Sunday, November 7, 2010

Christopher's Hospital Stay...

Christopher had a visit to the ER a few weeks ago too! He started feeling bad and so I told him to check his blood sugar. It was really elevated. After a little while he was throwing up, so we decided to change his insulin and his site and try and get him to drink as much water as possible. His levels started coming down (slightly), but then they shot right back up. We gave more fluids (only to have them thrown right back up), we gave him extra insulin, yet nothing was working. His blood sugar was over 600 and he had moderate ketones (very dangerous)! We finally wound up taking him into the ER. He was in really bad shape. He had lost 14 lbs. in a matter of a few days, he was having breathing issues...it was HORRIBLE!!
The doctors began treating him, but we knew he would have to be transferred to Riley Children's hospital. Christopher got to ride in another ambulance. He was actually a little excited. When he was first diagnosed and had to be transferred in an ambulance, shortly after being on the road he slipped into a coma and didn't remember the ride. He was bummed!
It made me really nervous to be back in the ambulance with Christopher in DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis). The memories of his first ride came flooding back and I didn't want to go through that again. It was a horrible feeling when the paramedic tried to wake him up and nothing happened...words can't describe it.
Anyway, we got to Riley Hospital and Christopher was in critical condition and had to be in the PICU. His heart had some tachycardia rhythms in the ambulance too so they hooked him up to heart machines and did an EKG and everything too. They had to put him on oxygen due to his breathing.

He had to have 2 IV's that were horrible to even get because he was so dehydrated. It is so hard to see your "baby" lying there so helpless and so sick! It took them a very long time to get him stabilized! The worst part was hearing and watching him breathe. When you are in DKA, your body is trying to rid itself of the ketones in your body. One way of doing this is by expelling carbon dioxide. So his breathing was very fast. His breaths per minute were in the upper 30's. They are supposed to be around 15. So, he was breathing twice as fast as he should have been. But he was also breathing very deep. It's like when the doctor asks you to breathe deep so they can listen to your lungs. Think of someone who has just finished a marathon and they are breathing fast and very deep...that is was it is like! He did that for over 18 hours. It was EXCRUCIATING to hear and watch.
They finally got him stabilized overnight Monday. Tuesday morning, they hooked him back up to his insulin pump and they moved him to the regular Peds ward. His bed was actually just a few doors down from the PICU. They only have 6 PICU beds and they needed his bed. We proceeded through the day and his normal blood sugars began going back up again. My parents came to visit him that night and Rich brought the kids up. Christopher was sleeping most of the time. My mom had said she thought she would see him up and normal, but he wasn't. I told her he was much better that yesterday, but something wasn't right. His blood sugars were going back up and he was sleeping a lot. The nurses came in and tested his BS and did more blood work to try and figure out what was going on. The family all left, but I stayed with him. A few minutes after everyone had left, Christopher woke up and said he wasn't feeling good again. He started throwing up. The nurse came in just moments after and gave the test results. His levels were horrible again and we had to move him back to the PICU. We were out of there and back in the PICU within about 2 minutes. They had to hook him back up to an IV insulin drip. He had 2 IV's in his arms, but one wasn't working anymore, so they had to do another one. It took them over an hour to get one. I held his hand as they proceeded to dig in his arm forever. I remember at one point after they had been digging forever, I just said out loud..."Please Heavenly Father...PLEASE help them get this in!" One of the nurses just put her arm around me and whispered to me..."I am so sorry"! I am so thankful for the love and compassion that the nurses showed to us. I think they finally got one after the 6th try. They called up a nurse from the ER to do it and she finally got it. FINALLY, that part was over!

After all of the nurses got everything taken care of (the IV, the oxygen, the heart monitors...) they all left and the room was quiet. I was sitting on Christopher's bad holding his had and he looked up at me and with tears in his eyes said, "Mom, I thought I was getting better...why is this happening again?" I told him that I didn't know, but that these were the best doctors and nurses and they would figure it out and help him to feel better again. The next question about broke me... He looked at me and asked me, "Mom, am I going to die?" I couldn't stop the tears, but I tried. I assured him that the doctors would figure everything out and not to worry. I told him to close his eyes and rest and that I would stay awake so I could know everything that was going on and not to worry. I was exhausted (I hadn't slept since Saturday and it was now Tuesday night), but there was NO WAY I was going to sleep until they figured out what was going on with my baby!

We figured it out the next morning when Rich came back to the hospital. We changed his insulin site and when Rich pulled it out, the plastic cannula that stays in Christopher's body was completely bent in half and therefore was keeping the insulin from flowing through into his body. What a relief to have the answer...and it was a simple fix!
We got all of his tubing and site changed and got him back on his pump. He did great throughout the day and they let him go home that evening! It was a horrible 4 days, but the outcome was fine! My little boy was ok and I was able to take him home!
We have wonderful friends who stepped up and brought my other kiddos dinner and helped everyone get to where they needed to be!

Family + Friends = PRICELESS!!

As you can tell, the last month of our lives have been absolutely crazy! However, I am so thankful for so many things too! I know that through our trials and struggles we are able to learn and grow beyond description! I'm not sure why my boys have to endure this disease, but I do know that with our love and support, they will be able to live full, happy lives (hopefully with no complications)! If complications are their fate, then we will help them get through that as well! I love these boys with everything that I am and will do whatever it takes to make their lives as "normal" as possible! This will be a lifelong struggle for them, but I pray every day for a cure for this horrible disease.
I have had people ask me how I deal with this knowing that God "did this to them". My answer is simple...Heavenly Father did not "do this to them", but I do know that he will "do this WITH them". He never leaves us alone. I am so thankful for my faith and knowledge of the Atonement. When our Savior suffered that day in Gethsemane, he not only felt the pains of our sins but also of our sadness, despair and heartbreak! He KNOWS how each of us are feeling. Sometimes, things are just too hard to deal with on our own, so we have to turn it over to the Lord! He can make our burdens lighter, if we let him! I wish he could take this burden completely from my family, but that is not the plan at this time. We will continue to do our best at fighting this so that one day when a cure is found, my boys will be alive and healthy enough to benefit from it.
Please continue to pray for my boys, but I also ask that you keep Rich and I in your prayers as well! We need the strength and courage to be strong for these kiddos and we need patience and determination to deal with this daily! Diabetes never sleeps, it never goes on vacation. This is a part of our lives 24 hrs. a day, 7 days a week! I know we can do this. There will be hard days and there will be good days. We just have to be extra grateful for and focus on those good days! As hard as the last month has been, I know this is not the end of our hard days. However, I know that there will be even more good days ahead of us!

Sunday~ November 14, 2010 is National Diabetes Day!!
Please wear blue for my boys and send me a picture! I would love to show them how many people love and support them!!
THANK YOU!!

1 comment:

Unknown said...

so scary but sooo thankful that it turned out ok! we love that stinker!