Written by: Scrounge Hall, Dallas’ Dad
On October 23rd, 2003, my wife, Teresa, and I rushed Dallas to the
emergency room with what we thought was a serious case of the flu. At the registration desk, the nurse took one look at him and
rushed him straight in, ahead of the packed waiting room. Two
doctors and three nurses started working on him right away.
Someone yelled out, "Blood Sugar 960!" At that time we didn't know
what that meant, and we had no idea what was happening. A nurse
pulled Teresa and I aside and asked, "Do you want to talk to the
Chaplain?" Those were the scariest eight words we had ever heard
in our lives. That was when we found out that Dallas had Juvenile
(Type 1) Diabetes.
According to the numbers, he should have died that day, but
through the Grace of God he didn't. Normal blood sugar is 70-120,
and a person can go into a diabetic coma between 400-600. Dallas
was at 960. He was hallucinating, seeing double, in excruciating
pain. He had to be restrained and given huge amounts of pain
killers. He spent 3 days in Intensive Care, another 3 days in a
regular room at the hospital.
His mother & I sat next to his bed while he was unconscious due to
the Morphine he was on for the pain, and were taught by the nurses
how to give ourselves shots (of saline) so we could then learn how
to give him his insulin shots before we could take him home.
In the first twelve months after his diagnosis Dallas was in the
hospital three times and missed so much school that we were
forced to home school him so he could catch up with his peers. He
had his finger pricked over 4,000 times to get a blood sample to
check his blood sugar, and he gave himself over 1800 shots of
insulin. All of this happening to our twelve-year-old son, who was
just a child.
Dallas is now 17 and is doing much better. He is under the care of
a great endocrinologist, Dr. Samuel Wentworth, and now is on the insulin pump. Dallas is considered a ‘brittle’ diabetic, as his blood
sugar is still hard to control even with the insulin pump. He works
hard to keep control of his diabetes, but still has days when he feels
horrible due to the complications of high blood sugar or low blood
sugars. He checks his blood sugar an average of 12 times a
day…and that means thru the night too. He has maintained A’s &
B’s in High School even though he does miss a great deal of school
due to his health.
Dallas is a self taught drummer in a rock band w/his buddies from
high school, plus plays the guitar some. He loves to go dirt biking
and also rides his motorcycle as much as possible to school, work,
etc… He plans to become an ABATE Motorcycle Safety Instructor
as soon as he turns 18.
My wife and I are so proud that Dallas has kept such a positive
attitude & taken on the responsibility of being a role model to
others. He is happy to talk with anyone about his diabetes and
encourage others to learn all they can to take better care of
themselves. He is honored to be not just a part of helping raise
money for JoinLeeNow for research for a cure, but to have the ride
named after him. He takes the event very personal, and is so
touched by all the hard work and time everyone puts into it every
year. It goes without saying… Dallas is not just our son, he is our
hero. He has shown such strength, character, and positive attitude
in dealing with his health issues, we are so very proud.
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On February 6, 2002, Reid was 2 ½ and was diagnosed with Juvenile Diabetes when his blood glucose level was 285. (Normal is between 70 & 120.) We spent 3 days in the hospital learning how to measure and use a syringe. We were terrified. Reid would need 2 types of insulin twice a day. We had to do blood checks up to 10 times a day! The highs & lows were unbelievable. He had to eat at 8am, 10am, 12pm, 3pm, 5pm, & 8pm and was only allowed 10-15g carbohydrates for snack & 15-30g for meals with 7g of protein at his 8pm snack.
Try living like that for a day and you will realize the enormous strain it has on a family and daily activities. His blood glucose levels were out of control, going as low as 19 to over 600 (that's as high as the meter will read). On March 2, 2003 we were given the insulin pump. The pump gives him a continuous flow of insulin called a basal rate. He can choose what he wants to eat and when he wants to eat. This has given us a tremendous amount of freedom and flexibility, but day to day life is anything but easy. Reid has had over 8000 finger pokes and close to 1000 needles put into his little body. Today at age 4 ½ he is an extremely happy, active little boy.or so we thought.
On March 2, 2005, Colt (age 7) was hospitalized for diabetes. His blood glucose was 472. He came home on March 3 and I yelled over to the boys, "Go get your blood checked for snack." Reid ran over to where the 2 meters were sitting and excitedly yelled, "Colt & I get to do our blood checks together!" My heart sank and tears came to my eyes. I had never realized until that moment how lonely this disease was.
It has now been one month since Colt was diagnosed with insulin dependent diabetes. The days are long because he isn't able to attend school without me at this time. The school is currently being trained on diabetes management to give Colt a safe environment to attend school.
My husband and I don't go to bed until after Reid's midnight blood check, then we are back up at 2 a.m. to check Colt. If either of them go low we could be up for the rest of the night to make sure they don't seizure or go into a diabetic coma. On top of going through this for the past 2 years with Reid, and now Colt, we also have a newborn baby girl who just turned 4 months. Sleep is no longer an option. Many times over I have had people tell me to think positive, that things could be worse. I understand what they are trying to say and what their thoughts are but what they do not understand is that each and every day that our children's blood glucose is not "normal" it is causing damage to their little bodies.
Colt & Reid share so many similarities as; you can see just looking at them, they are brothers. Always on the go playing basketball, baseball, swimming & riding their 4-wheelers. They share a bedroom, play with the same friends.ahh. buddies for life. OK, you're right, you caught me in dreamland. Truth: Yes, they are brothers; no, they don't always share, and sometimes they yell and fight, but they are friends. And as friends they count carbs together, check each other's blood and help the other if he isn't feeling well. I guess that's what good brothers do.what more could I ask?
A cure would be nice.
I can't wait for a dinner conversation that starts, "Do you remember when we had to count all the carbs we were going to eat, then give ourselves insulin?" Every meal they eat, every ounce of food they consume has to be counted and calculated. Ask any other 7- or 4-year-old you know what the carb count is in a peanut butter and jelly sandwich is or what his carb ratio is. Or how about, "Wwhat is the difference between a carbohydrate and a protein?" I bet they can't answer any of these question, and you know what? I hope they never can. Having diabetes is a day-to-day battle of balancing food and insulin to make sure that your blood sugar isn't too high or too low. But we're doing everything that we can to make sure that they grow up to be healthy, happy adults. Hopefully before they reach adulthood we will have found a cure and we can say, "Do you remember the day I got the cure?" |
