363

363

          I used to watch television shows about sick kids who needed shots constantly. I thought I would never be able to do it. I didn’t see myself as someone who could poke my daughter with a sharp object.  Now I am one of those parents. Now I’m afraid not to give a shot, before every meal, before bed. It is funny how one little word, diabetes, changes your life.

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          Dani had returned from a trip to California, with her older sister Katie, to visit their grandfather. They had done all the touristy things: Sea World, California Adventure, and the big one, Disneyland. They spent hours at the beach. Dani had gotten sunburn on her back. Katie talked about the piano that Miss Vicki was teaching her to play. My dad said that Dani was sleeping a lot. Of course, she was tired; they had walked all over California.

          But the Dani that stepped of the airplane was not the Dani I sent out there. This child was pale. She walked hunched over like an eighty-year-old woman, not the 12 year old that she was. Her eyes were sunken, and her normally round face was now thin looking more like a skull painted flesh colored.

          “Are you ok?” I knew she wasn’t.

          “Yea, I’m just tired. I need to go to the bathroom.”

          “You went twice on the flight here.” Katie chimed in.

          “I know but I need to go again. I’m thirsty. Can we get something to drink?”

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          Maybe, if I had caught the symptoms earlier Dani would not have been so sick or spent all that time in the hospital. Weight loss, constant thirst and frequent urinations are classic symptoms. As a first aid instructor, I had recited these multiple times. But this is something that happens to other people. Old people, overweight people, lazy people who don’t exercise get diabetes, not young healthy girls who play basketball, soccer and softball. Not my daughter.

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          “Where are we going?” Katie asked.

          “You’ll see when we get there.” My husband was driving. We decided to go out for dinner to Dani’s favorite restaurant, Fazoli’s. The girls had been home for 5 days and we wanted to celebrate. Dani hadn’t eaten more than a couple a bites at a time. She was too busy taking naps for a meal.

          “Fazoli’s! I love Fazoli’s!” Dani yelled from the back of the van as we pulled into the parking lot. I looked at my husband and knew he was thinking what I was thinking; God please let her eat a full meal.

          We ordered our meal and found a table. The girls told us more about their trip to California and we told them about the things we did while they were gone. All the while we were eating all the food off our plates. Except Dani. Her plate was still full of ravioli.

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          Diabetes tends to run in families. My husband’s father was diabetic, and I had a first cousin who was diagnosed as a child. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmunity disorder, the body attacks the beta cells in the pancreas. The Beta cells are the ones that produce insulin. There is evidence that a virus may trigger it. It can also be set off by medicines such as oral steroids.

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        “Dave do you have your old blood sugar meter?” My husband had been diagnosed as pre-diabetic. I went right out and bought him a meter and test strips but he never used it.

        “Yea, it’s in the cabinets above the stove. Why?”

        “Just for shits and giggles, I want to check Dani’s sugar. I’m sure I’m wrong, but it’s just… She has all the symptoms Dave.”

        “Ok.” He reached up opened the cabinet door and moved things around until he found it. “I don’t know if it’s any good anymore. It’s been up there a while.”

        I yelled for Dani and started to read the directions. Dave turned the meter on. There was a canister with test strips. He took one out and put it in the slot in the meter.

        Dani lumbered down the stairs, “Yea mom, did you call me?”

        “Baby, I want Daddy to check your blood sugar?”

        “What’s that?”

        “We want to see if you have too much sugar in your blood. It might be why you have been feeling so bad this week.”

        “Will it hurt?”

        “We’ll have to poke your finger and get some blood so it might sting a little. Go wash your hands.”

        Her eyes got wide and she just stood there. She wanted to argue but just didn’t have the energy. I got my laptop and tried to look up information on WebMD. I wanted to appear calm so that she would stay calm. “Go on wash your hands.”

        “Ok.” Her feet scrapped along the floor as she made her way to the bathroom. I heard the water running and splashing as she ran her hands under the water.

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        The average blood sugar range is 70-120. For sports or physical activity, you would want it at the high end of that range. Reading higher than that could indicate a lack of insulin. Insulin is a hormone produced by the beta cells in the pancreas that unlock the door of the red blood cells, allowing the sugar in, providing energy that gets distributed throughout the body. Without insulin, the sugar can’t get in and stays in the bloodstream, causing the blood to become thick. The heart must then work harder to push the blood through the veins and arteries.

          With no sugar, the body will burn fat for energy. The results are a drastic weight loss and the production of ketones. High levels of ketones can cause bad breath, nausea and vomiting, difficulties breathing. Extremely high levels can lead to coma, even death.

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        David looked up from the meter. “363″.

        “363? Is that high?”                       

        “I don’t know…” We just looked at each other. Then we looked at her. She was asleep on her feet. I looked back at my husband and he nodded.

        “Dani, why don’t you get a book or something to do, baby. I’m going to take you to the emergency room.”

        “Why is something wrong with me?”

        “I don’t know baby. I just don’t know.”

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          We went to St. Ann’s hospital and after 3 hours, they transferred us to Nationwide Children’s hospital. Her blood sugar had reached 900 before it finally came back down.

          The next few months were a learning experience for everyone in the family.  We had to take classes to judge carbohydrates, learn to give shots and read the strips that evaluate her blood sugar level.  Dani takes insulin shots before every meal. The amount is based on the amount of carbohydrates she’s going to eat. She checks her blood sugar anywhere from four to 12 times a day depending on what she is doing and how she is feeling.  We finally are starting to feel comfortable with the situation, but we also know that there are more changes and adaptations to come.