Strep Throat

In mid April, Andrew woke up not feeling well with a sore throat. Kaitlyn had just had strep throat, so I took him to the pediatrician to be tested. The quick test was negative. I wasn't surprised the next morning when the phone rang. It was the nurse telling me that Andrew's culture was positive, and he did have strep. She called in some antibiotics. Before I could get out of the building, my cell phone rang. It was the school nurse. Andrew was in her office throwing up. Vomiting is not good for diabetes. It can trigger ketones, which trigger vomiting, which triggers dehydration, which triggers ketones, etc. I called the doctor back to say it was too late for oral medication. When I picked Andrew up, he was pitiful! He was getting sick every couple minutes. I ran by the house to get his supplies & give him Emetrol. Emetrol didn't help at all. We went to the doctor for a shot of antibiotic. FYI, a child who has taken 1,460 insulin shots a year can still be needlephobic! They also gave us a presciption of Zofran, which from the insert looks like it is used mostly for chemo patients. We went straight to the pharmacy which said that it would take nearly an hour to fill the prescription. I cannot explain what it was like to watch Andrew for those few hours. It took my breath away and still does. Andrew got sicker in a matter of hours than he was at diagnosis. I don't know what his ketone levels were while I was driving him around waiting on the Zofran. Thankfully, Zofran is a fantastic drug!!! I got him home, gave him Zofran, and the vomiting stopped. After he settled down, I remembered to check for ketones. His urine ketones were large! I checked blood ketones & they were still 1.8. On that scale, 2.o means head to the hospital. He was coming down fast enough that I'm sure he was over that at the peak. Andrew cleared his ketones around dinner time. Once he hit the 24 hour mark, he was no longer contagious & went back to regular activities. However, his little body was worn out. The next day, he had ketones every time he ate a meal! He played baseball on Saturday, but that was hard on him too. It took days before he seemed okay to me.

I remember when Andrew was newly diagnosed, a couple who are parents of two diabetic children offered us advice. "Someday, there will be an illness that you can't stay on top of. When you get the ER, just mention DKA (diabetic ketoacidocis) & they will get right to you." It scared me at the time, but it might just be good to know!