We can do anything except make insulin

Sunday morning, Ian casually mentioned after breakfast, "I sure did pee a lot yesterday." As a Type 1 diabetic, my reaction was, "Oh really?????" I then asked him to humor his mother and let me check his blood sugar. I've done this any time he's shown signs of diabetes, so Ian was not concerned. I checked it, and his blood sugar was 213. Huh.

But it was Sunday, and we didn't need to freak out. I got out a notebook and started recording his blood sugars and what he ate. My gut said he had diabetes, but I wanted more data. I bought him his own meter so my meter wouldn't keep trying to sync his numbers. I got some ketone test strips. We waited for Monday morning to call a doctor.

Monday morning, I called our local children's hospital endocrinology office (Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters or CHKD). They said I needed a referral from his pediatrician, so I called them. They didn't seem to understand what I was talking about, but this is pretty typical. We got an appointment for Monday afternoon with his pediatrician.

The pediatrician's office doesn't usually see a diabetic child this early in the process. They didn't understand the numbers I reported them; it's not part of their routine. They don't do blood sugar readings, only a urine test. The doctor said that if his urine had sugar, we would need to go to the emergency room. I just looked at her blankly. Thankfully, he didn't have ketones or sugar in his urine, so we were sent away with a script for fasting blood sugar lab work the next morning. Since his blood sugar had been over 300 that day, I was clear he had diabetes, but we didn't have anything official yet.

Shrop, Ian, and I all drove downtown to CHKD's lab. Because of COVID, Ian could only bring one adult to the lab and chose Shrop. I hung out in the lobby while they got his blood work done. We would later find out the lab reported his sugar as 134. His blood meter said his sugar was 136, so that was nice to see them in sync.

The pediatrician called with the lab work results and said she had called CHKD's endocrinology office to contact me for an appointment. She offered, "I mean, maybe he doesn't have diabetes ..." I responded, "Uh if it's not diabetes, what could it possibly be?" She had no answer for that. But Ian was annoyed that he still didn't have an official diagnosis.

We went to the endocrinology office yesterday afternoon and spent hours there. I'm delighted with everyone there. On August 26, Dr.G officially said that Ian has diabetes. He's 99% certain it's Type 1 because of his age, the sudden onset, his family history, and the blood sugar readings we're seeing. I mentioned that Ian had gained some weight in the last six months, but Dr. G casually said, "Lots of people are gaining weight. There's nothing to do. I'm not concerned at all."

We spent an hour or so with the diabetes educator. Ian got a new blood meter, synced it with his phone, learned about counting carbs, and practiced using insulin pens. We stopped by the labs for some more blood work (they're testing thyroid, celiac, and antibodies that indicate Type 1) and then went by our local pharmacy for his prescriptions.

Ian setting up his phone to sync with his blood meter with the help of his diabetes educator. Masks because there’s a pandemic. Water bottle because Ian is constantly thirsty.

$222.32 later, we were home and ready to do some math for his first shot. Ian did a great job calculating everything and recording it all. He took another shot at bedtime, and we both went to sleep. Ian slept in my bed and had one of his best nights of sleep in months. He woke up at 7:30 in a great mood and checked his blood sugar all on his own. It was 113.

At the breakfast table, Ian said, "It's a good thing you're diabetic, Mommy! So I don't have to figure out how to stay alive on my own." I reminded him that even if I weren't diabetic, he wouldn't have to do this alone. But my 35 years of experience certainly helps.

Over the weekend, Ian said, "I'd rather not be diabetic." I told him that I would rather not be diabetic too, but it's not that bad. I've done a lot in my life and have been just fine. He said, "Yeah, you even got pregnant and had a healthy baby. Well, healthy so far ..."

Ian has an auto-immune disorder like his mom. He also is smart, has freckles, is tall, and has a tender heart like his mom. I am beyond proud of him and our little family.