We made it almost 2 years after Serenity was diagnosed before our first visit to the emergency room.
Her blood sugar was staying in the 400s and just wouldn't go down. It started in the evening and led to multiple pump site changes (due to my assuming that they were the problem). When her blood sugar finally did go down, around 1:30am, I went to bed. The next morning Serenity's blood sugar was back up to 400 and she had moderate ketones. So, off to the ER we went.
We spent a total of 10 hours at the hospital. At one point a man came through the hall with a food cart offering free coffee to parents. (We were at the children's hospital.) It felt like Christmas! (Hi, my name is Amber and I am a coffee addict.) I hadn't eaten all day and had only had a cup of coffee hours earlier. I was so excited as a stirred cream and sugar into my styrofoam cup. And then I took the first glorious drink... and was reminded that hospital coffee tastes like cardboard. Oh well. It was a nice gesture.
They did blood work on Serenity, did a thorough exam, gave her insulin and managed to bring her blood sugar down to the 200s. And in the end they determined that Serenity's insulin pump had malfunctioned. They had me call the pump company to have them send her a new one. (Thank God her pump was still under warranty!)... This led to a forty-five minute phone call while the pump representative had me read off all of the information from every screen, determining that he, in fact, could not see that there was a problem with the pump, but agreed to replace it simply due to the doctor's request.
Serenity would have to go back to getting shots for a couple of days until her new pump arrived. Once we had her school note, prescription for more insulin, and discharge papers, we were (finally) free to go. The hospital had provided Serenity a sandwich for lunch, but I had still not eaten all day. So, on our way home at 6:00, McDonald's sounded (and tasted) like a 5-star meal.
Serenity's pump came in the mail today. She will be put back on it after dinner this evening (24 hours after her last shot of long-lasting insulin). But her numbers are still not great. I find myself wondering if it was her pump malfunctioning and her blood sugar levels are having trouble getting back on track or if it was never her pump to begin with and something going on inside her body instead... I guess time will tell.
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Monday, September 3, 2012
Shot vs. Pump
Serenity was given 3 shots a day (mostly by me & the school nurse) for a year and a half. Then she got on the insulin pump. It has its ups & downs.
When Serenity was getting shots she was on a very strict eating schedule. If she ate too early, her blood sugar levels were high. If she ate even half an hour late, she would inevitably get low. We, as a family, learned to work our schedule around meals. If Serenity got an extra snack, for example... at a class party, I would have to give her an extra shot. (Just a side note: it is so annoying when others comment on how much they hate needles and act like they are scared of my daughter getting a shot. I'm not talking about little kids, either. If you are a grown up and you're not even the one getting a shot, suck it up. My daughter IS the one getting the shot & she does.) Another down-side to getting shots is that you have less control over your blood sugar levels... but I'll explain more on that later.
Before Serenity got on the pump, we (Serenity, my husband, & I) had to attend a pump class. The diabetes educators showed us the different pumps we could choose from, went over the pros & cons, and put a pump site into each diabetic child's arm to make sure they weren't allergic to the adhesive on the inset. One of the things they were adamant about telling us was that getting on the pump would mean more work for us, the parents. If the pump were to malfunction (which we have never experienced) or if the inset did not go into the skin or deliver the insulin correctly (which we have experienced multiple times), it can quickly result in high blood sugars, ketones, and even DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis). For this reason, we have to check blood sugars more often.
For the first month that Serenity was on the pump I had to check her blood sugar several times a day, as well as at midnight, 2:00am, and 6:00am. I was VERY sleep deprived at the end of that month. But as a result of knowing those blood sugar patterns, we were able to tailor Serenity's insulin dosages, hour-by-hour, to result in better numbers and over-all better control. Serenity's first A1c test after getting on the pump was 6.3, the best it had ever been since being diagnosed. And after that first month, I got to catch up on sleep.
Now Serenity doesn't have to be on a strict eating schedule. We can sleep in on the weekends. We can go out to eat on special occasions and not worry about the long wait. We can eat around our daily schedule instead of schedule the day around our meals. And at class parties, Serenity just has to press a few buttons on her pump to eat that extra snack. We still have to check her blood sugar often, but not around the clock. We were told, before getting the pump, that it's not the best choice for everyone, and I can see why some would choose to continue with injections, but for Serenity, and for our family, its made life with type 1 diabetes just a little bit easier.
When Serenity was getting shots she was on a very strict eating schedule. If she ate too early, her blood sugar levels were high. If she ate even half an hour late, she would inevitably get low. We, as a family, learned to work our schedule around meals. If Serenity got an extra snack, for example... at a class party, I would have to give her an extra shot. (Just a side note: it is so annoying when others comment on how much they hate needles and act like they are scared of my daughter getting a shot. I'm not talking about little kids, either. If you are a grown up and you're not even the one getting a shot, suck it up. My daughter IS the one getting the shot & she does.) Another down-side to getting shots is that you have less control over your blood sugar levels... but I'll explain more on that later.
Before Serenity got on the pump, we (Serenity, my husband, & I) had to attend a pump class. The diabetes educators showed us the different pumps we could choose from, went over the pros & cons, and put a pump site into each diabetic child's arm to make sure they weren't allergic to the adhesive on the inset. One of the things they were adamant about telling us was that getting on the pump would mean more work for us, the parents. If the pump were to malfunction (which we have never experienced) or if the inset did not go into the skin or deliver the insulin correctly (which we have experienced multiple times), it can quickly result in high blood sugars, ketones, and even DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis). For this reason, we have to check blood sugars more often.
For the first month that Serenity was on the pump I had to check her blood sugar several times a day, as well as at midnight, 2:00am, and 6:00am. I was VERY sleep deprived at the end of that month. But as a result of knowing those blood sugar patterns, we were able to tailor Serenity's insulin dosages, hour-by-hour, to result in better numbers and over-all better control. Serenity's first A1c test after getting on the pump was 6.3, the best it had ever been since being diagnosed. And after that first month, I got to catch up on sleep.
Now Serenity doesn't have to be on a strict eating schedule. We can sleep in on the weekends. We can go out to eat on special occasions and not worry about the long wait. We can eat around our daily schedule instead of schedule the day around our meals. And at class parties, Serenity just has to press a few buttons on her pump to eat that extra snack. We still have to check her blood sugar often, but not around the clock. We were told, before getting the pump, that it's not the best choice for everyone, and I can see why some would choose to continue with injections, but for Serenity, and for our family, its made life with type 1 diabetes just a little bit easier.
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