Your Daughter has Type 1 Diabetes
Your daughter has Type 1 diabetes is not what any parent wants to hear. Why do you ask? Type 1 Diabetes is a chronic condition where the pancreas no longer produces insulin. A type 1 diabetic must give insulin a minimum of four times a day and must calculate every carb that he/she eats. Type 1 diabetes is not curable.
T1D was foreign to us a year ago. It all started with extreme thirst. I don’t recall how long Amelia had extreme thirst and tiredness but we think it was maybe a month or two. I remember shrugging it off thinking her thirst and tiredness were related to our busy schedule and hormones. The last week of February 2020, I finally decided to make a doctor’s appointment just to be safe; however, our doctor was off that week so I made the appointment for the following week. Thursday night, Maggie complained about her ear hurting (which I knew was an ear infection) and Amelia complained about her throat hurting (which I knew was strep) so we made plans to go to a local clinic the following day on Friday, 2/28/20.
I was correct about both diagnoses. I decided to tell the Nurse Practitioner about some of the other symptoms that Amelia was having (extreme thirst, lethargy, tiredness, and a rash). She decided to do blood work and to send it to the hospital for same-day results. That afternoon, I received a call from the Nurse Practitioner saying that Amelia’s sugar was very high and we needed to go to the ER. She then said, “I think you should go to LeBonheur.”
Amelia’s blood glucose was 422. A normal level is less than 140. All I could think is what if she’s being over cautious and we get to LeBonheur and they laugh at us for driving 2 hours. Our Doctor confirmed LeBonheur.
We made it about 30 miles and had to stop for gas and a restroom break. Amelia got sick but I thought maybe it was strep or car sickness. I remember telling Chris to put on his flashers and drive! Once we got to Jackson, we debated going to the ER there but decided to push on to Memphis. We had to pull over one additional time for Amelia to get sick.
Upon arrival at LeBonheur, Chris dropped us off at the ER and went to park the truck. There was a line of families ahead of us. I took a deep breath because I knew this was going to take a while. Within a few minutes, a gentleman checked us in. After he took a look at Amelia, he quickly sat her in a wheelchair. Before we could blink, we were upstairs in a triage room.
Luckily Chris walked in just as they were taking us to the elevator. There was a team of nurses working on Amelia to start an IV and change her clothes while another nurse asked me a series of questions. Within a matter of minutes, the nurse said, “Your daughter has Type 1 Diabetes”. Mic drop. Come again? Amelia was in DKA at this point and was very sick. The American Diabetes Association explains “Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is a serious condition that can lead to diabetic coma (passing out for a long time) or even death.” I wanted to go ahead and raise my hand for the worst parent of the year award. How did I not catch this sooner? Why did I dismiss the excessive thirst?
They started rattling off various terms and acronyms that were foreign to us. Amelia couldn’t have anything to eat or drink for the first 24-hours. Once we were in ICU, at the start of each shift, a team of doctors and nurses came to our room in a group and presented Amelia’s case, and asked us questions. We transitioned to a regular room in the diabetic wing. Before we could leave the hospital, we had meetings with several doctors, a Dietician, and multiple hours of training with nurses. We had to learn to count carbs, check blood glucose, calculate insulin dosages, and give shots. Talk about information overload!
When we left the hospital, it felt like we were leaving with a newborn baby. We were nervous and a little scared! We may never understand “why” this happened but we try to keep in perspective that God has a plan for Amelia. I do believe he wants us to use this to help others. Our motto through all of this has been Joshua 1:9, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
While I never want to see my children sick. I am thankful that Amelia had strep throat because that is what got us on the path to LeBonheur. I don’t think I’ll ever forget hearing “your daughter has type 1 diabetes”; however, we have come a long way in the last year. God has placed some amazing people in our lives this last year and we are extremely grateful! We are very grateful for all the support from LeBonheur, friends, family, and so many others! We are also excited to share that Amelia won a scholarship last year to attend a camp with other type 1 diabetic children; however, it was canceled due to Covid. As of now, we are planning for Amelia to attend Camp Hopewell this summer. We look forward to meeting new friends with type 1 diabetes. For more information on Camp Hopewell, please visit https://www.camphopewell.com/diabetes-camps.