Day 65 A Chronic Diagnosis

Description

Day 65 - 2012 - Another long story!!

In the year 2012, John began to complain of various medical issues. He became very thirsty and drank a lot of water. He went to the toilet a lot. He was very tired and it became a major hassle just getting him out of bed to go to school. While he was at school he would often become so tired he sometimes fell asleep. After several months of this it eventually got the point where he began throwing up after he ate. And the school staff even called me in for a serious chat because everyone was wondering what was going on.

Things came to a climax one weekend after his 10th birthday when he was invited to a sleepover at a friends place for the friends 11th birthday. I was told later that they stayed up until 3 AM playing video games and drinking soda - such as coca cola, sprite and creaming soda.

The following days after this sleepover were a night mare. John could not keep any food down, he was rapidly losing weight, and he was so tired he could only sleep on the couch. I was at my wits end wondering what the heck was going on - until he said the magic words. "My eyes are going blurry".

So I called the local health line and spoke to a nurse describing the symptoms. She muttered just 4 words, that changed everything. "Sounds like Type One" she said. She went on to tell me to get him to hospital ASAP.

After i plugged the symptoms into Google, i too got back a diagnosis of Type 1 Diabetes. Within an hour, John and I were at the ER of the Sick Kids Hospital.

He ended up staying in the hospital for 36 hours, while he was injected with insulin in order to bring his glucose levels back down to normal levels. His A1C was 13% - which is very high. He had moderate DKA - Diabetic Ketoacidosis - but it was not yet at dangerous levels.

2 days later he was discharged but we were ordered as a family to come back to the hospital for 2 days of intensive training (called Diabetes Daycare) on how to manage a child with type one diabetes.

That was exactly 7 years ago. The anniversary is this week in June 2019. John is doing fine. He is now 17, still into video games and now a lot taller then me. His last A1C was 7.5%. It has been lower, but 7% is still good.

He is not on a pump, preferring to doing MDI's instead (MDI - Multiple Daily injections).

We use insulin Epi-pens and not syringes.

Supplies

Yellow, black and white paint - Yellow painted paper - Keep it Real element - All from the Granny Punk Bundle.
https://www.digitalscrapbook.com/marisa-lerin/kits/granny-punk-bundle-floral-vintage-red-yellow-green-blue-white-black

Type 1 Diabetes For Dummies Book cover - Facts about Type 1 Diabetes in USA.