If you have been through a Type 1 diagnosis, you know what I'm talking about. The fear; the soul crushing thoughts that you should have known. That, maybe, there was something you could have done to prevent your child from getting sick. It took me a long time to finally tell myself that I could not have stopped what happened. But I will never be convinced that maybe I could have caught it sooner. Maybe my sweet girl would not have had to go through what she did. I admit I missed a lot of signs, but I'm ok with it now. I didn't know. How could I have?
Our story begins a little bit before Miss Lily's 18 month well child visit. We had indeed noticed that she was getting thinner. She was drinking a lot as well.... BUT it was summer, she's getting older and taller. Maybe it was normal for her to be skinny? We thought it was normal. Looking back at her picture, I know it wasn't. She was too skinny, and it breaks my heart.
When we went in for our 18 month well child visit, the Dr. came down on us. She had lost weight. We didn't know what was going on, she was a good eater we were not doing anything different, and yet, here we were, she was losing weight. The Dr. treated us as if we were doing something wrong. We were told we needed to come back in a few weeks for another weigh in, we left feeling like we were being accused of child abuse. Sad and slightly attacked. We KNEW we were doing nothing wrong, and yet, here we were. The Dr. never questioned that there might be a health reason.
So, we went back for a weigh in, AND she had gained some weight. The Dr. was happy and said everything was fine, she "must" have been just having a growth spurt. Growing taller and thinner she said. We didn't question it, we were happy that the Dr. thought all was well!
Fast forward to Christmas week 2010. I was 24 weeks pregnant, and my now 23 month old daughter was sick with what appeared to be a cold or flu. She had a fever and runny nose. I took care of her just as I always did when she was sick... Then, after a couple days she still wasn't feeling any better. The runny nose was gone, but she still had a fever. She did not want to play, she just wanted to cuddle. All day. This is not how a normal almost 2year old acts. Even a sick one! At the time I didn't know that. I'd never had a two year old before! I'd been in contact with her dr. reporting in with them and continuing to give Tylenol or ibuprofen for her fever and made another dr. appointment for her on the 23rd of December.
In the middle of the night she started throwing up. And did not stop. Everything that went into her little body was instantly rejected. She was really sick. Barely moving but to throw up. By the time we got her to the Dr. she was breathing heavily, panting, like she couldn't get any air. The Dr. took one look at her and put her on oxygen and started a breathing treatment. They thought she had a respiratory problem.
It was during this time our daughter became unresponsive. The nurse, wrapped her up in a blanket and said, "let's go, pull your car around front, we're going to the emergency room". This amazing nurse went with us, in our own car to the ER. She walked in and straight back into the ER rooms with our daughter. Now, we were to find out that our local hospital was not equipped to deal with small children, but it was our only choice. Our daughter was in an almost catatonic state. When she did speak she asked for water. The nurses refused to give her water.
The sad part is they needed to give her IV fluids and draw blood, but she was so dehydrated they could not get a vein. They tried her hands, arms, legs, even her head. Finally they ended up drilling into her calf bone's soft tissue. It was traumatizing. By this point Miss Lily was incoherent. She would look at us like she didn't recognize us and I realize now she was going into a comatose state.
After the IV had been inserted they dr. immediately told us that she had Diabetes and they had called our regional Children's hospital, which was sending their Pediatric ICU ambulance and emergency care team down to get her. Her Blood sugar was over 700 and she was in severe Diabetic Ketoacidosis and we were fighting for her life. To say we were in shock was a mild understatement. We were devastated.
We were not allowed to ride in the ambulance with the emergency team, we headed home and gathered some clothes and essentials (Lily's favorite blankie) and drove to the hospital. When we got to the PICU our daughter was being exceptionally well taken care of. God had blessed us with a competent care team. She was hooked up to IV's and monitors and looked so small laying there asleep. The PICU doctor came in and explained to us that she was fighting for her life, and we would know in 12 hours if she was going to make it. We sat through those 12 hours, every test, every dr. visit waiting for our good news.
Finally, our little lady woke up!!! We knew she was going to be alright when she recognized who we were and cried to be held. We knew we had a long road ahead of us. We spent Christmas Eve in the PICU. Santa found us though, thanks to all the great volunteers at the hospital. Lily didn't really care, but it meant the world to us.
The following four days were spent learning how to take care of our daughter. Leaning about our new life. Thankful for the opportunity to LIVE that life and determined to kick diabetes butt.
Miss Lily Before Diagnosis
One Month After Diagnosis - Chubby cheeks are back!
