Sunday, August 23, 2009

This is what it sounds like when chunks fly

I should know better by now than to open my big, fat mouth and declare "everything fine, diabetes-wise". Because we all know that the D-monster just waits for utterances like that so he can pounce and make life miserable.

Everything was fine today until right before lunch. As I was preparing her food, I noticed that she was falling asleep on her playroom floor. Fred woke her up and we tried to feed her, but she just wasn't having it. I noticed she felt very warm, so we took her temperature. Uh-oh, 101.1. Her BG was 98 and no ketones.

Since she wasn't eating very well, we substituted yogurt (her favourite) for her meal, but she didn't even want that. My husband was holding her and I was feeding her. The poor girl was so sleepy and couldn't keep her eyes open, but we needed to get something into her.

At one point, she opened her eyes and asked for me to hold her. About two seconds after I took her in my arms, she threw up. All over. I'm talking a geyser that would make Old Faithful jealous. Actually, it was three geysers, but who's counting?

We rushed her upstairs to give her a bath and she is just wailing. I don't blame her, I sort of felt like wailing myself. We knew we had to give her something, so I put some apple juice in a cup and bring it to her. Nope. She shrieks at the mere sight of it.

At this point we're unsure of what to do. Upon closer inspection of the vomit (isn't being a parent the best?), it looked like most of her snack and even part of her breakfast was in there. At which point, Fred cracks me up with is rendition of "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See?" Brown chunks, brown chunks, what do you see? I see some red chunks looking at me. Red chunks, red chunks... Oh come on, that's funny!

We check her BG again, and she's at 80. I know at this point she needs to eat, but it's also nap time and she can barely keep her eyes open. That's when the light bulb goes on in my brain, and I went to get a bottle that I had laying around for no apparent reason.

Now Elise hasn't taken a bottle since she was 6 months old, but I was hoping it would be more soothing to her to drink from it. And it worked! She drank about 3/4 of it and was out like a light.

I have no idea where this came from, but I hope it goes away just as quickly as it popped up. The vomiting incident did lead to a new rule in our house; "He or she who is vomited upon shall not partake in the cleaning up of said vomit." I'm still not sure who got the better end of the deal.

And if you could, please say a prayer for Elise. Last time she was ill like this, we ended up in the ER. Plus Fred is going away this week, and it kind of scares me that I'll be all by myself.

7 comments:

  1. Hope she gets well soon and the worst is all behind you!

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  2. oh, dear...I'll never be able to read Brown Bear again without that mental picture... ;)

    I hope she is feeling well again quickly and no more barfing ensues...however, if she should continue to throw up and you can't get carbs in, you can give a mini-dose of glucagon to bring her BG up temporarily. The directions are here: http://www.childrenwithdiabetes.com/d_0j_20w.htm

    For a little one like Elise, mix the Glucagon in the vial as normal, but then use a regular insulin syringe to draw up and administer to her - kids under 2 years old get 20U, and kids age 2 to 15 get 10U per year of age (so if she's 2, you give her 20U of glucagon in the regular syringe).

    Of course, check with your doctor, since I'm not a doctor and I only play a pancreas in my own home and not on TV....but if you can keep her hydrated and her sugar from crashing, it may save a trip to the ER.

    Best wishes for a speedy recovery!

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  3. Sweet peaceful dreams to dear Elise. Hope sent for this to end soon!

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  4. We haven't used the mini glucagon, but I will when we need to. It gives us peace of mind knowing that it's there. It was all the rage at Diabetes Camp. In fact it was camp protocol to use it at night time checks with all the kids.

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  5. Please PLEASE call me if I can help while Fred is gone. You know how close I am - and I drive by every morning and evening. Really, if I find out you didn't call I will be extremely insulted ;)

    And...BOOOOOO Vomit!

    PS..I managed to read this and keep on munchin my lunch. That has to qualify me for something doesn't it???

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  6. Hello ,

    I hope she is well and things will improve. I am impressed and intrigued by your blog on the Diabetes journey. I think you should have your voice heard by over 6 million monthly visitors who come to Wellsphere's website to seek information on a variety of health related topics. We would like to raise the awareness of Diabetes, and connect you and other people who are in similar situations. Through Wellsphere's HealthBlogger Network, you can engage with others to lend a helping hand for one another.

    For more information about joining, please visit http://www.wellsphere.com/health-blogger or email me at hua [at] wellsphere [dot] com.

    Hope to hear from you soon!
    Hua
    Director of Blogger Networks

    ReplyDelete
  7. Vomiting and lows are the worst! Hope Elise is on the mend and you are staying healthy...

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