Sometimes I don't know how much information people want. However, tonight, I realize it doesn't matter. It's the amount of information people NEED. Is it scary to give your child (or grandchild or nephew ) shots? Yes. You don't want to hurt them.
But you know what? A friend I've had for 5 years (We met on a November 08 birth board online - her son and mine actually share a birthday!) is with her son at their local children's hospital because of new onset Type 1 Diabetes. She realized it due to me posting Ollie's symptoms. So yeah, it's what people NEED to know, not want.
Monday, March 18, 2013
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Staycation 2013
This past week Doug took off for my Spring Break. We didn't go anywhere overnight, just stayed home.
Well, as much as our family stays home. You'll soon learn (if you haven't already) that we're an On The Go Family. Monday we went to the Massanutten Water Park (although, looking at the link it says it's always 84 in there, um, I was cold!). The kids had a blast in the "Crazy River" (ie, Lazy River" and we LOVED that it had double tubes where one had a bottom the kids could sit in! SO much better than other places we've been where we've had to finagle the kids on our laps or hold them on the tube. 10000 Thumbs up on that, Massanutten!! Ollie did a bunch of slides on his own, both kids loved swimming in the pool area. We can't wait to go back this summer! Too bad it won't be as un-crowded as it was last week - there was minimal waiting for everything except the big adult tube slides! What, you thought Diabetes would slow us down? Heck no!
Wednesday was our first Endocrine follow up appointment. The day started with us having to wake him up early (bad juju 1), him not eat all of his breakfast (bad juju 2) and him fall asleep during the appointment (actually not bad). His BS was 125 (even without eating all his cereal!) and his A1C was 10.4 - I was mistakenly told 9.8 in the hospital it was actually 11.8 - sliiiight difference, eh?? We were told we're doing excellently with pretty much everything. The dietician was happily surprised to see we have a log book of everything he's eaten since he was diagnosed (although, this week it hasn't been 100% accurate, oops). The attending Dr was nice, although he told us to not give him so many cheese sticks after the initial period.. I'm still scratching my head over that one. Good news: We were told that if Ollie's numbers continue to be normal over night we can drop at least one check soon! They were going to tell us to drop one at the appointment, but he'd been having some lows overnight that week. We changed his dinner carb ratio and his Lantus dose. We also got a Lantus pen (instead of a vial of meds with a syringe). It has its pros and cons - pros, it's more accurate dosing, it's easy to use, nice to have 2 different systems (the Humalog is still vial/syringe) so they don't get confused, you can't get bubbles in it. Cons, however - it can't do half units and there's some leak back we're dealing with (leak back is when you pull the needle out, there's a bubble of med on the skin, so he didn't get the whole dose). All in all, I really like it! I wish we could have both be pens, but we really need the half unit of Humalog right now.
The rest of the week was quieter (well, minus Emi chirping "Wadoo pack??"[water park?] every once in a while. Happily, we correctly bolused for a breakfast buffet, pizza and a piece of cake. No, that wasn't one meal :P Olliver is starting to slow down on eating. He's starting to not scarf everything on his plate and then some. He's also not always begging for snacks right after a meal. Doug and I were talking yesterday - we're both getting better at being able to tell when his sugar is out of whack. We've had several lows this week - and Ollie can tell, too. He's pretty good at telling us to check his finger, or ask for his "green bag" (his meter and supplies are in a camo type bag).
I know I've said it before, and I'm sure I'll say it again.. however, Ollie is doing amazing. We tested sugar at the water park, we gave an injection in Panera, we tested his sugar in the car... he hardly complains (especially for a cranky 4 yr old who doesn't know really what's going on!). I know it sucks for him, it does for all of us! But we're getting a routine (he likes to use the alcohol wipe himself, pick where we're injecting/testing, he likes to check the needle to make sure it's there, he likes to see the medicine in the syringe, etc) and it's working.
Well, as much as our family stays home. You'll soon learn (if you haven't already) that we're an On The Go Family. Monday we went to the Massanutten Water Park (although, looking at the link it says it's always 84 in there, um, I was cold!). The kids had a blast in the "Crazy River" (ie, Lazy River" and we LOVED that it had double tubes where one had a bottom the kids could sit in! SO much better than other places we've been where we've had to finagle the kids on our laps or hold them on the tube. 10000 Thumbs up on that, Massanutten!! Ollie did a bunch of slides on his own, both kids loved swimming in the pool area. We can't wait to go back this summer! Too bad it won't be as un-crowded as it was last week - there was minimal waiting for everything except the big adult tube slides! What, you thought Diabetes would slow us down? Heck no!
Wednesday was our first Endocrine follow up appointment. The day started with us having to wake him up early (bad juju 1), him not eat all of his breakfast (bad juju 2) and him fall asleep during the appointment (actually not bad). His BS was 125 (even without eating all his cereal!) and his A1C was 10.4 - I was mistakenly told 9.8 in the hospital it was actually 11.8 - sliiiight difference, eh?? We were told we're doing excellently with pretty much everything. The dietician was happily surprised to see we have a log book of everything he's eaten since he was diagnosed (although, this week it hasn't been 100% accurate, oops). The attending Dr was nice, although he told us to not give him so many cheese sticks after the initial period.. I'm still scratching my head over that one. Good news: We were told that if Ollie's numbers continue to be normal over night we can drop at least one check soon! They were going to tell us to drop one at the appointment, but he'd been having some lows overnight that week. We changed his dinner carb ratio and his Lantus dose. We also got a Lantus pen (instead of a vial of meds with a syringe). It has its pros and cons - pros, it's more accurate dosing, it's easy to use, nice to have 2 different systems (the Humalog is still vial/syringe) so they don't get confused, you can't get bubbles in it. Cons, however - it can't do half units and there's some leak back we're dealing with (leak back is when you pull the needle out, there's a bubble of med on the skin, so he didn't get the whole dose). All in all, I really like it! I wish we could have both be pens, but we really need the half unit of Humalog right now.
The rest of the week was quieter (well, minus Emi chirping "Wadoo pack??"[water park?] every once in a while. Happily, we correctly bolused for a breakfast buffet, pizza and a piece of cake. No, that wasn't one meal :P Olliver is starting to slow down on eating. He's starting to not scarf everything on his plate and then some. He's also not always begging for snacks right after a meal. Doug and I were talking yesterday - we're both getting better at being able to tell when his sugar is out of whack. We've had several lows this week - and Ollie can tell, too. He's pretty good at telling us to check his finger, or ask for his "green bag" (his meter and supplies are in a camo type bag).
I know I've said it before, and I'm sure I'll say it again.. however, Ollie is doing amazing. We tested sugar at the water park, we gave an injection in Panera, we tested his sugar in the car... he hardly complains (especially for a cranky 4 yr old who doesn't know really what's going on!). I know it sucks for him, it does for all of us! But we're getting a routine (he likes to use the alcohol wipe himself, pick where we're injecting/testing, he likes to check the needle to make sure it's there, he likes to see the medicine in the syringe, etc) and it's working.
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
12 days later....
12 days later.. people might assume it's all gravy now, huh?
Nope.
Diabetes is an asshole. Sorry, that's the best word I can think of. It sneaks in and takes my precious boy and turns him into a lunatic. Screaming that he's hungry. Crying he doesn't want "his leg" (ie insulin). Whining in general. It's amazing to be able to step back and see him having a tantrum and now go "Oh, yep. He's high" (and I mean that in the best way possible. Although, this way sucks too.. and he has no control over it).
The good part is we ARE getting used to it. We now know we DO NOT leave the house without the insulin, even if we're just running to the store. You never know if it'll take longer than you expect and you need to grab lunch (or, you know, if you're looking at car lots for cars and your kid will see Red Lobster and beg to eat there, you get out of the car, look at your husband and both say "You grabbed the insulin, right?" and have to get BACK in the car to drive home to get it. You know. Hypothetically). We've also learned that Zinga has a no sugar added vanilla (Ollie's favorite) that has 16g of carbs for about a 1/2 cup. Everyone keeps telling me ice cream is a great bed time snack, so why not? ;)
Want to know the rest of the list of stuff we can't leave without? Blood monitor, test strips, lancets, "pokey thing" (the needle), cotton balls, band aids (several types so he can pick), log book, pen, syringes, alcohol wipes, low fat cheese sticks, no sugar added Jello, several 15g snacks (Cheerios, nuts, Teddy Grahams, etc), juice boxes (in case of a low), sippies with water, Glucagon pen, Ketone strips and the Calorie King book that gives us nutritional info on places we eat. Oh, plus Little Sister's diapers, wet bag, extra clothes and binkies. Yep. Never complain about a regular diaper bag again!
One of my lessons for "non T1D" folk: The next time you see a mom with a kid, and the kid is a screaming, crying brat.. think twice before you think the kid IS a brat. There could be a multitude of issues that could be causing it.
Nope.
Diabetes is an asshole. Sorry, that's the best word I can think of. It sneaks in and takes my precious boy and turns him into a lunatic. Screaming that he's hungry. Crying he doesn't want "his leg" (ie insulin). Whining in general. It's amazing to be able to step back and see him having a tantrum and now go "Oh, yep. He's high" (and I mean that in the best way possible. Although, this way sucks too.. and he has no control over it).
The good part is we ARE getting used to it. We now know we DO NOT leave the house without the insulin, even if we're just running to the store. You never know if it'll take longer than you expect and you need to grab lunch (or, you know, if you're looking at car lots for cars and your kid will see Red Lobster and beg to eat there, you get out of the car, look at your husband and both say "You grabbed the insulin, right?" and have to get BACK in the car to drive home to get it. You know. Hypothetically). We've also learned that Zinga has a no sugar added vanilla (Ollie's favorite) that has 16g of carbs for about a 1/2 cup. Everyone keeps telling me ice cream is a great bed time snack, so why not? ;)
Want to know the rest of the list of stuff we can't leave without? Blood monitor, test strips, lancets, "pokey thing" (the needle), cotton balls, band aids (several types so he can pick), log book, pen, syringes, alcohol wipes, low fat cheese sticks, no sugar added Jello, several 15g snacks (Cheerios, nuts, Teddy Grahams, etc), juice boxes (in case of a low), sippies with water, Glucagon pen, Ketone strips and the Calorie King book that gives us nutritional info on places we eat. Oh, plus Little Sister's diapers, wet bag, extra clothes and binkies. Yep. Never complain about a regular diaper bag again!
One of my lessons for "non T1D" folk: The next time you see a mom with a kid, and the kid is a screaming, crying brat.. think twice before you think the kid IS a brat. There could be a multitude of issues that could be causing it.
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
3AM
My alarm goes off - 3AM. Doug and I roll out of bed, get the meter and everything together, I put on the headlight (yes, we wear an oh, so fashionable flashlight headlamp. It was actually a kind of gag gift for Doug for Christmas!). I poke Ollie's finger - great drop of blood first try! The meter reads it (287 if you were wondering), we get everything put away in probably under 5 minutes! I'm reaching for the sharps box and .... Drop the lancet. We're talking a tiny little semi clear/light blue thing on our white bathroom floor.
It's still missing. Be careful if you go into my bathroom.
It's still missing. Be careful if you go into my bathroom.
Monday, February 25, 2013
Totally Not Current Normal New Normal
I'm not an idiot. I like to think of myself as a fairly educated person. Add on to that the facts that I've worked in an Emergency Room (as a secretary, but you pick up on a lot being in an environment like that) and I'm in a Respiratory Therapy program, I have a good portion of medical knowledge.
That being said, when I took my son to the pediatrician on Friday 2/22/13, for what I assumed to be a stomach bug, maybe the flu, worst case scenario appendicitis (Olliver had been complaining on and off of stomach pain for a week or so, had been throwing up and very lethargic for 2 days) and the pediatrician had a nurse come check his blood sugar - my brain was confused. Blood sugar? Why would that be an issue? I guess he's just checking it for a baseline to rule it out. When the meter read 544 - my brain went even FASTER. WHY is it so high? Dr M came back in and could read my face - I knew that was super high. Like, holy crap high. He told me that Ollie has diabetes and is in DKA. All of a sudden the past couple weeks made sense. Olliver had started drinking tons of water and peeing more. I figured this was just good habits. He had been eating more - I figured a growth spurt. Ollie had been getting SUPER cranky before meals (which I now know is his blood sugar peeking). His "tummy bug" was actually DKA. We were sent to the Pediatric ER and told to expect to stay in the PICU. I came home, grabbed some stuff, picked up Doug and Emi - dropped Emi off at my in-laws and raced over the mountain. We were taken back immediatly where his Accucheck read "Hi" (Yep, hi to you too, Meter but I don't feel like chatting right now. Kthanksbye). Ollie got a line placed and barely whimpered. We were admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit with a blood sugar of about 500. He was a picture perfect patient, no screaming, no complaining. The worst part of the night was that Ollie was NPO - he wanted water but we couldn't let him. The Pediatric Endocrine Fellow came and spent a good amount of time talking to me. Friday night we had nurses coming in hourly for accuchecks and they did labs several times overnight as well. Ollie slept through all of this. I however slept about 3 hours.
Saturday morning, Ollie was allowed to eat.. and not happy. We now have to carb count his food out and dose him with insulin according to how many carbs he has. Thank goodness I had purchased Amazon Prime for the streaming videos for him. It was seriously a lifesaver! Saturday was a whirlwind of a day - doctors, nutritionists, family.. lots of people in and out of the room. We met the Pediatric Endocrinology attending, who said we'd probably go home on Monday best case scenario. We were moved to a regular room in the evening and Ollie got a wagon ride out of there -
On the regular pediatric unit, we had to share a room. Ollie got his bedtime snack, accucheck and insulin and we both fell asleep around 9:30. Somehow, I slept through the midnight check (as did he!).
Sunday started out cranky. Ollie wanted his food, which wasn't coming up quick enough for him. We had an AMAZING nurse, Kelly. He got his breakfast, was eating and FINALLY had to poop (it had been days, seriously). When we came back from the bathroom... the breakfast tray was gone. The very efficient tray lady had picked it up. Which, while normally would make a pre-schooler cranky... this one NEEDS his carbs because we dose his insulin depending on how many he's going to eat. He had only eaten about half so um, PANIC MOM. I gave him an extra carton of milk, some grapes and called the nurse. She said I did exactly the right thing and brought a pack of graham crackers as well. Dr L (the Fellow) came back in and said again, I had done the right thing. I was starting to think I might get the hang of this, finally! Dr C threw us a curve ball and asked if we'd like to go home after lunch if we felt comfortable - um, YES! Ollie's after lunch numbers were high, so I had a momentary defeated feeling, but they let us go home because that was kind of normal for him at that point and we felt comfortable treating it.
And away we went!
To answer questions that I'm sure are out there : Yes, we have to give him insulin - 4x a day. Before each meal and before bed. Yes, we give him accuchecks 9x a day. Before each meal, 2 hours after a meal, at bedtime, midnight and 3am. Yes, he can pretty much eat anything anyone else does... as soon as I figure out how to carb count it!
That being said, when I took my son to the pediatrician on Friday 2/22/13, for what I assumed to be a stomach bug, maybe the flu, worst case scenario appendicitis (Olliver had been complaining on and off of stomach pain for a week or so, had been throwing up and very lethargic for 2 days) and the pediatrician had a nurse come check his blood sugar - my brain was confused. Blood sugar? Why would that be an issue? I guess he's just checking it for a baseline to rule it out. When the meter read 544 - my brain went even FASTER. WHY is it so high? Dr M came back in and could read my face - I knew that was super high. Like, holy crap high. He told me that Ollie has diabetes and is in DKA. All of a sudden the past couple weeks made sense. Olliver had started drinking tons of water and peeing more. I figured this was just good habits. He had been eating more - I figured a growth spurt. Ollie had been getting SUPER cranky before meals (which I now know is his blood sugar peeking). His "tummy bug" was actually DKA. We were sent to the Pediatric ER and told to expect to stay in the PICU. I came home, grabbed some stuff, picked up Doug and Emi - dropped Emi off at my in-laws and raced over the mountain. We were taken back immediatly where his Accucheck read "Hi" (Yep, hi to you too, Meter but I don't feel like chatting right now. Kthanksbye). Ollie got a line placed and barely whimpered. We were admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit with a blood sugar of about 500. He was a picture perfect patient, no screaming, no complaining. The worst part of the night was that Ollie was NPO - he wanted water but we couldn't let him. The Pediatric Endocrine Fellow came and spent a good amount of time talking to me. Friday night we had nurses coming in hourly for accuchecks and they did labs several times overnight as well. Ollie slept through all of this. I however slept about 3 hours.
Saturday morning, Ollie was allowed to eat.. and not happy. We now have to carb count his food out and dose him with insulin according to how many carbs he has. Thank goodness I had purchased Amazon Prime for the streaming videos for him. It was seriously a lifesaver! Saturday was a whirlwind of a day - doctors, nutritionists, family.. lots of people in and out of the room. We met the Pediatric Endocrinology attending, who said we'd probably go home on Monday best case scenario. We were moved to a regular room in the evening and Ollie got a wagon ride out of there -
On the regular pediatric unit, we had to share a room. Ollie got his bedtime snack, accucheck and insulin and we both fell asleep around 9:30. Somehow, I slept through the midnight check (as did he!).
Sunday started out cranky. Ollie wanted his food, which wasn't coming up quick enough for him. We had an AMAZING nurse, Kelly. He got his breakfast, was eating and FINALLY had to poop (it had been days, seriously). When we came back from the bathroom... the breakfast tray was gone. The very efficient tray lady had picked it up. Which, while normally would make a pre-schooler cranky... this one NEEDS his carbs because we dose his insulin depending on how many he's going to eat. He had only eaten about half so um, PANIC MOM. I gave him an extra carton of milk, some grapes and called the nurse. She said I did exactly the right thing and brought a pack of graham crackers as well. Dr L (the Fellow) came back in and said again, I had done the right thing. I was starting to think I might get the hang of this, finally! Dr C threw us a curve ball and asked if we'd like to go home after lunch if we felt comfortable - um, YES! Ollie's after lunch numbers were high, so I had a momentary defeated feeling, but they let us go home because that was kind of normal for him at that point and we felt comfortable treating it.
And away we went!
To answer questions that I'm sure are out there : Yes, we have to give him insulin - 4x a day. Before each meal and before bed. Yes, we give him accuchecks 9x a day. Before each meal, 2 hours after a meal, at bedtime, midnight and 3am. Yes, he can pretty much eat anything anyone else does... as soon as I figure out how to carb count it!
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