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Today I’m sharing about living
with a baby with Type 1 Diabetes. I had no idea and I’m learning that many
have no idea that very small children and little babies can get Type 1
Diabetes. So I hope to raise awareness with this podcast. It was two years
before I saw my oldest daughters beautiful face.
You see she was a prodigal and it
took me going in for surgery on November 22, 2005 and having a reaction to
the anesthesia and being admitted into the hospital with a regular heart
rhythm before my daughter came to see me. Oh how I missed her but she came
back and we have been enjoying repairing our family relationships every
day.
As we slowly began to spend time
together my husband and I enjoyed babysitting our grandson. Shortly after
we started visiting he became ill. It started out as teething, then flu
like symptoms, and then it went into constant vomiting and weight loss.
Within four weeks we knew it was something more that the doctor didn’t
figure it out in time.
One Sunday as my parents, my son,
husband and I went to my daughter’s home for a family gathering, about four
weeks after his illness began, my daughter, her husband, my mom and I rushed
Caden, 19 months old at the time, to the ER. We didn’t know it but Caden
was actually in diabetic shock and slipping into a coma. It was
horrifying!
The ER staff saved his life that
day and by nightfall he was being rushed via special pediatric lifesaving
ambulance to Cottage Hospital. We all drove behind and let’s just say the
ambulance got there well ahead of us. After the doctor stabilized him they
had to ask a lot of questions and then finally explain what was happening to
our darling little red haired grandson. After an extensive discussion of
what was to come, having a Type 1 Diabetic child they allowed us to go in
and see him.
Our daughter and son-in-law were
exhausted from four weeks of caring for a very sick baby. He had lost 10 of
his 30 pounds in four weeks and we knew the kids just wouldn’t hold up if
someone didn’t take care of them so they could be there for the baby. Steve
and I stayed at a hotel nearby the hospital and made sure to get the kids to
eat and care for themselves. In the meantime, Caden was hooked up to IV’s
and all sorts of wires and monitors for two days in the ICU before being
allowed to go into the regular children’s ward.
During all of this mom and dad
had to quickly start learning how to care for a Type 1 Diabetic child. It
was total information overload and I am so proud of how well they handled
it. After they came home they suddenly realized that on top of everything
else my daughter would not be able to stay employed. Her son needed to get
stabilized and learn a new way of life and so did the rest of the family.
I’d like to take a moment to explain what exactly happened as I know it and
what life is like living with a Type 1 Diabetic baby.
Caden was 19 months
old when he went into the hospital. For those of who know how a 19 month
old is you’ll know that they are active, taking in everything and growing
like crazy. When he started teething this one particular time we think that
he got a virus or at least his body assumed it was a virus and therefore
started fighting anything it thought was foreign. In his case it attacked
his pancreas which caused his pancreas to no longer produce insulin.
So whenever Caden
eats everyone who feeds him has to count carbohydrates. Going by weight we
take into account how many carbohydrates he has eaten and then counteract
it, or maybe I should say contribute the amount of insulin that is needed to
break down the amount of carbohydrates he has consumed. We also have to
test his blood sugars several times a day as a baby however as his appetite
changes and he is growing so fast the amount of carbs and the amount of
insulin per carbs ingested change often.
It’s very
difficult to get on a schedule for very long. Now add to this fact that
activity burns up carbs therefore his blood sugars drop when he is very
active and we need to check his blood more often during this time. When he
gets sick or is teething we need to check his blood more often as well to
make sure it doesn’t go to high. My first time babysitting Caden after he
got out of the hospital was at the church nursery.
The kids were in
the sanctuary listening to the sermon when my daughter had a feeling and
left service to check on him. Before they walked in he was playing hard and
having a great time. I didn’t notice anything, there was nothing to show me
that his blood sugars were dropping however it was time for snack in the
nursery and I was just about to check his blood sugar when my daughter and
son-in-law walked in. They checked his blood for me and it was dangerously
low and I mean dangerously.
It was one of
those things that unless you check him really often like every 20 minutes or
feed him more carbs before he plays you can’t tell how low he is or will go
until he passes out. This is so new and frustrating to me that I was
grateful my daughter came in. They quickly got food out of his Igloo and
ate two meals at once. I am so grateful that my daughter followed that
still small voice and came in to check on him.
Now jump ahead a
few weeks – my daughter can no longer work, the bills were piling up fast,
medical bills were the majority of them and insurance took care of some but
there was still quite a bit remaining then add to that the co pays on
insulin, needles, tester strips, alcohol wipes, blood test needles and the
list goes on. As much as they didn’t want to they made a decision to move
in with my husband, sons, daughter and me.
Of course I was
very happy about it. Living with me though has shown us, even more of the
difficult life with Type 1 Diabetes. Grocery shopping is based on finding
low carb items and something the doctors call free foods, lots of sugar free
juice and so on. As someone explained to me Type 1 Diabetics are always
thirsty and always hungry. They somehow can never quench their thirst and
I’m not sure if this true with everyone else but our grandson drinks a lot
and eats a lot of little snacks during the day.
He also goes
through a ton of diapers because as you can imagine if he’s drinking that
much he’s then going through diapers. He’s at a point now that he will be
playing quietly when all of a sudden he goes into a mini panic and if his
bottle isn’t in front of him he starts searching frantically and calling out
to us to help us find it. It’s like an instant high need for a drink that I
can’t explain any other way.
His blood sugars
have to be checked at night so my daughter and son-in-law have to check him
about at about 12 and then 3am. When he teethes or gets sick we have to
watch him extra closely. The flu and cold is going around the house right
now and after all there are 8 of us living under one roof so illnesses are
bound to be passed around.
However, we have
to be extra cautious with Caden to keep him stable. I’d like to stop here
and invite you to email me at
Susie@thebusywomen.com with your experience with a baby with Type 1
Diabetes or a toddler or a young child. Let’s try and help others so they
can recognize the symptoms.
