Sooo. We went in to the doctor today. She was the picture of health. Height/weight/everything... until they did a finger stick. Her sugar was so high, there was no doubt that she is in fact diabetic. This means she will have this her entire life (unless they come up with a cure later). They reassured us that it's not genetic and there was nothing we could have done differently. But they were really excited that we had detected it so early.
Normally, kids with Type 1 Diabetes come in extremely sick with very high acid levels in their blood, breathing very hard and needing to be admitted to the ICU. We came straight to Doernbecher Children's Hospital from the clinic. Kaiah's pancreas has some islet cells that are still alive so she is still at a pretty high functioning level, but there is nothing that can be done to save the remaining cells. They will all die eventually and she will need increasing amounts of Insulin as time goes on.
She has already had 4 shots of insulin trying to get the level to come back down. The highest has been 530 (normal is 60-110). The last level was 428 so she needed extra. Kaiah has been handing the blood draws and pokes with a great attitude. She has not cried once and this evening she actually said, "This is the best day ever!" The reason: she got to have sherbet with dinner, watch Nemo in her new adjustable bed, and there is a really cool "distraction machine" with all kinds of beautiful lights and bubbles about the size of a stand up fridge (think large lava lamp)! Who knew these things existed? Apparently the pokes don't hurt too much.
This news means a big change in our lives. Schedule and structure will be very important. The doctors said that the fact that we homeschool is a big help especially early on in the process. We will be able to control things better.
We will be learning all about which treatment plans will suit Kaiah the best and what everything means. They have some pretty long training sessions going on tomorrow and the next day for Cliff and I. My mom is watching the other kids tonight and Kara is watching them some tomorrow. Then my mom is coming back to watch them again. So far, this is the plan.
It was hard to hear earlier today. But now the reality is sinking in a little more and we are SO THANKFUL we were able to catch it early, and that we have a God who loves us and will never leave us and is One who cares more about Kaiah than we do. His ways are perfect and wonderful and I can't wait to see what happens as a result from our "trial."
I am perfectly at peace with what He brings. There may be more tomorrow. They are running a test on Kaiah's thyroid. Apparently some Type 1 Diabetics are more predisposed to getting a disease called celiacs (I totally made up the spelling) which is an autoimmune disorder. You could pray that God's will would be done in this area as well.
For now, she is very stable, we are going to attempt to get a good night's sleep (with the exception of a 2 am finger poke and potential insulin and urine test). I have been informed in the last few hours that Halle Berry, Randy Alcorn, and many others have this disease.... now look how good they are doing!! We'll make it through and we will praise Him still!
When the morning falls on the farthest hill,
I will sing His name, I will praise Him still.
When dark trials come and my heart is filled
With the weight of doubt, I will praise Him still.
For the Lord our God, He is strong to save
From the arms of death, from the deepest grave.
And He gave us life in His perfect will,
And by His good grace, I will praise Him still.
Becky
(Update on Cambria: since they had us come straight to Doernbecher hospital we did not do a trip to the lab. We'll take her in next week.)
Original Post Follows
Date: Monday, May 11, 2009
Just wanted to give a little update. Kaiah has been showing some increasing signs of possible Type 1 Diabetes. We have an appointment for tomorrow afternoon to see the doctor and hopefully get a blood test.She feels great and we are not freaking out or anything, but she's been peeing and drinking more than normal (we think) and she's the thinest she's ever been.
The doctor we have is very thorough, but she's not a pediatrician. I think if she does end up having it, we'll end up switching to a real pediatrician who has more of a naturopathic bend and ideally works with African Americans (obviously for Lochlan) more than ours does now. Anyone know of anyone like that??
Also.... Cambria had an interesting virus a few months ago that she ended up needing blood tests for. The (thorough) doctor wanted us to go get a follow up test because the first one showed elevated lymphocytes (usually indicating a virus) but occasionally being an early sign for Leukemia. So... Now that Kaiah needs a blood test, we thought we might as well take Bria in for hers too (finally)! She has been
feeling totally fine. As usual a real ball of energy! But, as a mother of 4 and a horrible procrastinator, I am attempting to multitask. I will also have the doctor look at Mason's eyes. Which are looking much better, Hey! Why
not?
So in conclusion, I don't think Mason will be blinded (he has an eye infection), Kaiah could have diabetes, Bria could have Leukemia, and Lochlan definitely has Sickle Cell trait. But other than that, we are doing great!
But really, we are just trusting God for whatever outcome. I have heard of so many situations lately that seemed like real tragedies that turned out to really lead a lot of people to Jesus and helped the ones who already knew Him to grow immensely. Whatever happens, we will praise Him still.
Becky
Also.... Cambria had an interesting virus a few months ago that she ended up needing blood tests for. The (thorough) doctor wanted us to go get a follow up test because the first one showed elevated lymphocytes (usually indicating a virus) but occasionally being an early sign for Leukemia. So... Now that Kaiah needs a blood test, we thought we might as well take Bria in for hers too (finally)! She has been
feeling totally fine. As usual a real ball of energy! But, as a mother of 4 and a horrible procrastinator, I am attempting to multitask. I will also have the doctor look at Mason's eyes. Which are looking much better, Hey! Why
not?
So in conclusion, I don't think Mason will be blinded (he has an eye infection), Kaiah could have diabetes, Bria could have Leukemia, and Lochlan definitely has Sickle Cell trait. But other than that, we are doing great!
But really, we are just trusting God for whatever outcome. I have heard of so many situations lately that seemed like real tragedies that turned out to really lead a lot of people to Jesus and helped the ones who already knew Him to grow immensely. Whatever happens, we will praise Him still.
Becky
