It is a day I will never forget. Sept 10, 2009.
For almost a week Parker was drinking EXCESSIVELY! I would give him a cup and not even be turned around yet and he would ask for more. It did start slowly at first and started to notice it on Sept 4. That weekend we went to Parker's first fair. We don't usually give him sweets so he had cotton candy for the first time and we also had some ice cream. We didn't think much on the way home when he was looking pretty yucky as he was tired and it was a long, hot day. On Monday I mentioned to my sitter that he had been drinking alot more and to keep an eye on it. That night my husband took Parker for a hike as I had a meeting at the house and when they came home he threw up. We just thought it was because of the heat. That night he was thirsty and I thought it was a stalling tactic so I was getting angry (poor guy!). He was grumpy. I thought it was because it was hot out. On Wed night I was going to bring him to emerg but he was so grumpy that I delayed. I searched online and I was scared. Diabetes kept popping up. But it couldn't be that right!
So my husband took Parker to our walk in clinic as he couldn't get an appointment. I had to work so I waited. By 10:30 I was getting antsy and called the clinic and the nurse told me he was in now with the doctor. Then 10 minutes later I got a call from the doctor herself. She told me that Parker had type 1 diabetes. Tears came. I then went to the clinic to meet up with husband (Corey) and Parker. I guess we were lucky. They don't usually diagnose diabetes in clinic and we would of had to have Parker wear a cup to catch urine (he wasn't potty trained) but a nurse for some reason had a glucose meter on her (her husbands). So we used it and he was 21.8. That is a number I will never forget either! She told us to go home, pack our bags and make our way to the Peterborough Hospital which was 1.5 hrs away. We needed to have lunch. What was I to feed him?? I came home and didn't stop. If I stopped I would break down and I couldn't do that yet. We packed, fed Parker some lunch and jumped in the truck for the longest ride to Peterborough ever. The drive didn't even take that long when I was in labour! He fell asleep and when he woke up he looked pale. Was he high? Low? I had no clue. No clue yet as to what our lives were going to be like. I just knew it was going to be very different.
Again we were lucky. When we got to the hospital they did blood work and found out he wasn't DKA. No keytones. They didn't understand. Parker was the only kid to be diagnosed that didn't have to go on an IV for DKA. They couldn't understand how we caught it so fast. I kept telling them it was because of two things. 1. Corey worked with another mom whose little girl (same age as Parker) was diagnosed at 18 months and I remember her telling us that her daughter had excessive thirst. 2. I trusted my gut.
That first insulin shot I will NEVER forget. I cried when the doctor gave it to him. Parker was fantastic. He didn't like hearing the nurse trolly come but besides that you would think he was at a hotel. He loved to play down the halls and with all the new toys.
Then it hit. This SUCKS! OF course I blamed myself. See I have an autoimmune disease myself. So does my mom and my brother. Corey's mom has arthritis. So I knew Parker was at odds to develope some kind of autoimmune disease. But diabetes was NOT on my radar. So I do blame myself. I shouldn't of had a child. I knew the risks. I do allow myself this blame as it makes me want to be more in control of his disease.
When we came home two days later I engulfed myself in recipe books, and did NOT allow myself to go to the dark side on the internet and read all the complications. I had to focus on the food. I had taken nutrition classes in university so was comfortable with the carb counting. But that's not the tricky part. The tricky part is finding things he will eat. He is a toddler and a picky one at that. So that battle continues.
I had to go back to work. No options. Money is tight. We are SOOO LUCKY to have Jenni! Jenni is Parker's daycare provider. I knew that she would be great for Parker. She only fed the kids super healthy foods to begin with so that made life easier. All her meals are well planned and full of healthy choices. No KD, chicken fingers/fries, hotdogs at her house. When she does do pizza (maybe 1-2 a month) it's homemade with whole wheat crust. I love it as Parker has never had a piece of white bread and he LOVES the dense dark grain breads. So lucky. Jenni knows Parker's signs now. I do insulin at lunch and our system works very well. She is extremely organized and I am 100% confident that when I drop Parker off in the am he is great hands and he will be safe.
So it's 8 months later and we are going on the pump soon. I don't like how limited I am in his doses. I wish the insulin pens would dispense 1/4 of a unit. Here is Parker's insulin regimen:
7am - 5 units of Levimere at least 20 minutes before he eats
7:30 he is a big eater for breakfast (for the most part) and eats roughly 50-60 grams of carbs. He gets 3 units of NovoRapid if he is under 10BG. **See note below**
his NR is slow to act in am and we need to monitor him. He gets a snack 20g carbs at 9:30 and is usually high.
11:30 lunch. 20-40 grams carbs. Insulin to Carb Ratio is 1:40 for lunch. We wait until he is done to give him his insulin as he may not eat all of it - again Toddler
1:00-3:00 nap
3:00 BS check and small snack (we have a new scale for snack)
5:30 BS check and super. 20-50 grams carbs Insulin to Carb Ratio again is 1:40
7:30 BS check, snack, and we just started to give him 0.5 Levimere at 7:30
See Parker has either been in honeymoon or maybe it's the Dawn Phenonmenon but no matter what he went to bed at he would wake up perfect with no insulin. So now, we give him insulin at night... big stress right now....So looking forward to the pump.
So for now that is it. Thanks for reading Parker's story. I know it's a long post. I am hoping that I can share some tips and info that I learn on this blog. I have learned alot from my clinic but honestly, the most I have learned has been from other parents and their stories.
Bye for now,
Stacy
