Topic: My 7 year old daughter, was in the ER all night...
lymebrat
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 3208
posted
Hi Everyone,
I posted this over in Medical, but wanted to post it here as well...
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Hi Everyone,
****Note: For those of you who don't know, my 7 year old daughter was diagnosed with Juvenile Diabetes (type 1) in May ... she was also diagnsoed with lyme in 2003*****
I ended up taking my daughter Mikayla, to the Emergency Room last night, as she had large Ketones in her urine and her blood sugar kept falling into dangerous lows.
Ketones develop when her body starts to burn fat for energy instead of sugar, usually when she is sick or has high blood sugar. This is dangerous, as it makes the body have a toxic acetone type chemical and can cause a comma and even death, if left untreated for as little as 4 hours..very scary!
Normally when she gets ketones, I have to give her insulin shots every hour, for 4-5 hours and this will clear up the ketones. But because her blood sugar was too low, I was unable to give her insulin, as this would make her blood sugar drop so low that she would pass out or go into a comma.
So I had to try and force sugared drinks/food into her, to get her blood sugar up high enough, to give her more insulin shots. She was so sick, that she was simply not able to eat or drink anything and on top of everything else, she was vomiting ( from her virus)..
Plus as she wasn't able to drink anything, she wasn't able to give me a urine sample to check for Keytones, so I had no way of knowing if the 2 insulin shots I had already given her, was working to bring the Keytones down. So I had to take her to the ER to have an IV and have her Ketone level checked with a blood test.
It was her first IV and it was horrible. The ER tech couldn't get the first one to work, so he tried another line and when he started to flush it or whatever they do, blood spewed out everywhere.
It was just awful, poor Mikayla's face was so scrunched up in pain and she was trying so hard to be brave...she had tears running down her face, even though she wasn't making a sound, and I had all I could do not to rip the darn IV line out and try to do it myself.
The techs were trying their best to get it in as quickly as possible, but unfortunately some type of bulge appeared under the needle and it was hurting her so badly, they almost had to do it all over again. Luckily they finally got the thing working, but it seemed to take forever.
While she was having the IV and we were waiting for the test results, they brought in a TV and VCR and we were able to watch a couple of movies. I have to say watching Beauty and the Beast in the ER at 1:30 in the morning isn't much fun, especially when your little girl is laying there with an IV taped to her arm and is in pain.
We got the blood results back and we were fortunate that the insulin I was able to get into her, did work in helping to get rid of the ketones.
But as she was unable to eat or drink and had been vomiting she was very dehydrated, so she had to stay longer to get some fluids replaced through the IV.
I called the children's hospital about 8:30 pm and we never got home until 3:30 this morning, it was a very long night! Luckily my sister was able to go with me and I was very grateful for her help, as I was at the hospital earlier yesterday for chest x-rays and was diagnosed with pneumonia..so I was a little tired. lol~!
Mikayla seems to be doing better today. I am checking her keytones every 2 hours and so far no more than a trace. Phew! Her blood sugar is a little better, but she is still dropping low in the 50's.
I am talking with the Children's hospital every 6 hours to update them on how she is doing and they are giving me advice on what to do all the time. She is doing much better and is able to keep fluids down, so I am hoping for a peaceful night.
Also her doctor prescribed a new meter for her so I can check her ketone levels with a blood sample, much like the way I check her blood sugar. This way if we ever have a time where she is too sick to drink and give me a urine sample again, I can still monitor her ketones from home. Which is very important with a child with diabetes.
Mikayla has had a rough 6 months and could use a little ray of sunshine. She is hoping to feel better for Christmas... Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.
Thank you all and I hope you all have a Merry Christmas!
~Missy
Posts: 3154 | From NH , USA | Registered: Oct 2002
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lymie tony z
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 5130
posted
I'm glad she's stable...
Real bummer for ya...
I'll keep ya in my thoughts and prayers...
Make sure that pneumonia does'nt get any worse for you.....
I heard Johnny Damon is going to the pinstripes... Ya better boo him soundly when he gets to the plate next year as a Yank....
Have a Merry Christmas and Happier New Year...
Zman
-------------------- I am not a doctor...opinions expressed are from personal experiences only and should never be viewed as coming from a healthcare provider. zman Posts: 2527 | From safety harbor florida(origin Cleve., Ohio | Registered: Jan 2004
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Now you've done it! Now my wife has gotten involved. I printed your posting concerning your daughter and let my wife read it.
Neither of us has any idea how it must feel to have to watch your baby go through so much, at such a young age.
It's hard enough with our 27 year old daughter and Lyme. Anyway, my wife wanted me to include the following scripture (it's one of our favorite):
"May The Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you.
May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace." Numbers 6:24
You and your daughter are in our prayers.
LymeDad
Posts: 681 | From California | Registered: Oct 2005
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lymebrat
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 3208
posted
Hi Tony and Lymedad,
Thanks for the post. Yes it is a bummer! I had to call the children's hospital again several times today as her blood sugars are still going way too low.
The bad part is that most people with diabetes, can feel a low coming on, they either feel weak, shaky, hungry etc..they have some type of symptom that alerts them, that they are getting low and they can treat the low before it gets dangerous.
Mikayla has "hypoglycemia unawareness" where her body gives her no warning signs( that she can detect), to let her know a low is coming on..so as a result, she isn't aware she is getting low until she all but passes out..which is very scary!
She was low twice in the middle of the night last night, which makes me very nervous, I hate to think what may have happened if I wasn't so diligent about checking her blood sugars ..she could get too low, pass out, slip into a comma or even die.
So I have 3 alarm clocks set up in my room, the hallway and her room for midnight and 3:00 am, so I will make sure I can check her through the night when she is ill.
Unfortunately I was blessed with pneumonia and am having a hard time getting any rest as I am coughing so bad. I do have a script for codeine cough syrup, but there is no way I will take it, as I'm afraid I'll fall asleep and not hear the alarms to check her blood sugar.
Mikayla is feeling better today, she is able to keep some food/fluids down, so I am able to keep her hydrated and ketone free. ..that is half the battle.
Thank you both for your thoughts and prayers, they are greatly appreciated and at times like this, very much needed.
Lymedad.. I just wanted to thank both you and your wife for posting the scripture, it is one of my favorites as well.
Yes, it is hard to watch your child go through so much..no matter what age they are. I feel so helpless.. It is hard to watch my beautiful little girl who was pretty healthy 6 months ago, have to deal with so much every day, just to stay alive.
But we all do what we have to do, and she is a brave little girl. She has only asked "why me?" once and other than that has taken her illness head on and is coping with her new way of life, much better than her mom and dad!
When I am at the Children's hospital, I have seen children who will unfortunately never be able to leave the hospital and their parents will never be able to take their child home..
So even though having to watch my little girl go through all that is involved with having diabetes, I am both thankful and blessed that what she has is something we can hopefully manage with proper care and medical treatment... we are lucky.
Thank you both again for the prayers..
I hope you and your families have a wonderful Christmas!!
~Missy
Posts: 3154 | From NH , USA | Registered: Oct 2002
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