Friday, November 7, 2014

Life after surgery

Sorry for the delay in an update it has been a little crazy around here since Joseph's surgery on Wednesday morning.

Surgery went well despite a few hiccups with Nightscout and Dexcom not cooperating during the surgery and leaving us completely in the dark. Joseph did drop a little low during his surgery and they had to give him a bag of Dextrose to raise his blood sugar. The waking from anesthesia was pretty typical for a young child, he was pretty hysterical and out of it but once it wore off he was fine, no nausea and no vomiting YAY!

Joseph shocked us all when he started requesting to eat right away! This was the main reason that we decided to have him admitted for a night of observation. This boy is beyond tough and truly inspires us with his continued strength and resilience despite what life is throwing at him.

Joseph's recovery is going well and pretty smoothly, with the exception of his blood sugar. His pain medication with both a sugar and alcohol content, plus a healing distressed body are causing some seriously stubborn blood sugars!! Joseph's normal daily insulin intake ranges from 15-20 units and yesterday we gave him 33 units and still couldn't keep him below 200! We have increased basal, changed his correction factor and are giving bolus after bolus and we are still struggling. Diabetes has a mind of it's own and no matter how hard we work, we are never in control of the outcome. We are continuing to fight to bring him back into a more consistent range, but right now it just feels like a losing battle. You feel terrible as a parent that in addition to not feeling well because of surgery that now you are causing him to not feel well because you can't manage to bring down high blood sugars!

This disease is ruthless and frustrating, you can do everything you are supposed to do and it still isn't enough! You have no choice but to keep pushing through and fighting. We won't give up and we will get those numbers back where they belong, no matter what it takes.

Keep saying your prayers and keeping Joseph in your thoughts for a speedy and healthy recovery!

-until next time

Monday, November 3, 2014

Surgery is Approaching

We are two days away from Joseph's surgery to remove his tonsils and panic and fear have started to creep into my mind.

As I mentioned in my previous post This is not routine we are having Joseph's surgery at the hospital where he was treated after his Type 1 Diabetes diagnosis. We are erring on the side of caution should he have any complications due to anesthesia or the refusal to eat or drink after surgery.

Joseph has never been put under anesthesia so we do not know how his blood sugar will react and even if it reacts well we have the hurdle of getting him to eat and drink post surgery to keep his blood sugars "controlled".

Just today the decision was made between Joseph's surgeon and his Endocrinologist to go ahead and plan to admit Joseph for at least one night post surgery to keep a close eye on his recovery and stability. This helps to put my mind at ease knowing that they are taking surgery and Type 1 Diabetes seriously.

If we were to have his surgery at an outpatient clinic with people who weren't familiar with the disease or it's complications then we could be in for a world of trouble. If Joseph comes out of surgery normally and is sent home like a patient normally is and he begins refusing to eat or drink then we have no way to raise a low blood sugar if the need arises and that can lead to a life threatening situation very quickly. If he is admitted into the hospital then they can help control his blood sugar with IV treatments and make sure that his body is staying hydrated if needed.

This is not an ideal or easy situation but preparing for the worst case scenario is what we have to do when life involves Type 1 Diabetes. We never know what diabetes is going to do next, but if we try our best to stay one step ahead, then we can try to maintain the upper hand and prevent the worst from happening.

Please keep Joseph in your prayers as Wednesday approaches and I will be sure to update how his surgery went once I know any information.

Thank You!
-until next time