Lightning struck TWICE

~November 1, 2010~

Our lives were changed forever...AGAIN!!

Brenden was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes!

Here is his story:
Last Thursday, Brenden wet his bed in the middle of the night. He has never had a bed-wetting problem (even when he was a toddler). I didn't think anything about it other than he must have had a lot to drink before bed and didn't go potty either. Then on Saturday, Brenden told Rich that he was really tired because he has to keep getting up in the middle of the night and peeing all of the time. Rich told me that night and it sent up a little red flag but...I still thought no way!
Then, Sunday night...
Rich and I had just gotten into bed and had turned of the lights and we heard the kids bathroom door shut. I asked Rich to please go see who that was...it was Brenden. I told Rich that we needed to check his blood sugar. After he came out of the bathroom (it's around midnight), we brought him into our room and sat him on our bed. We got Christopher's meter and proceeded to check his blood sugar. When it beeped and I looked at the meter with the result staring me in the face, I felt like I couldn't breathe. It was registering HI...that means his blood sugar was over 600. The meter will only register to 600. I told Rich to check his blood sugar just to make sure the meter was ok. Rich tested and he was ok. We checked Brenden again and the result was the same...HI. i went downstairs with my heart pounding out of my chest and got a different meter. We tested him for a 3rd time, but with the new meter...same result!
We knew we had to take him to the ER. I went downstairs to call my mom and ask her to come sit with the kiddos. In my brief walk down my stairs, the floodgates opened and I couldn't control the tears! Was this really happening to our family AGAIN?? How could this disease ravish another one of my childrens bodies? My poor mother probably could not even understand me through my crying. I wasn't crying due to panic or fear this time...it was pure heartbreak! I knew what we were headed for...what Brenden would have to go through!
My mom came and we left for the hospital. Christopher had woken up during this time and wanted to come with us to support Brenden so we let him. We got to the hospital and our worst fears were confirmed...

Brenden has Type 1 Diabetes too!

Brenden in the ambulance

They transferred him to Riley Children's hospital in an ambulance! He thought it was pretty cool that he got to ride in one. They took care of him so well there. They gave us lots of wonderful goodies (diabetes supplies) to take home with us. One blessing is that we got to come home on Monday night. They normally keep new diabetic patients for 3 days to go through all of the education and training, but since we already had a child with diabetes and knew things, they let us come home! I was so grateful because we had just spent 3 days in the PICU there exactly 3 weeks before with Christopher. He had a complication with his insulin pump and wound up in DKA and in the hospital. It was nice to see the nurses again, but none of us could believe that we were back and that it was for Brenden this time. Needless to say, we have not had the best month!

Since Monday...
Brenden has checked his blood sugar approximately 28 times.
He has had 18 shots.
and...
He has told me he is scared that he is going to die once!

This is something no little boy (or girl) should ever have to go through or worry about! No mom should ever have to hear her baby express that fear! The first set of shots he got, the nurse and Rich had to hold him down while I did it...he cried and was so scared, but he tried to be so brave! Each shot has gotten better! Another hard thing for Brenden is that this little boy has no fat on him. He is a gymnast and has abs, thighs and buns of steel. Usually, the stomach is the best place to give shots, but the nurses told us not to touch his stomach because there is absolutely nothing there to pinch. That really limits the surface area we have to work with now. We use his thighs, the top of his bum, and the back of his arms. We will use his legs and bum at home and the nurse will use his arms to give his shots at school. He hasn't gone back to school yet. He will go back on Monday. I think he is pretty nervous about that and I KNOW I am. It is hard to turn my baby's life over to another person. It amazes me that none of the school nurses we have dealt with have ever dealt with a child with diabetes before. There is a learning curve and there will be LOTS of phone calls and emails in the beginning. I appreciated that the nurse was honest and asked if she could call every day before doing anything just to have me double check things. I am so thankful that I literally live 1 minute from the school.
This morning when Brenden came downstairs, he had his meter in his hand and he said, "Don't worry Mom, you don't have to tell me to check my BS, I already did it by myself." I have to admit, it made me cry! I was so proud of him. He is being such a trooper and he is so brave! The strength that my boys have shown me through all of this is simply AMAZING!

We have wonderful friends and family that have been here for us and have helped us get through this. To everyone for everything each of you have done...

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!

We have our emotional ups and downs!
I try to remember the things we have to be grateful for such as:

1. We have already been through this before, so it isn't as scary this time.
2. We have great insurance.
3. We have wonderful hospitals here for my boys.
4. My boys now have each other and will NEVER feel like they are going through this alone.
5. Heavenly Father knows what we are going through.
6. Insulin
7. My boys are AMAZING, STRONG and soooo BRAVE!!
8. Priesthood blessings
9. Prayers offered on behalf of my family
10. Our great endocrinologist~ Dr. Cagle

(just to name a few...)

Well, it is late and I need to go (my thoughts are all jumbled up right now too) so I will finish this tomorrow!
We love each of you and are so thankful for everyone's love and prayers!