our diabetic story...

When I say "our" diabetic story I mean our family. While we are WELL aware that this is a disease my daughters (and MANY others) will live with daily, and I personally haven't yet had to inject insulin daily to my own body, please understand that as a mother, as a father and as siblings and even extended family members at times, this is a situation that effects ALL of our lives. So yes, this is part of MY life story as well.

I have shared this story with family (obviously), close friends, and some curious neighbors over the past six years. I haven't ever thought to share it publicly one because one its personal. And two because I haven't had a public forum like this to share! :) Seeing that I now DO have a public blog, I'll share :)

Side note: I am completely and totally vocal/open when it comes to Type 1 Diabetes. I walk for it. Raise money for awareness and a cure. I share in hopes of helping others. And yes...that means i sometimes share supplies, too!

Okay. Our story started almost exactly 6 years ago. It was the very end of July, 2009. But I'm going togo back to April. I had my 4th daughter in April of that year. She was in the NICU for a few days due to concerns with Group B strep. When we were released life went on as normally as it could for having a new born. :) My other children finished with school. 

We enjoyed the beginning of summer. We celebrated the 4th of July! Life was good. Life was great! 

back story: I was married to my two oldest daughters dad just long enough to get two daughters out of the relationship. I was actually 5 months pregnant when I left. So, after the 4th of July, my two oldest girls, S & E, were going to spend the next 4 weeks with their biological father. This has always been such a tough time. So, we prepared for it. Packed for it. Prayed before it. And then drove those precious babes to his house.

Usually we don't see them for 2 weeks straight, And at this point getting a phone call was TOUGH. So we knew it was going to be a rough 2 weeks. On the third and fourth weeks we were able to see them for a few hours one day each week. So, for 4 weeks I got to see them  2 times. (Divorce is tough. I NEVER recommend it UNLESS it is a situation that MUST end).

  

Well, on the third week, we scheduled a day for them to come home. It happened to be the 3rd daughters (D) birthday. She wanted a fancy Nancy party. :) Fancy Nancy JUST came out so we had to improvise to make a party! We had the girls dress up in their fanciest dress up clothes, did their hair, made cupcakes with sprinkles galore etc etc. S was wearing a tank top and I noticed her shoulder blades were poking out quite a bit. I put the thought aside for a bit. 

   After the party, a pal and her kids came over to play. I told her about S's shoulder blades and she said something to effect of she's growing. She hasn't been home for awhile so you haven't noticed the gradual change.   Yeah no. That wasn't it. My mommy senses were on HIGH alert. We had trimmed her hair before she left so I thought HEY! I'll pretend like I'm taking picture of how long her hair is growing when really I was planning to send the photo to my mom and see what she says. I took the photo. The friends left. My girls went back to their biologicals fathers house. I sent the photo to my mom.

When my mom saw the photo, she called immediately. My grandma was with her. They both felt like some thing was  wrong. My mom said I needed to take her immediately to the doctor. I cried. I KNEW something was wrong. I told her I wouldn't see them for another week! She told me to pray. So, I did. really hard. And a lot! I needed a miracle! I told their BF she looked sick. Thats all I could do.

A couple days passed. 

The weekend was here and I got a phone call from S. She said she was at church that day and she went to the bathroom because  she felt so sick. She said her legs felt like they were shaking from the inside out (which now I know was what happens when your keytones are eating away at your muscle). She said her teacher got upset with her for being gone so long. She told the teacher what was going on. The teacher got ahold of  her BF. When she got home, she said she didn't want to eat. She told me it had been going on for awhile and her BF didn't do anything about it. (Now I'm not here to make an issue. I understand that sometimes our kids get sick and we just watch them for the day to see whats going on. I understand his first reaction was HEY!! Maybe its diabetes! We should rush her to a doctor!! But, as a stay at home mom, my number 1 priority is my children. They are my job. They are my everyday. I would have taken her to a doctor sooner than what happened. I'm not judging right this minute...I DID judge then. I actually threw a total fit. BUT, it isn't a subject I can/should talk about here.) She said she had been laying in her bed for days off and on downstairs. She said her BF didn't even know. She told me at meal times she would just lay her head on the table. Mind you she was EIGHT years old. She was a little girl.

 So here she is, telling me about her legs, her lack of food, her exhaustion, and the fact that her BF doesn't have a CLUE!! Please understand the relationship I had with her BF when I was married to him and even after I was married was not and has not been one of easy communication. I told her she needed to tell her BF what was going on. I told her she needs to see a doctor and he needs to take her. When I hung up I got on my knees and prayed harder than I ever had. I didn't know what to do! She wasn't in my care and I cannot force him to do anything!

That night he called me. He said he needed to go to work the next day. He wasn't planning on this. He got called in last minute, and wondered if I would want the girls home that day.  I thought YES!! Of course I do!! Answer to my prayers!!

The next morning I picked them up. I called the doctors office IMMEDIATELY when the opened. I told them I didn't care which doctor I saw that day but I MUST get her in. They gave me a doctor we hadn't seen before but I was so glad to have an appointment. I told their BF they would be late coming back that evening because the appointment was late is. Surprisingly he wasn't angry. He just said get them to him as soon as I could.

The whole day she laid around the house. She held our precious baby. She used the bathroom over and over and over and over. She didn't eat a thing. She drank a LOT of water.

We arrived at the doctors office. I told him my concerns. I stepped out into the hallway with him and voiced other concerns I had that I didn't want my children to hear. He looked puzzled. Then he said we should check her blood. At that moment that meant NOTHING to me. Oooooh the days when that meant nothing.

We went back in the room. He checked her. He said to wait a minute because that one was broken. ( In reality it wasn't. He SERIOUSLY didn't expect it to be diabetes so he thought when it said HI it was broken). He came back in with a new kit. Checked her again.   HI.

He looked at me and said, "Oh my gosh. That wasn't supposed to say that." He then told me my daughter has diabetes. I quickly asked if I needed to bring her back next week to get her checked again. ( I and NO CLUE! lol) He said no. I needed to take her immediately to the other hospital. He said they will call them so to expect us. He said he is blown away that she walked herself into the room. She should have been life flighted. Again, I had no clue what this all meant at that time. 

As he was speaking, my entire world went into tunnel vision. Like for reals. I had a crying newborn in her carrier attached to the monstrosity of a stroller that I was pushing back and forth to try to calm her, I had two sweet angel daughters sitting on the floor next to me reading books together, and I had a slouched over 8 year old daughter with a terrible drooping frown and sunken in eyes. I was just given some of the worst news I would ever receive.

I was lost. I was in a bubble. The whole world faded. All I could think was to call my husband and hurry to the hospital. I didn't have a clue as to what this meant.   I rushed to the hospital. My sweet mother in law was there to take the other girls with her. S and E both got to come in because E HAD to stay with me. The BF wouldn't stand for someone else taking her. S was admitted. They began pumping saline into her. I was told they couldn't do insulin then because (this part I remember clear as day!) it would damage her brain. So saline it was. The BF came to the hospital. My husband came to the hospital. My whole family came to the hospital. The BF took my sweet E back to his house. S and I stayed in the hospital for two and half days. We had a crash course in diabetic education. We had the absolute most INCREDIBLE team on our side.

 When we left, they said we could call anytime for help. And I DID! Middle of the night. Early in the mornings. After lunch. I called. They answered. xo

Two days went by. I didn't sleep hardly  a wink. I would check her every two hours. I had her sleep with me. In time I used our baby monitor for HER in the middle of the nights.

Okay so two days after we got home from the hospital, we decided we should check all our family members. We circled around the kitchen counter. We checked E first. The kit said HI. My husband (andy) and I looked at each other. Our hearts sank. We washed her hands and checked her again. HI. No. This couldn't be happening. There was no way this was real! We checked D. She was fine. We checked L. She was fine, too. We looked at each other and Andy said, well, go get a bag ready. don't forget your charger.

We said a family prayer and E and I were off to the hospital. We were in the ER just a short time before they transported us to the children hospital. When we walked in, the nurses jaws dropped. They couldn't believe it, either. They said they had NEVER had that happen before.

Another day and half, a little more education and lot more confidence than the first time just a few short days before, we left the hospital with our
second child diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in a week.

My children are an inspiration. We saw and continue to see many miracles.  They have each other which we think is a HUGE plus for them, although a HUGE bill for us ;) It has all been worth it to see the confidence they bring to others with this disease. To see the support they give to each other. Our family is united together in this. The younger sisters help check and love to learn. And yes, we check our other children ( and ourselves) routinely.
We have always told them everyone gets something. Some people have Celiacs. Some people are allergic to nuts. Some can't have milk. We get Diabetes.
We say, you brush your teeth, you make your bed you check you blood. Its just another thing we do daily.

Diabetes isn't something to make a joke of. We take it very seriously HOWEVER we also let our children LIVE. We let them be children. We let them eat cake. We let them play on the basketball/softball teams. We don't freak out at a number over 200. We correct it and try harder. We have taught them to be FULLY independent with it because one day Mama won't be with them anymore to do it. We supervise. We teach. They learn. They do.

I still check them once during the night. Sometimes more if those pesky numbers play games with us. Some times are frustrating. Some times are scary. 

It has been six years. We have had MANY blood draws, urines tests, scary nights, high numbers, low numbers, many MANY boxes of insulin delivered to us and even many MORE bottles of strips and needles. We have educated SO many people about this. We have talked with classrooms and teachers. We have met with school nurses and church leaders. We have checked many other friends/neighbors who have had concerns for their children. Fortunately, every check we have done, except one, has been negative. BUT we are so grateful we were able to help one sweet girl get straight to the doctor.

Our outlook is this: You can only take it one day at a time. One check at a time.