Type 1 Diabetes Misdiagnoses

Over this past weekend, two young children lost their lives.  They were not properly diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes and severe complications arose.  My condolences to their families.  I cannot imagine their pain.

Sad stories like this make me acutely aware how lucky we were to have our own kiddo properly diagnosed 4 1/2 years ago.

Her symptoms were exactly the same as these two little angels.  I thought she just had a stomach-flu with severe dehydration.  Unfortunately, she was in full-blown DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis) with blood glucose of 54 (or 972 for my U.S. counterparts).  Absolutely no clue what level her ketones were at.  Having the knowledge I do now, I realize she was close to a coma.

We were insanely lucky the doctors in emergency that night immediately recognized her symptoms, as I rattled them off, after bursting through the double doors.

It is discouraging when so many in the medical profession really have no clue about Type 1 Diabetes.  More education is needed for the all medical staff, particularly in Emergency Departments.  I could tell you stories that would blow your mind, but I don't want to detract from the real reason I'm writing this.

Type 1 Diabetes doesn't always present itself with the more common symptoms of extreme thirst, excessive urination or sudden weight loss.  In fact, I'm very jealous of the parents whose children present this way because their babies don't have to become extremely ill like my baby did.

My girl wasn't well for a few months before she was diagnosed.  However, it wasn't anything you could put your finger on.  She simply didn't feel well for a couple of days and then her pancreas would kick in, producing insulin once more, and she'd be good for a couple of weeks or so.

Two days before she was diagnosed, I noticed she looked a bit thinner than usual.  I shuffled that to the back of my mind to pay attention, especially since she was hungrier than usual.  Less than twenty-four hours before her diagnosis, she was crazy thirsty -- downed about 4 L of apple juice in just a couple of hours.  Mama Radar went up again; something was wrong.  The next morning, she was throwing up.  Mama Radar sighed -- just a stomach flu.  Every time she drank anything, she'd throw up.  Less than eight hours later, she was so dehydrated her eyes had sunken into her face with the blackest circles you will ever see.  She'd visibly lost more weight.  I rushed her to the ER to discover within minutes she was Type 1 Diabetic.  We began a terrifying, information-overloaded journey that night.  It's a bit smoother now, but T1D is a demanding disease.

More education is needed for Type 1 Diabetes diagnoses so our babies don't die, like the two little angels this weekend.  Symptoms are:

• flu-like symptoms
• extreme thirst
• sudden weight loss
• excessive urination
• not feeling well with no obvious reason
• hungrier than usual

Please.  Get the word out there.  Share the shit out of this while we wait for a cure.  Prevent the unnecessary deaths of our babies because of this damned disease.  It only takes a little blood test to save lives.

#diabetes