A Tale of Diabetes

As most of you know, last week Kately was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. This has been quite a shock; neither Chris nor I have this in our families. We found out from the doctors that Kate has 0.5% chance to get diabetes. I would like to tell the story of how we found out about Kately's diabetes and what has happened since then. However, I would like to take a different kind of approach to telling this story. I have told you many times that that I started this blog to show the hand of the Lord in the lives of my family. Well, in this time of trouble, the Lord has been with us every step of the way!

So, here is my Basket Full of Blessings and a Tale of Diabetes (ABC Style)

Twas the night before St. Patty's Day when...

A	The night before the diagnosis we visited Great-Grandpa LaMar Aunt Karissa and Daddy put the puzzle together. Polyuria + Polydipsia = DIABETES.  (for all you non-medical personnel, like myself:  frequent urination + excessive thirst = Diabetes).
B	Back to the hospital we headed. Poor Kate, her 4th hospital visit in just over 1 year.  Nevertheless, there is a blessing here!  Her life is not in danger this time.
C	Checking sugars, as we’ve come to call it in our house. At the doctor’s office, they said that her blood glucose was higher than their machine could count.  At the hospital, her blood glucose was 567!  It should be between 100-200.  A blessing to know that the hospital can count that high ;)
D	Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is a serious complication of diabetes that occurs when your body produces high levels of blood acids called ketones.  Kate did not have this!!!  Huge blessing!  This can cause very very serious problems!  This can occur if you do not detect diabetes soon enough.
E	Everyone loved Kate at the hospital, of course!  Kate is always the bell of the ball wherever she goes and this hospital visit was no different.
F	Forever diagnosed.  It was hard to accept that there was nothing to be done, nothing that the doctors could do to reverse or fix Kate’s problem. At least this isn’t a serious disease.  It can be kept under control.  That is a blessing!
G	Grandma Dew and Kately (notice the sticker on her nose that she got for being poked) Grandparents:  We could not have made it as far as we have without wonderful grandparents.  My mother comes over several times a week to help me not feel so overwhelmed.  We spent Easter with Chris’ parents who helped show Kately how wonderful and brave she was every time she received a “poke”.  My Grandma Christensen provided us with a bunch of Easter eggs full of little toys instead of candy.  Couldn’t do it in this world without grandparents! Easter at Grandma and Grandpa Myers'
H	Hospital:  There is no place better in the world than the Primary Children’s Hospital.  We have now been there 4 times with Kately.  It is a hard place to be, but at the same time, there is such a sweet Spirit there.  You know that there are angels with every one of those children.   You can feel the love that Heavenly Father and His Son have for the children!
I	“I’m okay.”  This is what the precocious 2 year old tells us every time she sees us getting the syringes ready to give her insulin.  We tell her that she is “wonderful!” and that the insulin helps her stay wonderful.  Insulin is a blessing, without it Kately wouldn't be here.
J	Journey:  We are all taking this journey one day at a time and each day gets better and better.  Of course, there are ups and downs, but as a whole, it is a blessing that we are all growing, learning, and getting stronger.
K	Wonderful Little Helper washing dishes Kately!  Kately is amazing and she is a blessing!  What strength and courage she has.  I can’t believe how strong she is every day.  Even now, not even a month later, she is telling me that she needs her sugars checked before a meal!
L	Life Goes On:  Life is starting to get back to some sort of normalcy.  Our lives are forever changed, but we can move on and still do everything we used to.  Same Old Kate, always finding some small container to sit in.  This time she even asked me to take a picture.
M	Modern Medicine:  What a blessing it is to live in this day in age!  100 years ago Kately would have died.  Even 20 years ago, her life would not have been as easy as it is now!
N	Nurses and Doctors:  All of the nurses at the hospital were so great.  They were kind and patient.  You would have to be patient to work with little kids who don’t understand why they are in the hospital.
O	Emberly and Uncle Jacob Overwhelming amounts of help!  Everyone has stepped forward to help us.  My Aunt Michelle was so kind to drop everything and take Emberly for us the day that we had to go into the hospital.  Ladies in my ward helped to take over my responsibility of arranging the luncheon for a funeral in our ward.  My sister, Lexia, sent a package with gifts for Kately for whenever she needs a distraction or a special treat (which has been quite a lot).  I can’t even count all of the other people who have helped, but thank you, thank you, thank you! Opening one of Aunt Lexia's gifts, I think this one was bracelets
P	Mama's Cuties Priesthood Blessing:  Before we went to the hospital, I had my father give me and both of the girls a priesthood blessing.  Ember was told that she would have a perfect day and not even notice that Mom wasn’t there (she has been known to cry for hours without me around).  Kately was told that her diagnosis wouldn’t be serious and that she would be okay.  I was told that I would be given strength that I didn’t have and hope that I didn’t know I had.  Wow, priesthood blessings are amazing!
Q	QTs:  My little pixies are silly, and yet they make this life wonderful!  I love them so much!
R	Ronald McDonald House:  This is a room at the hospital that is designated for the patients’ families.  They provide free food, computers, and places to shower and sleep.  The 2 nights that we were there community groups came and made dinner for the families.  Listening to other parents talk about their children, helped me to realize just how blessed we were that Kately’s diagnosis was not very serious!
S	Spring Break:  We were so blessed that the week that Kate was diagnosed, was Chris’ spring break, which meant that he didn’t have to balance school into the week.  I feel like this is one of the biggest blessings; Dad got to spend so much more time with us during this hard time! Stickers:  (I also have to add this blessing!)  I never knew how wonderful stickers could be, but Kately gets stickers every time she gets poked and they really help her to cope.   Kately decided to give one of her stickers to Mommy so we could each have one on our noses.
T	Teaching time:  The main reason that they kept Kate in the hospital for the few days was to teach Chris and I all about diabetes and how to deal with it.  This was very overwhelming, but very informative and needed! At the hospital, Dad, Kately, Mom, Grandma Dew
U	Under water:  Have you heard that song, “Head under water and you tell me to breathe easy for a while”?  That is exactly how I have felt these last few weeks. As I look back at the weeks prior to this diagnosis, there was such a peace that had entered my home that I feel like hadn’t been there before.  Life was good.  I remember having the impression a couple times that something was coming, something was going to happen.  I know what I feel like life is hard, but those premonitions from the Spirit have made this drowning feeling not quite so horrible.  I know that the Spirit was preparing me and giving me the blessing of foresight.
V	Very Young:  it really is a gift that Kately was diagnosed so young.  She will grow-up with the diabetes.  It might be a life change for her now, but she will grow-up knowing nothing different.  That is rather nice, sadly.
W	Kate in the Waiting Room Waiting Room:  We were blessed in the hospital to be right across the hall from a small waiting room that had a bunch of toys in it.  A blessing this time around at the hospital was that since Kately didn’t have a contagious disease; she was able to leave her room.  We spent a lot of time in that waiting room playing; even a visit from the head diabetes doctor was spent in the waiting room so Kate could play.
X	X-rays:  Not this time!  My brother, Heber, says that when you get an x-ray they turn your body in the most uncomfortable way and then tell you that you have to hold it there for 2 minutes!  Kate had to have her leg x-rayed last fall when she fractured her leg.  But not this time!!
Y	Yoked:  Jesus Christ said, “Take my yoke upon you . . . and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”  I have studied this scripture lately and I have yoked myself with the Savior.  He has not taken this burden from our family, but He has definitely made it easier to carry.  I know that the Savior has sat with Kately and helped her through these hard changes and I know that he has been with me too.  I could not do it without the help and love of my Savior!
Z	Zzzz….Kately sleeps through her nightly sugar checks.  We have to check her at 2am to make sure her glucose readings are right where they should be.  The blessing here is that Kate sleeps through the finger pricks and sugar checks!  Also, Kately has always been a good sleeper, but the few weeks before her diagnosis, she had a hard time sleeping.  Naps didn’t usually happen and she always woke up drenched in urine.  Since we have started to get the diabetes under control, she is back to taking a 3-hour nap each day and sleeping through the night, mostly ;).

I know that this ABC Style was kind of hokey, but it was fun and helped me to organize my thoughts.  I hope you were able to see the Lord’s hand in our lives as well as we have.  He is always there, even in times of trials!