This week continues to be one to forget. After a semi easy week our older 2 daughters arrived home from a trip to Fiji. I know nice, huh? It would have been until I got the phone call saying that they were home and heard the words that my oldest daughter had been vomiting within the last 12 hours.... To tell you the truth I and my wife began freaking out cause unlike a non T1 family we have the difficulty of managing the sickness along with the massive dangerous roller coaster that T1 can bring. To put it simply also was that our little T1DD who just got over a cold and in the 9 months of T1 D had never had a gastro bug..... I sit here now and I can no longer make that statement. I sit here after a day of vomiting, crying, stressing, arguing and T1 D trying to get out of control. Not a day I would recommend to anyone.
But to go back a step in this household seeing as there is 2 T1D's and 3 non D's you would hope that maybe the world would give us a break however that was not the case. I was the first to catch the bug. With sensor attached and the pump on my hip the sickness took hold. Vomiting and fever began and took hold for over a 24 hour period. Some liquids but no food over that time at all. It was at that moment that over the last few weeks I had been doing basal testing and working out my correct levels. I actually watched my levels stay level through this ordeal which was great to see. Another great benefit of being on the CGM, it meant that I could concentrate on the problem at hand and have confidence that I was not getting into trouble with my levels.
After nearly 2 days I am finally back onto solids and able to say that things are back on track....
Just as I did say that to myself the next episode began, our 3 year old T1 went down hill quickly. I got the call from my wife just after she was shopping to tell me that the gastro bug had hit again and that she had vomited everywhere. The problem was that, unlike my T1, her's was taking it hard. Her ketone level's rose from 0.1 to 2.2 and she refused any liquids or medication to try and help. I began coding my wife in sick day management which included the increase of insulin to try and flush the ketones and an effort to get some fluids in to try and keep dehydration at bay.
By the time we had gotten to the 2.2 ketone level we gave ourselves 1/2 an hour before we headed to the hospital. Luckily our daughter finally took some panadol to try to get the fever to drop and she started to get some colour back in her face. We continued to check he BGL and ketone level and the were down to 8.6 and 0.9 respectively. Now this was not an easy feat as each time we wanted our daughter to drink some liquids it meant an argument and ultimately some sort of bribery but we have had sips every 5 to 10 mins. I know probably not enough but it is doing something to bring the levels into check.
Unfortunately as mine lasted for over 24 hours it is not going to be a restful night for mum and dad as we need to continue the fight while our baby tries to get some sleep and allow her body to rest.
I congratulate my wife in her first serious bout of gastro and her management. She has been tough when needed to be and loving and understanding for the rest.
This battle with T1D is never welcome and never pleasant and all we can do is manage the best we know how. If we falter then we know there is help with the doctors but for now we try and try our hardest.
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