that's a very good place to start.
December 10, 2008
I was about 14 weeks pregnant with our 6th baby. I had had blood sugar issues in a previous pregnancy so I wanted to start monitoring my blood sugar levels early on this time around. I got my meter out and checked myself and decided that the next day I would check all of the kids too. We have a family history of Type 1 diabetes, so it (having a diabetic child) was always in the back of my mind as a possibility. So every once in a while, maybe once a year, I'd check the kids. I decided to make the next day THAT day.
We got up the next morning (December 10, 2008) and went about our morning as usual. Breakfast, school work, fun. Then we had lunch. 2 hours after lunch is when I decided to bring out the meter and poker and check the kids blood sugar. NO ONE wanted to do it, lol. The poker scared them, and I don't blame them. But this is something I was insisting that we do. Finally I got the kids lined up youngest to oldest. I figured if the littles could do this without screaming, then surely the older two would be great at it. Wrong.
Thing 5 went first and she did great and her number was perfect. Thing 4 was next and he did great and his number was perfect. Thing 3 went and same as the above. Thing 2's turn. He did not do great. He started screaming and crying and doing everything humanly possible to get out of this. Even though he had just seen 3 littler kids do this without a tear and he was a big 8 1/2 year old boy. Finally I got the drama to settle a bit and I poked his finger. His blood sugar was fine.
Thing 1 was last. She was really hesitant but just wanted to get it over and done with. So I poked her finger and brought that little drop closer to the end of the strip that would suck it up and tell me how much sugar was in her blood.
Normal blood sugar 2 hours after a meal should be LESS than 140.
Thing 1's blood sugar was 539. I panicked, but remained calm enough to tell her to hurridly wash her hands with soap and water. She came back and we went through this again. I was hoping beyond all hope that she had had the remnants of pancake syrup or had dipped her hands in kool-aid or something. Anything that would have meant that 539 was a completely false reading.
I poked her finger and brought that tiny, life changing drop of blood to the end of the strip. We waited 5 seconds that seemed like an eternity. 527.
I dropped everything and went for the phone. I called the nurse at our pediatrician's office and told her what was going on. She said to bring Thing 1 in in the morning for a fasting BS test. I half laughed, half cried and told her NO, she needs to be seen NOW. So we made an appointment for 4:30 that afternoon. I hung up. And I called my mother.
Daddy answered the phone and all I said was "Hi daddy, I need to talk to mom". He handed her the phone. I asked her if using strips that were expired by 2 months would have given a discrepancy in readings. She said probably not and asked me why. So I started bawling (remember too that I was dealing with pregnancy hormones) while I told her the story of the last half hour. The first thing she said to me was, "honey, don't panic". And I cried some more.
You see, my little sister was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when she was 5 years old. I KNEW what this would mean for my daughter. My mother KNEW what this would mean for my daughter. I have never asked her, but I bet that after we hung up the phone, my mom probably cried too.
So we loaded the kids up in the suburban and headed to WW. On the way we stopped at a pharmacy and bought a small vial of brand new strips and I retested her. 411. So it wasn't the strips. This was really happening.
We got to the doctor and the nurse used the same type of meter that we had and in the office Thing 1's blood sugar was 416. So at that moment, they were confirming what I had known for a few hours. My first born child, my eldest daughter, had Type 1 diabetes.
A few more blood tests also confirmed. Her Hba1c was 9.9%. The lab's blood glucose reading was 516.
We needed to be transferred to a children's hospital and we had 2 choices. Spokane, WA or Portland, OR. Both were at least 4 hours from home and she would have to go every 3 months for the rest of her life. There are no endocrinologists where we live. We chose Portland because we have family close by.
We got to the hospital at 1:30 in the morning and were checked in just a short time later. And that is where the "fun" began. I'll save that for another day. Time to go check on my daughter.
blood sugar is still high at 329, but no ketones! yay! I also did a temp basal to raise her basal by 10% over the next 4 hours. I've not tried that before, but hopefully it helps. I really need to get some sleep as we're supposed to have a big day tomorrow.
Good night & God bless--
D's Night Time Angel
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