeling better now, .. and all is right again.

Anxiety? or a bad habit?

So my son has picked up a habit... no, no, he is way to young for smoking or drinnking... he has a nervous cough... he habitually clears his throat.. we have been told it is not physiological, but rather habitual.. and for now, I will belive them...
Has this happened to any of your diabetic kids or friends? or is this just a personal thing... I mean, sure a 6 year old with diabetes has more stress than the average 6 year old.. but still.. enough to perpetuate the constant clearing of a throat? OY! Playing at the park, swimming class, in the movies, at school.. most of the day...... not when he sleeps, but aside, most of the time..

any insight?

the only diabetic i grew up with had an eye tick... figured it was unrelated...and so i am hoping for my sons ... just a 'phase' I can deal with... but does it ever go away? (It has been almost 3 months now)

*Note : isn't it funny how we can reasonably calm others about these issues, but can't always seem to grasp it when it is so close to home ;)