Post from Jamie on Wednesday January 28th, 2015. The night after taking the kids to see the doctors.
Blue and gold banquet tonight is spent like this😢. Another one down. Strep throat has hit our house. We still sent his cake that he and josh worked hard on. Thanks @gmomnormafor filling in for us tonight! @jjterry77#praytheother4dontcatchitnow
Daxton (8) sick with sore throat and stomach ache.
Blue and Gold Banquet Cake
We don't take our kids to the doctors office too much. They don't get sick that often and when they do we can usually handle it on our own. On Wednesday mornings I get up early and drive 110 miles into Nevada for work. I work all day Wednesday, stay the night in the office and work Thursday. I usually get home between 6:00 and 8:00 Thursday night.
With Kycie still not feeling well and now that Daxton is sick Jamie decided Tuesday night she would take the kids in for a check up Wednesday. I try and remember that Tuesday night. I remember getting home from work late, Jamie running kids and I was in charge of making a cake for scouts. I remember Kycie and Daxton sitting on the couch with their water cups. Neither of them were hungry, only wanting something to drink.
The next day, Wednesday, I was working in Nevada when Jamie called. She had just got back from the doctor's office and both kids have strep throat. They were both given an antibiotic and she was told to give it a few days. I remember Jamie telling me, "it is weird because Kycie has never complained of a sore throat." Daxton said it hurt when he swallowed, but not Kycie. Of course, Kycie was only 5 and Daxton 8. Daxton could express what was bothering him much better than Kycie. When the doctor looked into Kycie's mouth there were several white patches on her tonsils, so it must be strep throat.
Both Daxton and Kycie came home and found their spot back on the couch. By the end of the night Daxton was starting to eat a little bit of toast. Kycie would only drink liquids. At one point Jamie fixed her a bowl of cereal. Jamie called me that night and told me that Kycie had only drank the milk. Jamie was worried that it would upset her stomach but was thankful she was at least getting fluids down. She was right, Kycie threw up the milk later that night.
It is unknown what Kycie's blood sugar was at this point, but I imagine it was pretty high. I do not know if Kycie would have been in diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) at this point. Maybe, maybe not. But what is DKA and why is it so dangerous?
DKA is the result of a relative or absolute deficit of insulin. I'm no expert, but this is how I understand it.
Whenever you eat, your body will break food down into glucose. Glucose is a type of sugar that is your body's main source of energy. Glucose then goes into your bloodstream and your blood glucose (blood sugar) begins to rise. As your blood glucose begins to rise, your pancreas responds by releasing a hormone called insulin.
Insulin allows glucose to cross out of your bloodstream and into your body's cells. Think of insulin as a "key" that "unlocks" the cells so glucose can enter. Once glucose is in your cells, it is used for energy.
By Wednesday, Kycie's pancreas was producing little to no insulin. Therefore there was no "key" to "unlock" the cells and her blood glucose kept getting higher and higher. Because her cells were unable to use glucose as energy, her body started breaking down fat and protein to get energy. This causes ketones to spill into her blood and urine. Ketones are harmful to the body and are acidic. That's where the name Diabetic Keto-acidosis comes from.
Oh how I wish I had known. I wish I knew the signs to watch for.
Vomiting.
Increased thirst.
Increased urination.
Rapid breathing.
Increased appetite, or in Kycie's case decreased appetite.
Drowsiness or lethargy.
Loss of weight.
Today is Wednesday, January 28th. Tomorrow will be Thursday, January 29th. One day before that dreadful day. If I could take one day back it would be Thursday. If I could change one thing, it would have been my decision making on Thursday night.
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