Sunday, January 20, 2013

That is my child....

6 years ago today my then 2 1/2 year old toddler was diagnosed with a life long autoimmune disease called Type 1 Diabetes. When Aly was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes 6 years ago she was a VERY sick little girl. Se was lethargic, had lost weight, had a horrible yeast infection, threw up randomly, was peeing herself so bad that she would soak her clothes through her diaper. When my daughter was diagnosed I knew NOTHING ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about diabetes the day before her diagnosis. We had taken her to the pediatrician 2 weeks before diagnosis and even with all of her *symptoms* they NEVER ONCE mentioned Type 1 Diabetes not checked her blood sugar!! My mother in law is the one that mentioned that she thought Aly had Type 1 Diabetes and so right then I was at work at researched it .... I then had that AH HA MOMENT!! THAT, THAT WAS MY CHILD!! I knew right then what she had ... I left work immediately, went and picked Aly up from my mother, and rushed her to the Children's Hospital ER. When we checked in they always ask why you are there and I told them " I think my daughter has Type 1 Diabetes, please do whatever you have to to check her for it." When they finally got Aly into the exam room (which seemed like FOREVER) they checked her sugar and all the meter told us was HI. When her labs came back her blood sugar at diagnosis was 682. Then we began our journey, our new life with a child who would always depend on injected insulin to stay alive.

6 years ago today was the day that would forever shape who my child would be in life, 6 years ago today my daughter lost some options in her life choices because she was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes, 6 years ago today my daughter became MY HERO!! Today 6 years ago I became the mother of a child who lived with Type 1 Diabetes ... I became a D Mom.

We DO NOT let Type 1 Diabetes define who Aly is but it is and always will be a part of her until a Cure is found.

In the 6 years since Alys diagnosis we have learned SO MUCH more than I ever really wanted to know about any disease out there, knowledge is power. Aly is a trooper and never complains nor asks "why me" she just accepts it as part of her and does not let it stand in her way of what she wants to accomplish. She is now at the age of 8 learning more about the disease that she lives with and is taking on more responsibility in the day to day schedule of blood sugar checks, counting carbs basics, knowing when she is high/low, and just the responsibility of remembering to bring her meter where ever she goes and not forgetting it.

My daughters pediatrician at the time missed ALL of the signs, so PLEASE DO NOT rely on your doctor to know ... If you ever have ANY suspicions please CHECK ... DON'T GUESS!! You could save your child's life or the life of another individual since Type 1 Diabetes can be diagnosed at ANY age.

Mommy loves you Aly and Happy Diaversary

1 comment:

Tim Brand said...

Nice post, despite having to remember a bad memory. We are coming up on dversaries 2 and 4. Thanks for sharing your heart on your blog.