DKA

These are three letters a parent never wants to hear.

A few days ago a bad pump site sent Janelle into mild DKA. Having this happen is never good but when you blame yourself the guilt can be overwhelming.

We changed her site before bed. Yes, I know that is a big no no but we had school the next morning and I didn't want to do it during the morning rush. That was mistake #1.

Mistake #2 - My husband always does a sugar check when he goes to bed--somewhere between 10 pm and 12 am. For whatever reason, that night he didn't do it.

Mistake #3- When Janelle came to me at 3:30 am saying she was dying of thirst I checked her. She was 547. I gave her a correction and we went back to bed. In retrospect I know that I should have given her a shot and checked her pump/site. Sigh....I wish I could think more clearly at 3:30 am.

So my daughter had to suffer through the physical effects of DKA, an ER visit and three attempts to put in an IV. The feelings of guilt are overwhelming. The fear and realization of how life threatening this disease really is is terrifying.

Janelle is strong. A few hours after being discharged she was running around outside with her broher. After 12 hours, when her ketones were finally gone her response was "YEAH! I fought it out!" Thank God for a happy ending. This time.

That is what I hate about this disease. Well one of the things I should say. Sometimes you feel like no matter how hard you try, no matter how diligent you are, things can go wrong and the results can be catastrophic.