Hiccup on Christmas Day

Matthew has had some high blood sugars before, and we've tested for ketones in the blood, and they have always come back negative.  Until yesterday, Christmas day.

He woke up feeling sort of icky, said he felt a bit sick to his stomach, but was out playing and I didn't think much of it.  He also woke up a bit higher than usual, at like 250, but that's not THAT high. So we spent a morning opening presents, with him taking a rest between gifts. 

I knew something was wrong when I found him laying down amid the pieces that were to make up the White House kit he got from Gilly for Christmas.  Not even able or willing to sit up and put together Legos??  Something is very wrong.

Steve finally had him test for ketones, and the stick immediately turned its darkest color.  Truly, no more than 15 minutes after that, Matt tossed the little breakfast he had eaten all over our bed and floor. 

So, the big question with diabetes is this:  are the ketones causing the vomiting, or is the vomiting causing ketones??

I called a friend of mine from Middle School, who, by virtue of Facebook, I have reconnected with and who's second child is also a T1D, to see what she thought.

"Is the pod actually giving insulin?  Because it could come dislodged but still register that it is giving insulin.  Check that, then give some insulin by injection, then call the Endo.  I bet the ketones are causing him to throw up, as its the only way his body has to get rid of them."






It all turned out OK, and we got his sugars back under control by the time he went to bed, and FINALLY got a "negative" reading on those ketone sticks.  So, lesson learned.. when the PDM suggests to check for ketones, CHECK FOR KETONES, and do not put the OmniPod canula side down next to the waist band of jeans.

The soon--to-be bionic boy...

Middle has been a T1D for over a year now.  We're getting the hang of it, but then something else changes and we are back to playing catch up.  If only A + B always equalled C, things would be so much easier - same stuff in, same result.  As anyone with diabetes knows, though, that never happens.  There is too much going on behind the scenes to allow for any predictability, except forgetting to cover will mean sugars that are too high, and forgetting to eat will mean sugars that are too low.  The rest is, for lack of a better term, a crap shoot.

One of Middle's biggest problems is that he is not a 3-meals-a-day kind of kid; never has been.  He likes to graze.  This causes havoc when you are counting carbs, covering with insulin, doing the math to see how much insulin he may still have on board, etc.  Again, crap shoot.

So, we're moving to embrace techology.  This coming week we will meet with the trainer from OmniPod and DexCom so Middle can be suited up with an insulin pump and a continuous glucose monitor.  He's excited, and from what we have heard in speaking with others who have gone down this road before us, it will change his life. 

As it stands now, Middle must test his sugars between 8 and 10 times a day, and that's if all looks good.  If his sugars are off, he may need to test every 15 minutes until they are back to normal and that can take an hour or more.  The monitor will take a reading every 5 minutes through a sensor that will be embedded under his skin.  He will still need to calibrate it every 12 hours, but that's 2 sticks, not 10!

Then there is the insulin, which he injects at least 5 times a day, again, sometimes more depending on what his sugars are doing.  The pump will be automatically giving him a basal rate of insulin all day, and then will automatically bolus him for food when he tells the hand held device that controls the pump to do so.  It will also tell him how much insulin is 'live' in his system so we don't give too much and have him crash from too much insulin.

I'm excited for him.  We train like mad fiends on Thursday.  He could be the bionic boy by Christmas day!!