About a month ago our 5 year old son Ryan was diagnosed with Type I Diabetes. Needless to say this has been quite the adjustment for us all but especially for Ryan. It was really kind of crazy how we discovered the disease. A couple months ago I started noticing "sticky pee" around the toilet and at first we kept blaming the dog. At one point I remembered my pediatrician telling me that if you ever need an SOS pad to clean around the toilet because the pee is so sticky, someone has diabetes. At the time I remember thinking, "Why in the world is he telling me this? We are healthy eaters and are active (all misconceptions about type I diabetes). I told Jeff my discovery and he told me to watch Ryan and see how often he was drinking and peeing. In an hours time he had used the restroom over 7 times and kept getting drinks. I called a friend who has a glucometer and that night we took his blood sugar. He was at 517. Normal is between 80-120. We let him sleep that night and then took him to the ER the next morning. He was immediatly admitted to the hospital and sure enough the diagnosis was correct, Type I Diabetes. For whatever reason his body began attacking his beta cells in his pancreas killing most of them off. Because of this his body will never produce insulin again.
The picture above is such a great representation of his attitude. He has to check his blood sugar between 8-10 times a day (by "finger pokes," thus the bandaids) and get 4 shots of insulin, one with each meal and one at night. This is becoming our new normal. I love this kid. He's always been such a sweet and sensitive child and now I am learning a very brave child as well.
7 comments:
Oh my goodness, what a trooper! I got a little teary for my buddy Ryan. I'm sending lots of extra special blessings to your family!
Thanks for posting a picture of sweet Ryan! I think about you guys often. I am happy to see a smiling picture of Ryan. I hate that he has to go through this.:(
What a brave little boy! Good luck with everything from the diet to the finger pokes. We miss you guys and hope like you said that this quickly becomes the new "normal".
What a brave little guy! And good job being so perceptive and paying attention so it was found sooner rather than later. :) Miss you guys.
My nephew was just diagnosed about a month ago as well.His teachers at school noticed he was needing to use the bathroom alot. That is so good that you were able to catch it with the sticky pee.
Wow! That is amazing that you caught it like you did. He is such a cutie and it makes me sad that he has had to go through this. Hope you are all doing well. We miss you!
Oh Bridgie, thanks for posting. He's so sweet and so cute. I think and pray for you guys often. In fact, a couple weeks ago I was at Lindsey's and Jeffrey was giving a prayer and said, "please let Ryan not have 'betes." It was SOOO cute!
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