Faith was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in mid October. I will never forget the day as it was the scariest moment in my life. Faith started exhibiting symptoms of what I thought was a UTI. So,I immediately got her in for an appointment with her doctor. When the doctor walked in the room he checked her, then he decided to do a urinalysis. As the nurse was dipping the stick she got an alarmed look on her face. She then whispered to the doctor and all I heard was high glucose. Between the looks on their faces and hearing those two words I immediately became alarmed. I asked the doctor if everything was ok. He said her glucose was dangerously high and he wanted to run a blood test to confirm type 1 diabetes. I was devastated but also praying that this was not really happening.
We quickly ran her over to the lab area. When she saw they were about to draw her blood she started screaming and crying. I was upset for her. This was on a Friday and they said they would be calling us Monday with results to confirm the diagnoses.
So, we go to the car, tears are streaming down my face and called Jason. He was supposed to go straight from work to his weekend drill in Missouri. I asked him to come home as this was urgent and unexpected.
Not even an hour after we arrived home, the phone rang. I could see it was the doctor's office and since it was after 5pm I knew it was not good news. I picked up the phone to have the doctor tell me that Faith did have Type 1 Diabetes and her glucose was dangerously high and she needed to get admitted to the hospital within the hour. This threw me into a panic attack and I passed the phone to Jason.
Once Jason got off the phone we quickly got the kids in the car and headed to the hospital.
They immediately got her in a room and started her on an IV for fluids. We had at least 7 different doctors come in and out to speak to us. It was so overwhelming and scary. Once things settled down, I went home to grab a few things for the stay at the hospital. While I was gone they figured out how much insulin to start her on.
The next few days after is a blur for me but I do remember when it was my turn to administer her insulin for the first time. As I was getting the shot ready, she looked at me and cried, "mommy please don't, please don't give me a shot." It was all I could do to hold myself together. How do you explain to your 5 year old that she is going to get shots everyday the rest of her life?
Fast Forward to our first night home: This night was one of the most stressful nights I have ever experienced. We were overwhelmed with literature, needles, insulin pens, everything, it was so much. Jason and I both had to work as a team to figure out how to do everything and get a routine down. We called the nurse line several times the first night home.
Within the first week it was amazing how much better we got. It was getting easier and we just had to learn to re-arrange our life with diabetes. Faith has taken it amazingly well. She has been a trooper. She does not even cry when we give her the shots or check her glucose. We let her pick where she wants the shots and which fingers are going to get poked. The funny thing, her favorite finger to use is her middle. Maybe that is not funny but I have to have some sense of humor during this time and it was funny that she kept choosing that finger.
I am tired and I will post more about how she has been doing. I just feel blessed that this is a disease that we can control.
I have had a few other friends go through this diagnosis with pretty much the same experience. Scary at first but then leveling off and becoming just another part of everyday life.
ReplyDeleteSo glad that Faith has adapted to the routine and accepted her new way of life.