Will it ever end?

Okay...I don't want to sound like I'm whining. I apologize to anyone who is tired of hearing me complain about diabetes and my kids being sick. Here I go again......
Eli ran a fever from Thursday to Monday afternoon. Fever and body aches. Not a big deal...it just lasted FOREVER and had to miss church.....he just wasn't up to getting out and doing stuff. Well, then Monday, David started running a fever. Same thing. Fever and body aches. His temp got up to 103.6 today and he just doesn't feel well.
Swine flu is running rampant in town right now and they have had to shut down the summer school program. So...this could very well be what they've got- just not having any of the respiratory symptoms. If you recall, I thought maybe Jada had the swine flu earlier this summer- fever, respiratory symptoms- the whole nine yards. I was really hoping that she had...so it could be done and over with.
Well, she's running a low grade temperature tonight. ((Sigh)) I noticed she felt warmish before dinner and thought I should check. Sure enough. 100.6. Her numbers were great- 160 and no ketones present. I gave her some ibuprofen ( don't want that fever to spike to high) and now we're just waiting to see what happens. I'm very concerned because David and Eli's fevers have been awful! Eli last Thursday night spiked to 104. It just doesn't take much for her little body to start producing ketones and then the puking starts. And 5 days....can I do this? I don't know.

I hate diabetes.


*UPDATE*

A few minutes ago, she came out of her room saying that she's thirsty. Well- her 160 BG at dinner went to 287 at bedtime and is now at 301. We checked ketones (we only have urine strips) and she is spilling a large amount of ketones into her urine. So....a shot of novolog and she's back to bed. This may be a long night.

Latest Update

Jada actually slept most of the night last night- which was great, because she really needed it and I did, too!  She woke up at 6 am with a temp of 102, a BG of 302 and moderate to large ketones. Grrr........  However, I'm not surprised she woke up with ketones like that because of her fever and high blood sugar.  So, she had a juice box  and two crackers for breakfast along with a rather large shot and her blood sugar has slowly been falling.  Her temp was taken care of by Tylenol and then she went back to sleep.  I think she slept from about 7 am until 9:30- and has been acting almost normal!  Yay!  I'm trying to keep ahead of the fever with meds and a little bit ago, I had to pull her away from digging in the fridge!  I told her that she could eat whatever she wanted (she's eaten crackers and juice for the last two days) but she hasn't made up her mind yet.  The ketones are still at a moderate level, but coming down and they aren't making her sick.  

We've had a scary couple of days and it is such a relief to see her up and playing with her toys!  So much of her behavior these past two days have caused flashbacks to when she was diagnosed- not only for me, but Jeff as well.   I'm sure her temp will try to spike again this afternoon, but at least I can see our way through the woods now!  

Sick!

Jada woke up yesterday morning with a slight fever of 100.3.  Checked ketones and she was showing a moderate amount in her urine.  Crap.  But- no tummy ache, which is always the sign of bad ketones for her.  So, we gave her ibuprofen and acetaminophen.  We changed our Memorial Day plans from driving about an hour away to spending the day at a friend's house just in case she got worse.  She did pretty well- her fever spiked again in the afternoon but after some ibuprofen, she was comfortable again.

Fast forward to last night.  Around 7 pm, she just took a downturn.  Her fever spiked again and we couldn't get her to eat or drink anything.  We checked ketones and there none (thank you God!) but she was miserable.  She started complaining about her ears and throat and started coughing.  We were up most of the night- checking blood sugar- which stayed high most of the night and she was feverish as well.  This morning we checked ketones and they again showed a moderate amount.  Her fever spiked to 103 and she was miserable for a while.  She's not hungry, but drank some juice and has asked for water a couple of times.  I'm thinking either ear infection or strep throat- but Jeff couldn't see any spots in the back of her throat when he looked last night.  Obviously, something is not right and I think she probably needs to be on antibiotics.  So.....we're headed off to the urgent care center this morning.  I'll post an update later!

We've Caught a Lil' Bug

Last night at 1 a.m.,  Eli woke up vomiting.  Jeff had a late night at work, so both of us were still up, just catching each other up on our day.  My first thought when I heard him was, "Oh crap."  And then, the mom guilt set in because rather than thinking about Eli and what I could do to help him, my first thought was Jada and what this could do to her if she caught the bug.  How pitiful is that??? And immediately after asking Eli if he was okay, I went on to remind him that he might need to stay in his room tomorrow until we know he's over it.  The poor kid.   I took Jada's toothbrush- which was in the general vicinity of his and boiled it.  Am I over reacting?  Most likely. :)

Eli returned to bed without any further incident and woke up this morning feeling fine.  I, however, worried all day that at any moment, Jada or David or Mary Beth would suddenly be sick as well.  We've had lots of handwashing today!! Tonight at supper, David complained of a tummy ache and he had that "look"- whitish face, clammy skin, circles under his eyes.  He hasn't puked and went to bed saying that he felt better.

I know that I'm probably freaking out a little too much.  Last fall, though, we had a week where the other kids just had a fever and body aches and when Jada finally caught it, her ketones went through the roof temporarily and almost had to go to the ER.  I am so afraid of that happening again and what makes it worse, is that in the end, if she's been exposed, she will most likely get sick and there's nothing I can do about it.

My Non-diabetic Kids

Ok- so I have a child with Type 1 Diabetes.  It's been an incredibly stressful 10 months adjusting to this disease.  I often think  about how this has affected Jada, myself and Jeff.  How often do I stop to think about my other three amazing children and what this has done to them?  I don't stop often enough to even think about it- let alone do something about it.

  I don't even think that I've asked the boys how this whole "diabetes thing" has made them feel.

 I know that they worry about her.  She fell asleep on the couch the other day and Eli kept trying to wake her up.  She had been up since 6 am and was super tired.  Come to find out, he was fearful that she was asleep and not waking up because her blood sugar was too low.  He told me last night that when he grows up, he's going to live near Jada so that he can keep an eye on her.  I love that he wants to protect her, but I want him to understand that it's not up to him to be responsible for her.   David loves to take her blood sugar and even bought a cook book with his own money that had the nutritional info after each recipe.  Last week, she was spilling small ketones into her urine and obviously, I was concerned.  They heard me talking to the dr. about it and then had all kinds of questions about ketones and DKA.  

I think the one that has been affected most by my lack of time and attention is Mary Beth.  She just turned 5 in September and is probably one of the happiest little girls that you would ever meet.   Mary Beth and Jada are only 19 months apart in age and Jada's personality is such that she naturally tries to demand more attention than Mary Beth.  Jada has always been a mama's girl and Mary Beth has always been more independent and much more daddy's girl.  Diabetes has just seemed to made those differences more distinct.  I have noticed lately, though, that Mary Beth is definitely working harder to get my attention- wanting to sit on my lap, fix my hair, etc..   Yesterday, she asked me if just she and I could go to the mall together.  And so we are.  Honestly, I can't wait.   We won't do much shopping.  Probably the Disney store, the play area and get some cookies or a pretzel or something.  And I won't have to worry about whether or not Jada can have a cookie.  Mary Beth won't have to wait for me to take Jada's blood sugar before a snack.  It's gonna be a nice break!  The best part is that Mary Beth will have all of me- 100%  of the best of me.