Comments on: Undiagnosed diabetes and a plea to take action (The one where I go all public service a again)

By: Leah

Leah — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 02:22:01 +0000

At age 14 following the flu that just wouldn’t go away, three visits in one week to the pediatrician where they checked her for heart disease and leukemia but not diabetes my almost comatose sister was in the ER where a student nurse timidly told a staff doctor (who callously shot her down) that she thought she smelled ketones. Her blood sugar was over 1500 and she doesn’t remember the next 3 days in the hospital. My mom still lives with the guilt because her grandmother was a Type 1 and she thought she should have known what was wrong.

Almost 20 years to the day my own son was in the ER following the flu and a sinus infection and I was kicking myself for not catching his diabetes sooner. Mind you his BG was only 198 but I had missed the weight loss, blown off the unusual naps and crabbiness, even excused the bed-wetting of a 6 year old who was potty trained before he was 2. It took finding him drinking water from the bathroom faucet in the middle of the night to finally put it all together. He NEVER drank water that wasn’t flavored.

I’m a firm believer that every child, regardless of their age, should have their urine tested every time they are sick. People with compromised insulin production spill sugar when their bodies are under stress. It’s why pregnant woman have urine tests at every prenatal visit. I believe a lot of kids could be spared those “critically ill” diagnoses and a few lives might be saved in the process.

By: Moira

Moira — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 02:31:12 +0000

Oh Millie. I am just so very, very sorry.

By: Millie

Millie — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 21:19:32 +0000

No family history in either side of the family. Stomach flu was going around his school like no tomorrow. Drew was slender and the same high energy level I had as a kid… The “regular” symptoms were not obvious and overlapped symptoms associated with stomach flu. Drew fell to the “flu” on a Friday and died less than a week later on 2/14/2012. So many “What If’s” still bombard my husband, daughter and me. We still grieve.

By: Shannon Stevens

Shannon Stevens — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 04:54:22 +0000

Great story, Moira. I, too, had flashbacks to 4years ago when my than 21 month old son had ALL these symptoms, but not at first. Type 1 snuck up on us. For a long time, the only sign we had that something was not right, was poor weight gain and a not so great appetite. He only weighed 16lbs @ 21 months of age. Our pedi finally sent us to GI for further eval, but he wad unimpressed, drew labs, which were ALL normal including glucose. It wasn’t until the GI doc prescribed high calorie, high sugar nutritional. shakes, did the polyphagia, polyuria and extreme irritablilty show up. That took about 2 weeks. I knew something was wrong, the whole time. Call it mothers intuition, I am also an Emergency RN, so my education was validating my hunch. I had access to a glucometer, I checked Zack’s glucose, first thing in am, 300. That was the beginning of the end of life as we knew it. Did I mention I was 9 weeks pregnant at the time as well?
I think PSA’s would be a great addition to spreading awareness and educating parents on signs and symptoms of T1D. But ,for now, you just gotta go with your gut. As a health care professional, I tell
all my patients, if u think something is wrong, 9 times out of 10, YOU are right. You are your child’s advocate.

By: Scott E

Scott E — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 20:35:01 +0000

Thank you for this Moira. Often-times, people don’t know the symptoms, but sometimes, even if we see them, we find other ways to rationalize them as being due to something other than diabetes. Even my own mother, a registered nurse, feels guilt over not catching on that something wasn’t right with me before bringing me to the pediatrician’s office to get checked out (all the while, I attributed my thirst to the heat, and my need to use the bathroom to the excessive drinking). Fortunately I’ve never been in DKA, and obviously I’m still here, but who knows how short that window of opportunity is.

To take a wait-and-see approach is dangerous, and a BG test only costs about a dollar – a dollar well spent, regardless of the outcome. Educating parents and adding BG tests to the standard physician-visit protocol only makes sense. It beats finding out the hard way.

I’m so glad you wrote this.

By: StephenS

StephenS — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 17:40:20 +0000

When I read this, a thousand old memories flashed in my head, and my heart hurt. Shout this to anyone who will listen. I will too.

By: Katie

Katie — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 17:00:40 +0000

Great post. I did know the symptoms, but STILL missed them. Even though my son was drinking all the way across Nevada on our way to Idaho to ski. And, stopping every few miles to use a bathroom (not always easy in the middle of nowhere with a kid who wont just stand on the far side of the car) He felt sick. He was tired. And, I realized later when we got the pictures from our vacation, he was SKINNY and his skin was grey.

I could also smell ketones on his breath (but our older son always had ketone breath when ill at all, since he was very thin.) And I didn’t know it was ketones, then.

A week or so later I took him to the doctor because I wondered if he had flu. But his older brother said “Maybe he has diabetes” and when we were at the pediatrician I asked that they test him. They drew blood. It was before the instant reading, but by the time I drove the hour home, there was a phone message waiting for me. That was 19+ years ago.

We were very lucky. He still is not prone to developing high ketones, even when ill. So, no hospital, no coma, “only” BG at around 800. And, turns out his big brother diagnosed him. (A biochem and molecular biology degree helped!)

I knew a boy when I was young who went into a coma and died at 12 from Type 1. I am so sorry we still miss these things. But it does creep up on you. I have probably scared a lot of parents by suggesting their child “might” be developing Type 1. But better safe than sorry.

By: Christine Iacoucci

Christine Iacoucci — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 16:47:44 +0000

Great article. I tell anyone who wants to listen about my sons story and the symptoms that lead us to the dr. And last night my son and I saw a commercial with Jared Allen ( a famous football player) his wife and young son with T1 talking about all of these symptoms as well as JDRF. We were both like “thats awesome, you never see these kind of commercials.” Now that’s a great way to use your “celebrity” power….my heart broke when I read the article about this beautiful young man.

By: Sarah Howard

Sarah Howard — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 16:15:24 +0000

I could have missed my own son’s diabetes, and I have it myself. I didn’t connect all the dots, despite him having all the symptoms. I only noticed the thirst, and finally checked his sugar, but had attributed the hunger etc to other things. One thing to know is that it can have a very rapid onset the younger you are– he was only 23 months old and having symptoms for only about a week and his blood sugar was 798. scary.

By: Moira

Moira — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 15:46:48 +0000

great, great input.