Ausborne Blog

Well, fear number 1 is no longer a fear. I was so afraid of having to stick Betsy with needles to administer her insulin. The thought of inflicting pain on my daughter was really bothering me but, after having done it a number of times now, there’s no more fear. I know it’s for the better and that she would be far worse off if I didn’t do it, so there’s no question that it needs to be done by me. The great thing lately is that we’re using this numbing cream that we apply to the area about an hour before giving her shot to her. She hasn’t even felt it when I’ve stuck her the last 3 times.

Betsy came home from the hospital today.  She’s doing about as well as can be expected and is still struggling with getting her shots.  She doesn’t mind pricking her finger and testing her sugars, but she’s really no fan at all of getting her insulin injections.

Melanie stayed at the hospital for three nights and barely slept a wink during any of those nights.  Apparently, during their second night there, Betsy’s sugar had dipped too low and they had trouble waking her up.  Once they were able to get Groggy Betsy to drink a little juice, though, she got back within the range she needs to be in.  It was pretty scary for Melanie, but now we know what it means if she won’t wake up.

We’d been suspecting that something was wrong with Betsy for a few weeks, as she’d been experiencing excessive urination (a truly ridiculous amount of it at night), so we didn’t believe the nurse when she told us not to worry. We just knew that something was not right. A visit with the doctor today ended up with Betsy being admitted to the hospital. It turns out that she has Type 1 diabetes. Talk about a shocker. We were expecting something like a bladder or kidney infection but it’s quite a bit more serious than that. She’ll be in the hospital for two or three days as she gets her sugar level stabilized and we learn how to manage it effectively. This is going to be a major learning experience for all of us and the boys are all going to learn all about the importance of having healthy diets.

The doctor did mention that she was impressed that we had gotten her in when we did, as the kids that she usually sees come in when they are dehydrated and in need of a stay in the ICU. Betsy, though, is doing quite well comparatively, which really helps me feel better about this.

David had two teeth extracted today.  His permanent teeth are starting to come in, but his baby teeth weren’t even getting loose yet so, after a quick trip to the dentist whom we will never visit again because he’s a jerk (seriously, he was VERY unprofessional), he only has 22 more to go!