Diabetes 101

      After scrambling for substitute coverage for my class for the next few days and someone to take care of Mollie after school until Michael got home, Kelsey was admitted to the AI DuPont Hospital for Children . I “slept” on a cot in her room but most of the night was spent learning to check her blood sugars with a glucometer and answering nurse’s questions about her health history. With each shift change the same routine continued..Through it all I was impressed by Kelsey’s ability to handle it all. All I wanted to do was go to sleep and hope that when I woke up in the morning it would all have been a bad dream.
    No such luck.When morning arrived Micahel, Kesley, and I were expected to meet the diabetic educator  for an all day training.. How could I possibly listen to this critical information when I ‘ve had maybe 2 hours of sleep, I had a horrible headache, and  was about to break down in tears at any moment? Before I could really wallow in my self pity we were introduced to our diabetic  educator,Renee and another newly diagnosed family. For the rest of the day the six of us listened intently to everything Renee had to offer. We learned how to recognize symptoms of high and low blood sugars,administer the glucagons emergency shot,take our blood sugars,and give insulin shots. We actually had to practice by giving ourselves saline shots in the abdomen. All I could think of is who’s going to pick my husband up off the ground when he passes out from just  the sight of the needle. If we had anxiety about needles can you imagine what was going through the mind of our nine year old daughter? She didn’t have a choice. Needles were now a way of life to her.
   We managed to give the injections without any problem and to my relief they didn’t push Kelsey to give her own injection until she was ready. I understand that the hospital’s procedure now is to not let the child be discharged from the hospital until they can give their own injections. Thank goodness for small favors.
   Over the next few days Renee continued to teach us about A1C’s, long and fast acting insulin,complications,doctors’ visits ,school procedures, patient’s rights,medical supplies, and support organizations such as the American Diabetes Association and Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
     We met with the nutritionist to discuss carbohydrate counting and balanced nutrition. We met with the social worker and psychologist to discuss the need for possible family counseling. We took quizzes to test our knowledge of what we’ve learned so far. Through all of this Michael and I diligently took notes knowing that we couldn’t possibly remember all of this when we got home. Little did we know that it would all soon become second nature.
To this day I will be forever indebted to our diabetic educator Renee. She was truly a godsend. During our three days  together we discover that she too was diabetic .The pager I thought she had attached to her waistband was actually an insulin pump. She told us she was  was diagnosed in college and as a result changed her career path . She sat patiently and answered all of our questions that weren’t on her list.  How long will she live? Can she have children? Will she be able to drive. Can she go away to college? Should she tell her friends? When should she give her own injections?
   She calmed some of our fears, listened to out tears, and helped us to accept this diagnoses and move forward. She gave me hope that if she could live successfully with this disease then so could Kesley.
  After three very intense days, we gathered our diabetes supplies, exchanged phone numbers with the other family,and said our goodbyes to the endocrine staff at the hospital . It was now time to go home and put into practice what we have learned. We were terrified.