Friday, August 8, 2008

Type I diabetes

This is the BIGGEST change in our life since my last entry. On Tuesday August 5, 2008 I took Kailyn to the doctor because she had been having a stomach ache for weeks. The night before it seemed to have gotten worse. She was crying about it and had not done that before, so I decided it was time to get it checked out. I was chalking the stomach aches up to nerves about first grade (which she talks about all the time) or just growing pains. During this time she was also eating a TON. She was ravenous all the time and cranky because of it. I figured this was because of an impending growth spurt. She wet the bed a few times in the last few weeks too, but I thought it might be a result of the virus I thought she had. Her urinating had increased quite a bit, but her brother goes so often this did not ring a bell for some reason either. Not odd for this family to have to stop 4 times to go the bathroom on the side of the road for a one hour trip. During all this time she started to look skinnier and skinnier. Her bathing suits were drooping off of her and the size 6 clothing we bought for the next school year were WAY too big. I did not understand this because she was 46 pounds which was within the limit for 46-51 pounds that a size 6 was for. (little did I know that she was only 43 pounds)

We had a routine exam at the doctors office. She had a yeast infection (her first ever), a three pound weight loss since May and we thought her stomach aches might be reflux. The doctor thought this might be all stuff left over from the virus we thought she had a few weeks ago. She had some cold sores in and around her mouth a few weeks ago, which is why I thought she had had a virus. He told us to get cream for the yeast and mylanta for the stomach aches and to come back into the office in two weeks for a weight check. If she had not gained weight in that time they would do testing.
On our way out the door he stopped us and said that he decided we should do a urine test and wondered if we could get a sample. We could not because Kailyn had gone before so we decided we would get the next sample and bring it back to the office before 5.(when they closed)

It did not take long to get the sample. We went to get Sam at Grammie and Grandpa's and she had to go then. We went and brought the sample and then went to Rite Aid to get the cream for the yeast and the mylanta. It seemed like we were in Rite Aid forever because Kailyn had to pee twice and so did Sam (Sam constantly has to go to the bathroom). When we got out of Rite Aid I looked at my phone and noticed I had 6 missed calls. One of them being the Doctor's office. I promptly dialed their number told them who I was and they said they would get the doctor right away. (That immediately put a lump in my throat)
He got on the phone and said something I will never forget. "I hate to tell you this on the phone because I like to tell people this face to face, but Kailyn has diabetes and you need to go to the ER at Maine Med immediately" He let us know that the Pediatric Endocrinologist was waiting for us and to get their as quickly as possible. The whole time I knew it was an emergency, but I was still hopeful that there was a mistake and the endocrinologist would tell us otherwise. WELL, he did not.
When we got to the ER the Endocrinologist was waiting there. He rushed us through admitting and helped us during triage. When the nurse was asking us why we were there I was giving her all her symptoms and Dr Jerry (the endocrinologist) pipes in and said."and she has type I diabetes" Right then I finally realized it was true and our life was going to change forever.

1 comment:

Tattered Tulips said...

Prayers Kristen, give K big hugs from me. You are such a strong person, I always admire the way you handle whatever life throws at you.