Most days I say a silent thank you to Dr M - a man I have never met, and only spoken to once on the phone. He phoned me at about 1am on Saturday the 20th December 2014. As the doctor in charge of the pathology tests at the lab a GP had sent Teenage Daughter (TD hence forward!) blood tests at 4pm, he saw them and knew she was in critical danger. TD had been unwell for a while - tired all the time, losing weight and lacking her spark, we had limped to the end of the academic year, and thought a holiday would do the trick. We had been to the GP a few weeks before with the same symptoms, and he had prescribed an antibiotic. But she wasn't getting any better, and on a Friday morning at the local grocery shop, she ran out of energy. She used what little she had left to protest against me taking her back to the doctor (Christmas time was very important to my eleven year old.) But I picked her up and dragged her there. He sat her down and did the usual checks. He then sent her off to provide a urine sample, leaned forward and confidently diagnosed anorexia nervosa. No. I knew that was way off and told him so. I also thought it was a somewhat rash diagnosis. When TD got back the glucose test strip went violently green, indicating high levels of sugar. So the GP took some blood and sent us home. TD and I crawled into my bed (Dad and brother were away for two weeks) and knowing there was something terribly wrong, we drifted in and out of restless dozing.
Until Dr M phoned to say TD's results were critical and could not wait until morning. He had phoned the local hospital, spoken to the emergency staff, told me a name of a doctor who was waiting for us right then. He had thought of everything - I bundled TD into the car and went to the waiting emergency room. He saved TD's life. I will be eternally grateful.
(Not so much to the GP who sent us home.)
How did you discover your child had diabetes? Are there people you think of daily in gratitude? Were you as terrified as me?
7 weeks ago.
ReplyDeleteWent to GP on the Monday, just after 4yo threw up for the first time. Got sent home with "random virus, call me if anything develops." Ran out of clean bed sheets at 3am, by the morning he was waking up to throw up. Back to GP, who now recognised acidotic breathing. Got to Paed office at hospital half an hour later, by which time he was comatose over my shoulder. Heard the words "crash cart" for the first time in my life outside the telly.
Symptoms (obvious in hindsight) for a week. Crash in 24 hours.
I think of the ward staff all the time, especially Sister A who is also T1, and showed my petrified kid how she checked her BG and gave herself injections, and also gave him one of her finger prick pens (I call it the "accu-puncture kit") because my med aid wasn't playing along initially. We still use it. And Sister J who chatted with me through the graveyard hours. And Dr W who stayed up all night that first night waiting for the results of the 4-hourly lab tests.
Hello Kathryn
ReplyDeleteI hope you are OK, seven weeks into your son's diagnosis. I found it a bewildering time, and I had to learn a lot - fast! It makes such a difference to have the support of hospital staff at a time when we are so vulnerable. Your son is so young - it must be challenging to explain these life changes to him. I am thinking of you. Thank you for connecting with me.
My son gets a kick out of the fact that sometimes he gets a Super C in class and none of the other kids do, I think he's got this better than his parents;)
ReplyDelete7 weeks in things are at least normalising (except Hello Honeymoon period!!! <-- this pancreas needs some contact/switch cleaner!). The time in hospital was definitely stressful - struggling to explain to a 4yo dizzy with DKA why they're stabbing him every four hours was not high on my list of things I am equipped to do!
Yes - this is tough on parents. Children seem to be more flexible and accepting of changes most times! But what a challenge T1 is! Wishing you breathing space as your life "normalises"
ReplyDeleteHi Kathryn - how are things going? All the best for 2018.
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