DKA Intercepted

It doesn't happen often, but we finally had a reason to pull out the couch bed in the office! Not one, but TWO of Mr. Rose's oldest and dearest friends came to visit for a few days. It's been awesome to have them here. You'd never know that ten years had passed so fast with the way they  were able to pick up right where they left off.

Anyhoo, while the boys were out the other night, those Rose Girls could hardly wait to climb into that couch bed and watch a movie.  Dex's accuracy had been spot on all day, but the distance between the office in the front of the house and our bedroom in the back of the house proved to be too much for its range.  Reluctantly I knew this meant that I'd have to leave it in the front room with her.

I snapped this picture when I tiptoed in to check her blood sugar around 2:30 am.  

I know!!!

How. cute. are. they?!?!? 

As I was standing there with my heart melting all over their adorableness, I heard it. The familiar BUZZ BUZZ of Dexcom calling.

It was faint.  

Muffled.

BUZZ BUZZ

To look at them, you might never know the raging battle which lurked beneath those blankets. 

I looked around, and found that Dex had slipped down, between a pillow and a couch cushion. With the alerts only being programmed to vibrate, I probably wouldn't have heard it had I not been standing right there...

How was this possible?  Aside from a brief spike over 200, and a quick dip to the 60's just before dinner, her numbers had been awesome. What happened?!?!?!? What in the WORLD happened between the time I tested her (140 mg/dl) on the way to bed at 11:30 pm, and 3 hours later, at 2:30 am?????

Fingerstick 566 mg/dl.

Woah.

I was flabbergasted.  There she was...sleeping so peacefully...yet clearly on her way to DKA. DKA nearly claimed her life in 2005. DKA continues to claim the lives of people with Type 1 Diabetes every day. DKA scares me just as much as Dead in Bed Syndrome.

I woke my sleeping girl to tell her we needed to change her pump site.

"I'm so thirsty, Mama."

Oh, my sweet child.  As her tired voice cracked, my heart felt heavy that she should feel any of this disaster at all. 

I went through the motions, opened a new vial of insulin, and changed out her site. I put her in bed with me, set my alarm to poke her finger again a couple hours later, and refused to fall back asleep until I saw the arrow begin to trend downwards.

She landed gently by sunrise.

But that's not where this story ends.

Actually, this is where it begins...

When my alarm started blaring (again), and I knew we had to get up. I jostled her a bit, and told her she needed to get dressed. She sat up, moaning about being exhausted while I shuffled myself to the office to get the other two moving.

It was Saturday morning, and a cross country meet awaited us.

I have no idea what it feels like to wake up after a night like that, let alone what it feels like to put on your sneakers and start running after a night like that...but she did it.  

And she did it with a smile.

{PS - Check out that Dexcom G4 case from Tallygear! She LOVES it!) 

I stood along the sidelines, watching as my girls approached the finish line, and couldn't help but to marvel at them. They cheered for each other, helped tie each other's shoes, and made sure everyone had enough water. Their energy, their smiles, their determination...my heart was completely inspired by each of them individually, and as a team of sisters.

The Mermaid Series 5k/10k/Half Marathon was going on simultaneously, and we heard an announcement for the "Mini Mermaid 1.5 mile" just as we were getting ready to head home.

Yup.

Oops they did it again.

Because why not decide to push yourself to run the furthest one-day cumulative total you've ever run in your entire life after a restless night's sleep due to a dangerously high blood sugar?

PS...Incidentally, Tiara took 1st place for her age group!!  Hence her sign -- "1st Plase"!