Kaitlyn seemed to be doing fine until she woke up with a cold on February 22, 2016. I innocently asked her to check her blood sugar without any real concern that it would be anything but normal. 137. Not bad if you're diabetic. Not good if you're not. I wondered about it through the day and asked her to check her sugar after school. 175. Later numbers were 177 and 154. Something was definitely up, but we hoped it was just temporary because of the cold. For the rest of the week, her fasting blood sugars were in the 100s and she had numbers ranging from 65-226. By the end of the week, we both felt it was TIME. Trialnet's purpose was so that we could support her pancreas as soon as it needed help and not wait for poor metabolic memory or DKA.
Kaitlyn took her first insulin shot February 26, 2016.
Her attitude was amazing! She went to a French Convention that day, but knew that we would hear from the doctor. She made me promise to tell her as soon as I heard, and she sent a million texts asking if I'd heard. I had to tell her...even though she was still on the bus. I texted her a little later to see how she was doing. She replied, "It's in His plan for His glory. I'll be okay." The next day, she looked at us and said, "It''s probably good that this is happening now while I have the two of you here to help me instead of when I'm alone off at college." You just can't ask for better than that! Trialnet made the adjustment easier for her. She still grieved, but it wasn't as much of a shock. She got to start with only one shot a day while she thought through routines. It was just a gentler start than Andrew had eight years ago.
Kaitlyn went on just a small dose of Lantus. So small that the doctor said it was fine to let her sleep through the night. Her numbers were great the next day, even without mealtime insulin. So great, that the doctor asked if we would check her at 2 a.m. Of course, we would! It was really strange dealing with diabetes without a Dexcom. She's driving, so she had to check her blood sugars every time she drove, etc. Andrew can just look at Dex. After a few days, the lows started. We reduced the dose, and reduced it again. Still, she had lows nearly every day. Last Tuesday, she stayed after school as an Ambassador. She checked her sugar before leaving - 41 with no symptoms! So, with the doctor's permission, she is OFF of Lantus again! She has been off for 3 days and is doing fine so far.
During her week and a half on insulin, we visited the doctor. Her A1c rose an entire point since her last visit. Something is definitely happening, but she appears to right on the edge. She struggles with high carb meals, so she may go on mealtime insulin instead. We don't really know what's next.
It was surreal trying to adjust to the diagnosis, but only for a week and a half. We didn't have the learning curve that we had with Andrew, but it was still exhausting! Even though I felt like I was doing okay in the daytime, my sleep was fraught with diabetes, and the 2 a.m. checks felt like I had a newborn again. Then Andrew had some complicated nights too (pump failure in the same week!), and we were about to fall apart. This time, even though I expected the disease to be forever, I knew the exhaustion was temporary. Even if it was just until we could get a Dexcom for her, we would sleep again.
We are enjoying the respite but are not ready to let our guard down yet. How long will this last? We appreciate the insulin free days. She is starting to carb count to answer the question of what size meal does she need help for? Thank you, Trialnet, for the heads up, so that we can keep her healthy. Thank you for taking some of the sting out of a diagnosis I still hate.
