Check Up

Kyli had a check up last week and I am proud to say that it went the best they have so far!  Kyli's A1C was 7.0, which is awesome :) She is honeymooning so her body is still helping, but the longer it stays like this the healthier Kyli will stay! This was the first appointment that really has felt positive for me.  They were really happy with all the daily blood sugar checks we do. As a matter of fact they told us we could stop with the snack sugar checks for now...while that sounds peachy, often after he nap, her sugars are low and we need to know how to bump her. So we may take the recommendation, but maybe not for my own comforts sake and Kyli does not mind finger pokes...We changed her carb ration for Breakfast and Dinner, if she eats 25 carbs she will now get a .25 unit dose of Humalog.  Compared to most diabetics, this is nothing, but nonetheless we still have to give her a shot.  The only thing that concerned them was that Kyli has not gained weight since our September diagnosis. She was sick right before Christmas so here is hoping we have a little poundage gain by April. They were also very happy with how her Honeymoon Phase is going.  She still requires very little insulin and that makes me happy.  She also manages quite a bit of the sugars on her own.  So yay for the parts that are working!!!

Our Christmas Adventure

Our Christmas celebration started off just the way I wanted it to.  On the day the world was supposed to end, ours started a new adventure, Mike graduated from CU with his bachelors in Business!!!

 

We had an awesome time. The kids behaved amazingly and all was well.  Well, except that Kyli's sugars had been running high for about a week and a half and I had convinced myself that her honeymoon was over...

 

 

Moving forward ONE day, Kyli wakes up the next morning, within 5 minutes of being awake, she vomits. Uh-oh...She then proceeds with these actions every one to two hours and cannot keep anything down.  Immediately, I find my sick management packet (thank you Barbara Davis Center!) I grab Kyli's notebook and start logging, temps, sugars, ketones and anything she drinks.  I watched her ketones go from healthy to dangerous levels in two hours.  This is when I curse her pancreas for not working, she could not manage her sugars while under duress...I have to call her Dr. They tell me to watch her for a little if nothing changes, head to the ER.  Of course, nothing changes so we head to the ER. And really when you have a sick 3 year old, most being like Kyli,  I could promise ponies and swimming pools full of chocolate and she wouldn't do what I want her to. A few things I learned about Er's, Kyli and diabetes.  1. Make sure they are not an overly busy hospital. 2. Make sure that they know a few things about diabetes. 3. When your endocrinologist tells you to have the ER Dr call them, express urgency and make sure they actually do.  4. AND THE MOST IMPORTANT- make sure they have a children's wing. 

 

Kyli's blood sugars were dropping so quickly and her ketones were skyrocketing, all I could think about was getting her to a hospital to get her help, so I choose the closest one. BIG MISTAKE!  For now on, I will drive her to Children's Hospital, it will take about 10-15 minutes longer, but I will feel safer and know they choose to be in direct contact with Kyli's Dr's. 

 

So, we sit at the closest ER for about 6 hours, the whole while, Mike and I are testing her blood sugars nd her ketones every hour, this particular ER checked her blood sugars with their machine ONCE and then it took them hours to get the results back.  We could not get Kyli's sugars above 100, for her that was BAD!  They finally called Kyli's doctor and determined she would need to be watched awhile longer. So they juiced her with sugar, got her up to 107 and let us go quickly.  Mike, Kyli and I headed to Children's, while this is not for most, because of Kyli being in her honeymoon phase, we have a little leeway and knew we could safely get there on our own.  Once we reached the ER at Children's (they knew we were coming) we got in almost immediately and her sugars had dropped to 74 in about 40 minutes.  Just so you know, an average blood sugar for Kyli should be between 80-200. We are observed a little longer and they realize she cannot be stabilized, we are finally admitted at 11:00pm. 

 

Let me just say this, with how quickly things happened, I knew Kyli was going to be admitted, as a matter of fact, I threw together a quick bag with some belongings so that I would have something.  Thank goodness, they only downfall, I did not think we would be in the hospital for a total of 4 days.

 

Kyli struggled with getting better, her sugars would not stay above 100, they had to raise the amount of sugar in her fluids three times. She did not want to eat, every time she went to nap, her numbers plummeted and the doctors felt the urge to wake her and try and get her to eat, which did not happen. They second day she decided she was not quite ready to start getting better so vomited all over the comfy clothes I had brought to make that very point...Mike had to make a clothing run so I had some thing for the evening.  The third day she finally started eating a bit but still her sugars would not increase. The evening of the 3rd night, also known as Christmas Eve, they decided to try a change, they started weaning her off the sugar in her fluids until they stopped the fluids completely, she had one drastic drop, but her body recovered and was able to stay around 100.

On Christmas Day, Santa dropped by and brought Kyli a Build a Bear.  Not long after, we were able to bust out and take Kyli home.  While I was waiting for Mike to bring the truck around, a young little girl and her family came into Children's with gifts for some children.  The young girl gave Kyli one of the gifts.  It was a full sized American Girls Doll.  Miss Kyli is the proud owner of a Josefina doll. As awesome as the gifts were, it was the best day because it was the first time I saw Noah in three days. We were blessed enough for Mike's family to watch him while I stayed with Kyli. Noah was even sweet enough to leave Santa a note asking him to leave all the presents at our house so he could open them with Kyli when she came home. He is such an amazing little soul.

 

 

While I would love to say after that everything was great, that is not entirely true. Kyli took the better part of another 2 weeks to get completely better. She struggled with her sugars getting above 100 and with eating.  That evil little bug she had did a number on her.

 

All in all, we learned quite a bit about Kyli, diabetes and what it means in coordination with illness. At least until Kyli is old enough to listen and do what we tell her, I hate to say it, but we will end up in the hospital each time some thing a little more serious than a cold gets her, but I am okay with it, as long as she is cared for by knowledgeable and loving nurses and doctors. 

 

Oh and those high sugars Kyli had had before her hospitalization, they were because of her looming illness...

Diabetes

Since Kyli was diagnosed on Sept 21, 2012, only about 3 1/2 months ago, I have struggled with the idea that this is going to be a permanent aspect of our lives. I do not consider it a burden, or a punishment, or anything like that. What I struggle with is that this is not something we can take a vacation from. Wherever we go, it goes.  EVEN when we are in vacation, we still have to be concerned about her sugars, more so due to the change of activity and excitement. If we get sick, we have to check it more often. If she is more active than normal, we need to make sure we are checking her sugars. If she sleeps late, if she eats more than normal, if she has a lazy day, if she goes for a walk, if she goes to gymnastics, whatever she does we have to ensure her sugars are within a safe range.

The other day, while I was laying down with Kyli after our hospital visit of 4 days (that will be another day), Kyli being her very loving and sweet self, grabbed me around the neck, hugged me ferociously and then said, "Mommy, I love you" and then of course sealed with a big wet sloppy kiss.  In that moment, I realized that EVERYTHING is going to be more that just okay. Mike and I are taking great care of her and she is loved, very loved. She is happy and she truly only HAS diabetes. She is NOT diabetic. It is a characteristic only, she is so much more.  What makes my heart so happy is that now, almost always, I view her has Kyli and that is it.  Only when we have to test sugars, or she is acting odd does the reminder that she has diabetes come out. The fact that I have to view her with diabetes still makes me sad, but at the same time it empowers me.  I want to spread knowledge about Kyli and her disease. People seem to understand so little about type 1 diabetes versus type 2. As a matter of fact, yesterday I went to Barnes and Noble and looked at the books they have for diabetes. EVERY SINGLE ONE was about type 2. While I understand that more people are diagnosed with type 2, type 1 needs more books out there and more knowledge. We need books out there that show parents like me that we are not alone and that we are not the only one who has a child diagnosed at a very young.  The only reason I am more comfortable with Kyli's diagnosis at 2 was because we did a Diabetic Retreat a few months ago and I was FINALLY able to speak with a few parents that had an early diagnosis too. It is nice to have doctors that know how to help Kyli's diabetes but it is completely different when it is your own child.

What I guess I am trying to say is that I know that God will never give us more than we can handle, but I have found a peace with what he has given us and a strength in knowing that we can prosper with this diagnosis.