Found Out Why Alex Is Still Sick!

[cdfiance]

As I posted before, my fianc

[gfgypsyqueen]

Glad to hear you found out what was going on. What a lucky way things worked out. Hope she feels better soon.

[CarlaB]

I am so glad you finally found out why Alex was not getting better! This is great news!

I know what you mean that you are happy for the diagnosis, but not necessarily happy about the disease. I was giddy the day I got diagnosed with Lyme! Not because I was happy to have it, but because I was happy to know what needed to be treated.

I bet she'll see rapid progress now!

[Nantzie]

Oh my gosh. I'm so glad they were able to figure it out.

Let her know we're all thinking of her and praying for a speedy improvement.

Nancy

[anerissara]

My goodness! (((hugs))) to you and Alex, what a frightening experience!!! But I am glad you now know what is wrong and that she's on the road to recovery. I said a prayer for a quick recovery and that the diabeties will be easy to control. What a roller coaster for you both, I can only imagine how scary it must have been!

[2kids4me]

Good that you were there for her - very scary. She will feel better as she recovers. Its an emotional roller coaster at the beginning (both my son and I are Type 1). Especially with the infections she has and recovering from pneumonia.

Alex has to remember -that with diabetes there are lot of things that can impact blood sugar control - hormones, stress, infection. She will have high readings and low readings that are unpredictable - esp at first when they regulate her..its not that she is doing anything "wrong"....I found it frustrating and kept trying to figure out what I missed or what I needed to do different. Some things will be beyond her control and she HAS to giver herself a break.

It is manageable, and treatable....but you both will have a steep learning curve. You are not alone at all! When she feels better, she should come here and vent, ask for support or just tell us how she's doing - same for you!

Take Care and best wishes.

Sandy

[Fiddle-Faddle]

Wow.

Alex is so lucky you were there and figured out to call 911 and get her to the hospital.

I hope things continue to improve.

[jerseyangel]

No wonder the poor thing was so sick and not getting better.

I'm so glad you found out and Alex can now be on the road to recovery--for real this time

[ravenwoodglass]

I am so glad you finally found some answers. She is so lucky to have you. I hope she can recover quickly.

[pedro]

Wow. At least you both know whats going on, and begin the process of recovery.

My prayers are with both of you.

Take care.

My regards to both of you.

[little d]

HI

Good to here everything is getting better, You sound like you care very much about Alex. Will she have to be insulin dependent or can it be controlled by diet with checking her sugar before and after meals. If she has to insulin depent, have her ask for a insulin monitor. It is a monitor permately attached to her with a little wire connected to her insides pancreus and the other end is connected to a small monitor that has insulin and will inject via the wire when needed it sounds pretty cool but I don't have to wear one. I have seen soome of my past patients have these monitors they seem to like it, no finger pricks I think

Congradulations

Donna

[2kids4me]

Based on her ketoacidosis, its a sure bet she has Type 1 - the insulin dependent form. The monitor which Little d refers to - is an insulin pump. Speaking from experience - the insulin pump is not recommended until the patient has been under treatment and regulated for one year. It does not connect to the pancreas. A small catheter is placed under the skin and is operated by computer chip to send small amounts of insulin into the patient and then boluses of rapid acting insulin are given for meals..the patient controls that. Some monitors are able to monitor gluciose levels ($$$) but for the ones that dont , you have to test your blood sugar frequently and adjust the pump accordingly. The catheter has to be changed (moved to a new site) every 3 days.

They are not for everyone plus they cost a small fortune. Our insurance plan does not cover them - we checked into cost and they are 6,000 - 8,000 dollars.(Canadian).

Right now they need to correct the metabolic imbalance and electrolyes in Alex, get her feeling better and then the bumpy road to living with it forever. There will be tears and frustration, I have pelted a few syringes at the wall It gets better as health and vitality are restored though - squishy hugs go a long way

Sandy

[little d]

Hi Sandy

Thank you for your information I was not sure where the pump led to, I have only seen the pump once mabye twice since I have been working at my hospital and I am not a nurse just a Patient care tech in a Dr's office Medical Assistant. But I still hope that Alex can get all her level up to where they need to be and get married to her Fiance

Donna

[Adelle]

Ohhh I'm so glad you all figured this out!! I've been thinkin abt u and Alex. Hoping that she gets better! Yay!

[GeoffCJ]

Scary!

Luckily you got her to the hospital in time. Hopefully this will be the final piece of the puzzle needed to get Alex on the road to recovery.

Geoff

[cdfiance]

Thanks for all the kind words and information. It's been a crazy few days since Alex came home at the hospital. It's frustrating and stressful but Alex seems more herself than she has in quite awhile so we're thrilled about that. She's still very sleepy but feeling less weak and definitely less sad. We

[Fiddle-Faddle]

Okay, I am not at all knowledgeable about diabetes, so forgive me if this is stupid, but would a spoonful of sugar work?

[CarlaB]

A friend of mine who has a diabetic sister said her sister uses icing. There are many gluten-free varieties.

What about a sugar syrup? You know those flavored syrups Starbucks uses? They have one that's just plain sugar syrup.

[ArtGirl]

A lady in my church who is diabetic keeps glucose losenges with her for emergencies. They're available in the pharmacy area of a drug store. They're like hard candy, but the glucose, unlike sugar or frutose, does not have to be broken down to be used so it can go immediately toward raising the blood sugar level.

[2kids4me]

Dextrose tablets are the easiest to absorb. There are flavoured varities as well as plain.. my son and I both use about 3 dextrose tablets first then once the shakiness is gone, have a starch and protein with something to drink.

The BD dextrose tabs are soft and melt in the mouth or with minimal chewing. When you are low, even sucking a hard candy isnt fun.

Any sugared pop works well, coke can be hard on some people's stomach.

Nausea and inability to reason is common during a low. As time goes on, Alex will be able to recognize the symptoms earlier on and be able to treat before she gets too low. I remember hating the lows at first because I felt so vulnerable and scared and still learning to cope.

I have really good link for charts to recognize lows and how to treat, we hung them in the house when Matt was first diagnosed at 9 yrs old, because I had had diabetes so long, I knew what it felt like and what to do....but it was all new to Matt so it helped.

I get really cranky when dh startes asking me questions when I'm low, I have spewed swear words at him when he keeps asking me : " are you low, what do you want?", "do you want coke?". "Yes" and " I dont friggin care what you get", or "I dont know"" as I sink to the ground and my arms go limp.

I will get the link and add it....

Sandy

[2kids4me]

Here's some info you may already have, if not I hope its helpful..

What is low blood glucose?

When the amount of blood glucose (sugar in your blood) has dropped below your target range

(less than 4 mmol/L) it is called low blood glucose or hypoglycemia.

What are the signs of a low blood glucose level?

You may feel:

[cdfiance]

Thanks for the ideas everyone. Also, thanks so much Sandy for the great info from that link . The Dextrose tablets sound like a good idea. Her first low after she came home from the hospital we used sugar water and she promptly threw it up. I don

[GeoffCJ]

Holy cow.

I have a lot of familiarity with diabetes, as both dad and aunt and an ex-girlfriend have type 1. I can't imagine the difficulties of figuring out and dealing with Celiac and Daibetes at the same time. Tell Alex we're all rooting for her.

With my dad, irritability was the 1st sign his blood sugar were dropping. He'd get grumpy and beligerant. And a little twitchy. We'd recognize that, and tell hime to eat something (even as little kids). Off course, being grumpy, he'd argue and tell us we were wrong.

Geoff

[SunnyDyRain]

I know fibre is good for constipation but we

[kbtoyssni]

Gosh, that must have been so scary, but I'm glad you got to the hospital in time and figured out another piece of Alex's health issues. Hopefully this will be the final answer.