It was 2011. We were living in Victorville, CA. It was the beginning of a new school year. Daniel had just turned eight that summer and was starting the 3rd grade. He enjoyed school, playing with his friends for hours outside, riding his waveboard, swimming, playing video games, eating pizza... just a normal happy and energetic boy and we were expecting a new baby.
But, there were some mornings that were strange. I would wake Daniel up for school and noticed he had wet the bed. I would ask him why he didn't wake up to go to the bathroom and he would say he didn't know he had to go and didn't know he had wet the bed. It wasn't every morning, but when it happened it was a mess. As the months progressed, Daniel became exhausted. He would come home from school and fall asleep on the couch. I would have a hard time waking him up. His playdates outside with his friends began to change. He would often run inside complaining he was thirsty and then they began to lessen as he would sleep through the afternoon and often until dinner. I remember him continuing to say he was thirsty upon waking up, even though he hadn't been outside playing. And then there were days he would come inside from playing outside and fall asleep on the couch. He was also loosing weight. I knew something was wrong, but just couldn't figure out why my little boy wasn't himself. Did he not sleep well the night before? Was he catching a cold? Did he have the flu or some other virus? Could it be his night routine of bed wetting had interrupted his sleep enough that he was exhausted during the day? He was often thirsty before bed and I began to tell him not to drink anything to try to avoid a night of bedwetting. I would ask him to use the restroom before bed and he did. Yet, there were mornings he would still wet the bed.
As Christmas vacation was approaching and Daniel had plans to visit his Dad, we prepared him for his trip. We dropped him off as scheduled and said our goodbyes for the week. When Daniel was away, he spent his vacation eating out often and visititing family. He was on the go and we were home enjoying our pregnancy and preparing for the new year. When we picked up Daniel, I knew something was incredibly wrong. He had to be woken up. His face was a strange color, almost as if he had a gray appearance, and he had lost weight. He had to immediately use the restroom. He was exhausted. He slept on our drive home. He slept most of the next day. He had a hard time waking up. I assumed he was exhausted since he had been traveling during his vacation, but this was different. It wasn't unusual for him to eat out often when visiting his dad, but at this moment in his life, the rich foods where not being digested properly. It was good and bad at the same time. It was good because the affects of his high carb rich foods allowed for us to notice a drastic change in his appearance and health, but it was bad because his body could not properly function to get rid of the sugars and his kidneys were working overtime making him extremely weak.
He returned to bed wetting that night and the next morning as well. I dropped him off at school on Monday morning and when I returned home I called my ex-husband to ask if this had happened while he was on vacation with him. I began researching on-line and as I Google searched "a child suddenly bed wetting" I came across Type 1 Diabetes. I began to wonder if he was diabetic? I kept thinking about his behavior, he had changed. He was irritable, difficult, emotional, sad, hyper, exhausted and all on the same day. Where was my happy little boy? What has happened to his joy for life?
On the next morning, I called his pediatrician. It was Tuesday, January 17th, 2012. I didn't know what I was going to say and my first words were, "I think my son has Diabetes". They took us right in that
afternoon. Daniel cried so loud when she pricked his finger to check his blood sugar the first time and it was BG573. They checked his urine and he had an extreme amount of ketones. As Daniel sat on the exam table crying, she checked his blood sugar again on his other hand, he continued to cry and she told us to hold on. She left the door open to the exam room and I could see her making a phone call. I was trying to grasp the realization that our lives had just changed. Daniel was still crying, I was confused, I couldn't remember what were ketones? and why was she on the phone? The office made immediate arrangements at Loma Linda Children's Hospital, 45 miles away. Daniel continued to cry as she rechecked his blood sugar yet again and we were told to take him immediately to children's hospital.
As we began our drive, I remember trying to calm him down as he continued to cry in the back seat and I was feeling numb. I was in shock. I was 6 months pregnant, I had completely forgotten to eat that day, and I was trying to absorb what our pediatrician had just said. Did she really say we had to go to Children's Hospital and not the local hospital? Did he really say we had to go immediately? Did she say he was diabetic and in Ketoacidosis? Why couldn't I remember what was Ketoacidosis? As all this was running through my mind, my husband was driving and he insisted we stop to get me some food. Daniel was starving and we allowed him to eat as we assumed we would be sitting at the emergency room for a few hours. I then realized I needed to make the phone call to my ex-husband who lived 4 hours away. I called and as he answered the phone I immediately starting crying. I could barely get the words out of my mouth as I said, "Our son has Diabetes!". I couldn't speak. I was looking at Daniel and I had completely lost it emotionally. I just cried. Daniel was holding me. He had stopped crying. He was telling me "Mommy, it's ok". My husband picked up the phone and finished the conversation for me and told my ex-husband he needed to make the drive to Children's Hospital. I felt horrible, guilty for not bringing him to the doctor sooner, ashamed for thinking it was his fault for not getting up and helping him use the restroom during the night, angry at myself as I felt I had failed my son, and all the while as I was crying the entire drive, Daniel wasn't crying. He was quite, our surburban was quite, we were all quite.
When we arrived we checked into the emergency room. They immediately checked his blood sugar and to my surprise he didn't cry. In fact, he never cried again getting his finger pricked. They took us back into a private room in the ER and within a few minutes a resident physician came in and told us we would be staying there for a few days. We were confused. We had just drove 45 miles and had not stopped at home to pack a bag. As we listened to him tell us what our next few days would be like attending classes to learn how to care for Daniel and what life was going to be like from now on, I realized our entire world had just changed.
Daniel was calm. They began his numerous IV drips, hooked him up to monitors, checked his blood sugar often, and all the while my little boy who was crying non stop just a few hours before never cried again. He spoke to his nurses and doctors. He answered their questions and as each person would ask him do you know why your here? he would answer, "because I have diabetes". And just like that, he was the most mature 8 year old I had ever met. He was braver than I ever knew he was and he had accepted his diagnosis.
We were moved to Pediatric Intensive Care than night. I stayed with Daniel and my husband went home to rest as we were scheduled to attend our first class at 8am the next morning. His nurse checked his blood sugar every hour and when his blood sugar dropped to BG52, I watched her give him juice and recheck 15 minutes later. This was his first low blood sugar correction. It was a long night with interruptions every hour. I was worried and spent most of the night watching Daniel sleep, the nurses adjusting his meds, changing his IV bags, and checking his blood sugar.
The next morning we attended our first class. I have to admit it was hard to leave Daniel in his room. This was the beginning of our new journey. We were now parents of a Type 1 Diabetic. We proceeded to learn about how to care for him, how to calculate his carbs and proper insulin dosage, how to correct his high and low blood sugars, and most of all how to give him the best quality of life. We learned together as Daniel attended some classes with us. Things were instantly different. Daniel was returning to being his silly self. He was feeling better and full of energy. He was playing video games in bed and laughing with his nurses and doctors. Once they removed his, we were moved out of PICU, into the Pediatric Unit, and Daniel was able to meet other children just like him. He went to play as much as he could in their activity room. My little boy was full of life again.
On the 4th day, we were ready to go home. We picked up all of his prescriptions and doubled checked all of our instructions. His doctors came in for their last visit and as they said their goodbyes my husband and I prepared to take Daniel home. I remember walking through the hospital, his nurse pushing him in his wheelchair, Daniel holding his blanket he had received as a gift, my husband carrying all of our supplies, and I realized we had a new life. The sun was shinning brighter it seemed as we walked out of the hospital and began our drive, yet it seemed like only a five minute drive this time. We were finally home and the new parents of a Type 1 Diabetic.
As I look back at all the signs I made bold in my story, I know the signs were there all along. We have our answer as to why our son wasn't feeling well and looking at the moment we left the hospital, I realize this was the day our life began. We celebrate Daniel's diagnosis day not as an anniversary, but as a Dia-Birthday because on that day we found out why our son was not feeling well and our life has never been the same. His diagnosis was life changing, but most of all a life saving event.
Our youngest son was born just a few months later and our little Landon doesn't know any other life. Landon thinks everyone checks their blood sugar and gets injections just like Daniel. He will even ask for his turn right after Daniel. When I look at our life through Landon's eyes, I don't remember our life prior to diagnosis. It's just a memory and this is our normal.
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