Up-chuck-it-up-ticus & Diabetes - Bad Combo

"Flickr Pic"

Day 1: Friday

I answer my cell "Hello, Trevor Speaking"

"Hi Mr H,  this is Mrs Blank from the Day Care calling, I am so sorry to bother you at work but Cadee just soiled her third pair of pants, and she vomited"

I reply, "Okay, I will come get her"

We spend the evening, cleaning up vomit, and the other.

Day 2: Saturday/Sunday

My Wife says, "I have a tummy ache, and feel like I am getting sick"

I think, oh oh, it's contagious...

She goes to bed, and follows the same course for 24 hours of vomiting, and the other.

Day 3:  Monday

My wife stays home ill. But the kids appear to be okay.

I pack em all into the enormous van, and head out to drop them off and go to work.

Day 4: Tuesday

The kids appear okay. My wife is better but tells me she feels beaten up and very weak.

I pack em all into the enormous van, and head out to drop them off and go to work. 

I get a call from my second oldest. "Dad, I am not feeling well can you pick me up from school?" I reply, "Okay, I will be there shortly" 

We go home and she suffers the same fate as the first two victims.

I think; who is going to be next?

Day 5: Wednesday

Abby tells me she is okay, so I pack em all into the enormous van, and head out to drop them off and go to work.  This time hoping to make it the full day. No such luck.

My cell rings, "Hello Mr H, Rowan really isn't feeling well and feels like she is going to throw up"

I give the customary response.  "I will be right there to pick her up" 

I pick her up, and sure enough she looks pale, and we go home. 

Now it gets tricky.  We now have a sick kid with diabetes, and we know they do not mix well.

That evening, Rowan had a terrible, relentless low blood sugar, that dug it's heels in and WOULD NOT come back up.  

There we were, shoving glucose into her poor little body as she was throwing it back up. It wouldn't budge. We were seconds away from taking her to the emergency department for some IV glucose. We waited, checked her sugar again for the 5th time in 45 minutes, and it seemed to be trending up into the normal range.  Thank goodness, we went to bed, well sort of.

If you are wondering about Glucagon, I had it ready, but one of the side effects is vomiting, so I was hoping it would not be needed. 

Finally she was able to keep the last juice down. 

Once again diabetes added that element of danger, that; let's take something that's already difficult and make it more so element. Enough already, we are trying to protect my kids grey matter. Back the $%^$ off Mr D. 

Day 6: Thursday

Well I made it through most of the work day. Thought I was in the clear, and then the cell rang. 

Now I am typing about it.  

We had 4 out of 6 family members contract the "Bug" responsible for the syndrome, "Up-chuck-it-up-ticus"

A whole lot of hand-washing, surface wiping, sheet washing, work missing, smelly time I must say. 

One for all and all for one, it kinda applies, maybe?

Man, I hope I beat the bug. 

Trev

Riding Shotgun with a Rhino

I suppose I should explain the title.

To say "to ride shotgun" means riding in the passenger seat of a vehicle.

I know what your thinking, he is riding in the front seat of a vehicle with a rhino, what the heck is this guy talking about.

I have come down with the "Common Cold" also known as the Rhino-virus. Catchy eh!

I haven't confirmed it to be the Rhino as there are a few other nasty organisms that can also create a snotty, congested nose, headache, scratchy throat, mild fever, and absolutely crazy blood sugars.

But this isn't an infectious disease blog, I wonder if one exists? This is indeed still a diabetes blog.

Stress in all it's forms can wreak havoc on your blood sugars, as most of you readers can attest.  It really messes up the way our body uses insulin. Once again the body is less sensitive to the insulin on board and this causes a subsequent increase in blood glucose. Unless of course we increase our dose or give regular correction shots/boluses we are "hooped"

Diabetes organizations and researchers have gone to great lengths to educate PWD by providing the so called "Sick Day Rules"

Some tricks I've learned a long my journey:

-If you are getting sick or are sick, test, test, test.
-Taking more insulin is not always necessary as you may not have the appetite to support the increased dose. I prefer to rely on correction doses for the kids as it is safer.
-Pumps are great to have during illness as I have found that increasing the basal rate helps for me
-the most challenging illness are the high fever ones, and the vomiting ones.

The higher the fever the higher the insulin resistance. Vomiting, is tricky for obvious reasons. No food, or inconsistent food/carb intake makes the big D almost impossible to control. Thankfully I don't have either of the above today.

I can't wait until this damn Rhino drops me off!

Trev