CHOA

First of all, I have to say that my experience at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta with H was WONDERFUL. I am NOT bashing them or putting down anything they did or do - I think they do a fantastic job of taking care of children.

After I took H to her pediatrician on Monday morning, we were sent to CHOA. She was admitted to the ER where her blood sugar level was checked and she was immediately put on an insulin drip. A normal blood sugar range is 70-150 - hers was over 700 when she was admitted! We sat in the ER just hanging out. We had an AWESOME nurse, Barbara that helped to calm everyone down. She made it as fun as possible (I know, how could we have fun in the ER) and made us laugh. It was so comforting just to know that she clearly loved her job and wanted to help ease our minds, which she did. After sitting in the ER for about 5 hours, H was finally admitted to the hospital and moved to the diabetes education floor with a room.

Our first nurse on the floor, Kate, was great. She had diabetes herself, and has had it since she was 18 months old. Unfortunately, we didn't have her for very long because of the shift change. H was on the insulin drip all day, and she wasn't able to eat anything until they got her blood sugar down. Poor thing, she was so hungry! I think Kate only came in when she had to because every time she asked if we needed anything, we both said, "Food!"

Our night nurse the first night was a little on the odd side. H and I were exhausted from the day and hungry, so our view and opinions are a little jaded. H finally got to eat at 11:30pm, so she ate before we thought about going to sleep. Our nurse encouraged us to get a good night's sleep (keep in mind that it was 12:30am when she told us this!) because of the classes we'd be taking the next day. Well, it would have been nice if they'd just left us alone!! I already didn't have pajamas so I was sleeping on the hard-as-a-brick bed, freezing, and wearing jeans, so the odds were against me getting a decent night's sleep. H was still receiving IV fluids, and her machine kept beeping due to "air in line" or "transfusion complete". It was horrible. THEN, I'd just fallen alseep when I hear an old-fashioned school bell ring on the wall with the loud speaker announcement saying "Code Blue on ?? floor, Code Blue on ?? floor. All nurses and available staff please report". It was quite alarming, but I knew H and I were fine, so I rolled back over. I was almost back asleep when the bell rang again with the announcement "Code Blue cancelled, Code Blue cancelled." I was SO annoyed!!!

Our day nurse, Crystal, was great. She was informative and helpful. She talked us through what she was doing when she did it, and immediately started teaching me what to do as far as counting carbs and figuring out the units of insulin. I was thankful for her understanding of how clueless we were!

We also attended diabetes education classes throughout the day on Tuesday. We learned how to use her glucometer and give insulin shots. Later in the day, we went to a nutrition class where we learned more about counting carbs. It was quite overwhelming. Thankfully, we got a book about it with lists of foods and everything. There was more information in that book, and I STILL haven't had time to read it all and filter it in my brain!!

Tuesday night brought a new nurse, Ashley. She was young and cute, and like Crystal, very helpful. She came in to give H her insulin shot for her bedtime snack. She was very informative and seemed to be talking like she had diabetes herself. One of us asked her if she had it, and this was her response: "No, but I wish I did!" H and I were both taken aback. It was kinda funny. She tried to justify herself by saying she was so fascinated by diabetes and was extremely interested in it. She had worked several camps associated with diabetes and just loved it. We didn't really see her much that night (or anyone for that matter), so we slept much better. There were no more IVs, so we had a fairly quiet night. We had figured out that if we left the TV on it helped to block out the noise from the nurse's station since our room was right by it.

Wednesday held one more nutrition class as well as physical therapy. At this point, we were both so ready to go home, we were just doing what we were told and nodding our heads and smiling when they asked questions. This day is kinda fuzzy to me. The BEST part was that we got to go HOME at about 4:30. It was great. So we headed out with the understanding that we had to find a "new normal".

Now that three weeks have passed, I would say we are doing very well at that goal. Our greatest sign that we're succeeding is that H is still alive! Haha. We've even found some laughter through it all. For example, my sister had a friend through middle and high school that was diabetic. His case with the glucometer, test strips, lancing device, syringes, and insulin was called his pancreas. We have now deemed H's case her pancreas. We are constantly asking, "Do you have your/my pancreas?" It is somewhat comical. So, we're just trying to find the funny moments and dwell on those instead of the hard times. Things are a little out of whack now that school has started back, but I know we'll get everything back under control in no time. Please continue to pray for us as we continue to learn the ins and outs and take everything in. Specifically pray for peace for H as this is a difficult adjustment to be making this far into her life and at this point in her life.

More to come later on Christmas - as soon as I get pictures from my sister!!! PROMISE.