May 22, 2017 was a day that we will never forget. This was the day our lives would change forever! Many people have asked, “how I knew?” Well I didn’t! The first sign and he would be so embarrassed if he could read this but he wet the bed not once, but twice. He has NEVER wet the bed since being potty trained at 2.5 years old. (The only reason I mention this symptom is to help someone! … just throwing that in there just in case he reads this one day!!!!) After he wet the bed the second time, I went straight to Google! Yes I know “they” say don’t google your symptoms, but in this case I believe it saved his life! I typed in the search box “what causes bed wetting?” One of the first things that popped up was diabetes! I really had no clue! I clicked on a list of symptoms for diabetes and read…
- Increased thirst and frequent urination
Yes! I had noticed him drinking from the faucet in the middle of the night but before reading this I didn’t think much of it. (Get you a drink and go back to bed!)
- Extreme hunger
Now I don’t think he was extra hungry, but even if he was I didn’t notice he was a growing 9 year old I probably was just proud he was eating.
- Weight loss
I did not notice this symptom at all before reading it on Google. Almost imminently after reading this symptom Jay walked in the room and took off his shirt. Why, I don’t really remember but I remember being shocked that I could see his ribs and I think that was my tipping point! The final piece that made sense and I knew it was serious and I should have him checked out ASAP!
- Fatigue
Now I read this symptom and thought … I don’t know if he’s really tired. But, after the fact I remembered a recent baseball game that he had played in like the Friday before. He had been running around the bases and got caught between first and second. He made it to second by diving to the bag. After the next batter he was hit home, but was almost called out because he was running so slow. I dismissed this at the time thinking he had the wind knocked out of him at second when he landed. He was running with all his might and could not speed up! We were yelling RUN!!!!!!!!!! I distinctly remember asking him why he didn’t run fast!
- Irritability or behavior changes
I don’t really remember any specific details of him having this symptom but that was almost a year ago and he is a young boy with small brothers. So even if he did have this symptom it doesn’t stand out to me!
- Blurred vision
I asked Jay about his vision but he really didn’t know if it had been blurry. But, in hindsight he wasn’t hitting the baseball like he had been in years passed. Yet again I dismissed this to the fact that he was now in kid pitch baseball and not coach pitch.
- Fruity -smelling breath
After I had checked off most of the other symptoms on the list for diabetes I called my nurse friend and was like “Hey I think Jay has diabetes!” I told her all of his symptoms and she said go check his breath right now. I went to his room and knelt down beside his bed and to the best of my ability without waking him tried to smell his breath. It was sweet but I couldn’t tell that it was “fruity.”
Now at this point I was pretty positive that he had it and I was freaking out. I was worried that if I didn’t do anything he would die in his sleep that night. I probably should have taken him directly to the ER right then! (If you are reading this and any of these symptoms jump out at you then yes take them immediately to the ER!!!!!) Instead I watched for labored breathing that night and made an appointment with his local pediatrician the next morning. Luckily they got him in at 11:15. His doctor is very good and wanted to test for UTI along with testing him for diabetes. I insisted on the blood work for diabetes to be taken and his number was too high to read on the monitor in the office. This meant his blood sugar was more than 400 mg/dl. The doctor came back in and suggested we go straight to our local ER so they could admit us to the closest Children’s Hospital for training and diabetes education.
I have looked back and tried to pin point the start of this disease and the doctors can’t really tell me when it started! I tried to narrow down the on-set by tracing back to statistics I had to go on. My kids are for the most part healthy and after the initial well-visits (shots). I didn’t take them to the doctor. So Jay had not been to the doctor in several years. Probably since he was 4! So the only data as far as health I had was weigh in during football the season before. He weighed in at 72 pounds. (October 2016) I asked the nurse at his school and they had weighed him in physical education around the same time… so that really didn’t help much. But I did have a weight to go off of. At the doctor’s office on May 22, 2017 he weighed in at 62 pounds! He had lost 10 pounds and I didn’t even notice, until the night before diagnosis!
This is the beginning of our journey….
God has heard 