Aaron's Diagnosis (Part 2)

So, Wednesday morning, I took Sadie to school and then Aaron and I headed to the pediatrician's office. We were immediately brought back to a room, and then sent Aaron to the bathroom with a specimen cup for a urinalysis. When he came back to the room, they checked his BS. The nurse had a tough time with the glucometer. She tried a few times, but it wouldn't register, so she went to get batteries. She tried again and finally got a number. I can't remember the exact number. I remember it was a little lower than 278. I think it was in the 240's. But still way too high. The nurse left, and we waited for our pediatrician to come in.

We didn't wait long. I heard her walk up to the door. I knew she was checking the chart, to see the BS and the UA results. And I heard what she said. I know she didn't say it very loud, and her intent was not for us to hear it. Two simple words. They confirmed what I already knew. "Oh no." And then the door opened.

She sat down and told us that he was spilling glucose in his urine (meaning that there was too much glucose in his blood stream and his kidneys couldn't handle it and they were allowing glucose to get into his urine). That, combined with his blood sugar did indeed mean diabetes. She said the one positive is that there were no ketones in his urine...that we caught it early. But I knew...catching it early wasn't like catching cancer early. Catching it early didn't give you a better chance of "beating it" or being cured. Diabetes isn't curable. It is manageable. But once you have it, you are a diabetic for life.

The doctor left the room to call a pediatric endocrinologist, who told her to send us to the hospital. Her instructions were to go straight to the hospital. Not to go home and pack a bag, but straight to the hospital. So, we did.

On the ride to the hospital, I called Toby to let him know everything. And then I called my mom to tell her. After I got off the phone with mom, Aaron asked me to call his "other mom." His best friend's mom, Linda, treats him like a son, and he loves her like a mom. I thought it was sweet that he wanted to make sure she knew. I also texted the school principal (who is a close friend of mine), and let her know that she could let the school know.

Initially, Aaron was put in pediatric ICU. He was put there because the pediatric endocrinologist misunderstood when our pediatrician called and thought Aaron DID have ketones in his urine. But, even if they hadn't misunderstood, we still would have started out in ICU because they didn't have any regular rooms available. So, they hooked him up to a monitor, and got his IV started (it took 2 attempts), and drew labs. They wouldn't let him eat anything until the labs came back, so it was pretty miserable for this teenage boy, who hadn't had any breakfast, to wait for.