4 1/2 Year Old Daughter Diagnosed with Juvenile Diabetes

April 1, 2007, I took my 4 and 1/2 year old daughter to the Pediatrician's office. For about 2 weeks she had been having to tee-tee all the time, and was wetting the bed every night. The day before I took her, she had begun drinking constantly. Anyway, the from the time she got up on that morning (8:00 am) until we left at 11:30, she had drank 8 cups of drink. When we arrived, she had to tee-tee in a cup, and they pricked her finger. She had sugar in her urine, and then they got blood from the finger prick a second time. When our Dr. came back in, I knew that the diagnosis would not be good. She could not even tell me how high Josie's sugar was because the monitor at their office did not register that high. We were sent home, and told to pack a bag, our Dr. was calling a Specialist in Mobile. When the call came, we were told to head over to Childrens and Womens; their ER was expecting us. Come to find out, they did blood work in the ER, and Josie's Blood Sugar was 780, the normal range is 80 to 180. If we had waited another day or so, she could have been in a diabetic coma. Well, we stayed in the hospital there for 4 days, and learned to check blood sugars, give shots, and learned about the adjustments we would have to make with Josie's diet.
The reason that I wrote all of this is because I want to get the word out about the symptoms of Juvenile, or Type 1 Diabetes. The night before I took Josie to the Dr., I had looked up the symptoms on the internet, and found that frequent urinationa and frequent thirst are the MAIN symptoms of Juvenile diabetes. I just wanted to share Josie's story, and would love to hear from other moms who may be experiencing this with their children.

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D.F. answers from Chattanooga on May 09, 2007

L.,
Thank you so much for posting this and alerting everyone to this very real danger. My little brother was diagnosed at 5, and we had no idea what was going on either. He got sick and just wouldn't get better. He lost 14 pounds in 2 days. His blood sugar was over 900 when we finally took him to the hospital, and had he fallen asleep at any point he probably never would have woken up ever again. It is terribly scary. Another sign I would like to point out for parents of infants is recurring yeast infections especially in boys (girls get them for lots of other reasons, so it's not a big of an alarm when they get them, but it still never hurts to get them checked)when they're not on an antibiotic of any sort. If there is any parent out there that even thinks there is a slight possibility that their child has diabetes, don't hesitate to get them tested. It's better to get tested and find out they're fine than to wait because this is a disease that can sneak up on you and get out of hand very quickly. Good luck to you and your daughter. It's a very manageable disease, but can cause a lot of frustration too. Today, my brother is 15 and very healthy, he's even getting ready to try out an insulin pump which seems to be a good option for a lot of kids when they get a bit older. There is so much research and so much progress being made in this area every year, that it's very possible that there could be a breakthrough in treatment or even a cure in our lifetime.

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L.O. answers from Nashville on May 09, 2007

L. thank god you took her in. The lord was with you. I dont know anything about this but i just wanted to say i am praying for josie and your family. There is a little girl in my daughters class in first grade that has it and her mom comes to school everyday and brings her special lunch and gives her a shot. I hope josie does great and beats this. God bless your family

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J.D. answers from Huntsville on May 10, 2007

L.- thank you so much for sharing your experience. God was with you and especially Josie.

You're in my prayers.
J.

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S. answers from Birmingham on May 09, 2007

Thank goodness you took her to the dr when you did..I know all to well about this..My son Davis was diagnosed with Type 1 in April of last year..He was 19 months old..I have some great websites for parents of children with diabetes if you would like them...If you ever have any questions I would be more than happy to help you...