DKA Diagnosis
Our T1D Blue November family was abruptly introduced to Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) during an emergency hospital stay when our child was in a state of Diabetic Ketoacidosis.
Our family had no known history of Type 1 Diabetes in our family. We had no idea what the signs were, let alone that we should even be looking for them.
Our kiddo seemed tired like any kid does when they have a cold. We were monitoring what we thought were cold symptoms and even reached out to the doctor’s office for a quad test for the flu, strep, and covid which all came back negative. So when his symptoms didn’t let up and his breathing changed and it seemed like he had withered overnight, we took him to the weekend acute care clinic. The attending nurse partitioner didn’t initially catch the concern we had for his symptoms and advised that we should come back during normal clinic hours. At acute care, we learned he had lost about one-fourth of his weight and with his significant lethargy and wheeze-like breathing, we pushed the NP to do blood work. The nurse practitioner said that the weekend clinic doesn’t typically do that kind of testing, but we knew something significant was happening and were adamant that they pull blood work. They clinic said it would be a little while before the results would come back, so we left.
It was less than an hour before I received a call back from the nurse practitioner themself saying, 'Your son is in a serious state of DKA (Diabetic Ketoacidosis)... We don't have all of his results back yet, but with the results so far, we had to call you...If you don't take him to emergency immediately , it could be fatal.' - these are the words we heard - the words a parent never want to hear - the words before you learn the term Type 1 Diabetes.
We would spend the next several days in the hospital getting a crash course in Type 1 Diabetes before we would be able to take him home. And we’re just so grateful that he did come home.
We know the serious significance Type 1 Diabetes has on any individual’s life, we know advocacy is important, and we also know that it’s also important to find the lighter side of this disease - the humor in diabetic management - the support you can find from others… so we hope you find that here with us!
