Welcome to D-club

Welcome to D-Club!

Q & A

Wait! What is this club? What do you mean? What do you do? What’s it about?

D- club is just like any other club, you get together, you talk.

No, but what’s it like?

Think of it like a train collectors club…..

Like a what?

Lets just say that once you get started you’ll just keep chugging along.

I don’t get it…..

Think math club, calculations, estimations, averages

I don’t think you have convinced me……..

It is sort of like a sports club, you know hoops and goals.

No I don’t know

Well it’s kinda like science club…

Really?

Ya, like you will learn all kinds of scientific words and how to do science stuff.

That sounds interesting. Tell me more

Some of it is kinda like a book club, there’s lots of reading and note taking.

O.K. so how often does this club meet?

Well you’ll participate every day but meetings are every 3 months and we have a really big get together every year.

So, what are the people like?

Well, there are all kinds, from all walks of life, we don’t discriminate and everyone is really supportive, and they will listen to your story, share theirs……..

Oh that’s good!

O.k. What else?

Well, there are dues.

So, how much are we talking about?

A lot……..

How much is a lot?

It depends…..

So if I decide I don’t want to be in the club anymore I can just quit and get my money back?

No, once you're in, you're in, no refunds.

But I won’t know what it’s like until I am in and then it will be too late.

Correct.

Well, I don’t think this is for me.

It’s too late….. You’ve already been signed up……

No I didn’t sign up for anything!

No, no one ever does…… 

Each year 15,000 children and 15, 000 adults and their families become members of  D- club.  

November is National Diabetes Awareness month and so in honor of my son (a Type 1 Diabetic) I am posting today.  

This is our story

Our family with the exception of my youngest had been suffering for about a week with a cold.  That Thanksgiving in 2009 was one where my little boy, age 3, ate nothing, drank excessively, and cried most the night. We assumed he was getting what ever this bug was for days but he never had any cold symptoms. I had grown weary and was growing concerned, he looked awful but nothing was happening and I wasn’t sure if I was imagining it but he seemed thinner- but he’s always been thin. So that morning I called the Dr.’s office to see if they were even open the day after Thanksgiving- thank God they were. 

My father in law who had been with us for the Holiday said he would drive me while the Hubs stayed with the girls- I think he was just as concerned as I was. When we got in I was relieved, we were at the Dr.’s office all would be well. The Doctor would say he had a cold and we would pick up an antibiotic or not and all would be well. We went in and they asked him for a urine sample- no problem, got it. We wait, I am sitting in the room for a few minutes and the nurse says they want to check him for strep even though she doesn’t think he has it. She sticks a large cotton swab down his throat and he doesn’t flinch. Now I am really worried. I hear talking, no strep, now they want a blood sample. Just a finger prick o.k. done- he doesn’t cry or make a sound. I hear them talking outside the door (Dr. and Nurse) and I know that’s not good but I can’t exactly make out what is being said. My son’s Dr. comes in. He looks a little nervous but the guy is funny and I wasn’t sure if he was just being goofy. He says I have bad news- I am still smiling at this point because I could not ever imagined what he was about to say to me. He is Diabetic. Gulp! I don’t say anything but hold up one finger in protest as to scold a child and tears flow. I say (o.k. plead) no, wait I gave him orange Juice right before we came in! He shakes his head at me. We need to go to the E.R. now.

I walk out to the waiting room like someone with shell shock and say to my father in law he is going to be o.k. ( I know now I was saying this to my self)and we need to go to the hospital- I explain in the car and call the hubs to get the kid s ready so we can all drive him in ( I do not recommend this but at the time I wasn’t thinking) we get home which is 3 minutes from the Dr.’s office and less than 5 minutes later we are on the way to the hospital.

When we arrive we are put in a lovely new kids ER with lots of great kid stuff – none of which my son enjoyed. We meet 50 million people- I stand there and answer questions and repeat the story of “what’s going on” to everybody and there brother. They ask me what his glucose level was at the Dr.’s. If they told me I don’t remember. They check him 723. They explain that they are going to start IV’s etc. I nod and just want him fixed (I see the irony of this now).They start 2 IV’s one in each arm and put him in boards to keep him from moving – he never cries and it is almost impossible to keep him awake. They talk to me about swelling of the brain and watching him for 24 hours and a gamut of things that that at the time don’t even seem like they are really happening to you or your child. At this point I am helpless- I just sit by his bed until they move us to the Pediatric ICU. Jason comes in and out of the room trying to balance his desire to be with us and checking on the girls who thankfully were with his dad in the waiting room. We try our best to explain what is happening to the girls and start making calls to family and close friends. The next few days are a blur. Diabetes education, sugar checks, charts with stickers and prizes, lots of crying- not only from my son but from Jason and I. Jason had arranged care for the girls with multiple relatives so he could go back and forth between the hospital and home. They decide to let us go home after 3 days but only after we each could show we know how to give insulin. The nurse hands me the syringe and insulin, no problem after all both Jason and I are RN’s. I decide to do the morning shot and Jason the afternoon. Jason holds our son for his am insulin- I can’t do it. I don’t remember who did because at this point I am crying and when it is all done I go sit on the bathroom floor feeling as though my guts were being ripped out through my stomach. Until then I thought it was just an expression. Jason gives the lunch time insulin with success and I do the dinner –now we go home.

We arrive and the girls have welcome home and get well cards. We have some dinner and put the kids to bed. I know that in the first few months we had calls and friends who brought gifts and family who did all they could to help in anyway they could,  although I don’t know if we even knew what we needed at the time. I read, we cried some more, we heal, we get a taste of what this really means for our family.

It will be 3 years this Thanksgiving since our sons diagnosis.

Which means in the last 3 years he has had somewhere in the neighborhood of 6000 shots and 9000 finger (and toe) pokes.  We are currently at a total of 15, 000 jabs at this point if you are keeping count- he is 6 years old…………

But the story does not stop there. Because in the midst of all of this, there is hope. Researchers around the world work for a cure.  There are medical advances and discoveries being made by leaps and bounds.

But more importantly because with God all things are possible!

So why did I share this? Was it to raise money for research? No.

Although that is a great and noble thing.

    I share this so that you can better understand the reality of what Type 1 diabetes is. Perhaps if you meet a family who has a type- 1 diabetic child, or you meet an adult with type -1 diabetes you will understand them a little better. I share this because if you do not already know someone with type 1 diabetes, you probably will. It may be your child, or that of a friend or relatives.

I share this so that I can share the symptoms of Type 1 diabetes and someone may receive the medical attention they need because you knew the signs.

·        Excessive thirst

·        Frequent urination( in a small child’s case wetting the bed after being potty trained)

·        Drowsiness

·        Fatigue

·        Weight loss

·        Increased appetite

·        Blurry vision

·        Shortness of breath

·        Fruity smelling breath

·        Nausea and vomiting

·        Stomach pain

(The first 7 are the tell tale signs)

These symptoms require immediate medical attention. When my son was diagnosed he was in DKA. Diabetic Ketoacidosis. He was in the Pediatric ICU for 2 days and on the Pediatric unit for one day following the ICU. It is a horrible thing when the hospital requires you to sign a waver that says you know the risks of treating Diabetic ketoacidosis- possible swelling of the brain, coma, and or death.

I share this in hopes that one less blue candle is lit in honor of a child’s life lost to Diabetes.

So because of all this, we blog and we walk the “Walk to Cure”.

Here are a few pictures from this years event

  

The Walk to Cure 2012- I can't believe he volunteered to go up on stage! 

It's finally over

Our team shirt

Left over containers from test strips and a few straws turned into a rocket- I don't know how he ever thought of that! 

Practicing checking blood sugar with RUFUS ( JDRF's official bear with diabetes)

Practice administering shots with RUFUS

A picture of him this last week when he finally learned to ride a 2 wheeler. I have a feeling this is what  it's going to look like when there is a cure.

If you are up for a challenge visit this site where you can see what it is like to be a Type 1 diabetic for a day. Are you brave enough?  

   

http://www.jdrf.org/index.cfm?page_id=117942 

Thank you for taking this ride with us, I know it has been a long one.

Romans 12:12  Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer