Ethan’s Diagnosis Story

Ethan was diagnosed at 18 months old. The week leading up to his diagnosis was spent hauling him back and forth to the doctor. I was 29 weeks pregnant with our third child and was completely exhausted. Ethan hadn’t been sleeping more than an hour or two at a time. Mostly he would only sleep if I sat in the rocking chair and held him. I believe we actually saw the doctor three times and went to the lab twice. He did have strep and some kind of viral infection. The last time (EVER) that we went to the lab was on Thursday afternoon. We didn’t hear anything new on Friday, so we kept on treating Ethan’s symptoms which at this point included a low grade fever, runny nose, sore throat, extreme thirst, overwhelming urination, and vomiting. He also had quit saying anything except “water,” “bed,” and “momma,” he lost the ability to walk or even stand, and he quit drinking from a cup. On Saturday, December 18, my parents came to celebrate Christmas with us early since they were going to California after Christmas and I was not stable enough for travel. Ethan perked up a bit on Saturday when we opened presents. He actually tried to make a basket in his new basketball goal and ate a little chicken.

Sunday was going to be a very busy day. We had church, then a Christmas open house at our house after lunch. Ethan was REALLY sick, so mom stayed home with him while we all went on to church. Before church, we talked to a friend who was an ER doctor and asked him to come by and see Ethan after worship. He came in, took one look at Ethan, who by this time was turning blue on his hands, feet and face, threw him in the car and took him to the hospital. Husband Jeff went along with him. I stayed home because of the open house and tried to get everything ready without worrying. A little while later a neighbor stopped in. Jeff called her from the hospital to come and get me. He had called me, but I was vacuuming and didn’t hear the phone. She told me that they were admitting him and that I needed to get down to the hospital ASAP. So leaving MH with Nana and Poppa, I hurried over to the ER. When I got there, Dr. Jeff (our friend) told me that Ethan had Type 1 Diabetes and that the LifeFlight helicopter was on the way to pick him up and take him to OU Children’s Medical center in Oklahoma City. We stayed at the ER until the flight crew took him. We went home and packed an overnight bag, (really just overnight) and drove almost 2 hours to the hospital. On the way I made a few calls to friends and relatives. I had to get a sitter for MH (3 years old). Nana and Poppa waited for the sitter, handled the open house, then drove to the Hospital also. When we got to the PICU we found Ethan completely unconscious, unresponsive, with an oxygen mask, lots of heart leads, a blood pressure cuff and a couple of IVs. We still really had no clue what we were in for. Our doctor came in and told us a very little bit about T1. Ethan was in Diabetic Ketoacidosis, he wasn’t getting enough oxygen, and his BG was 697. The doctor said he thought we had caught it in time, but he wasn’t sure.

Overnight we stood by his bed, held his tiny little hands and cried. We could not believe that we had let him get so sick. Finally, one of the nurses was able to find me a rocking chair to sit in, but it was not much better than standing. (Remember, 30 weeks pregnant now). During the night, one of my “chosen sisters” came with a ‘rescue’ bag of food, crossword puzzle books, pencils, etc. But mostly, she dropped everything, cancelled her clients for 2 days, and came to be with us. (T – you are the sister of my heart). We stayed in the ICU for almost 3 days. (Remember that overnight bag I had? I was really reeking by this point). Toward the end of the second day, Ethan started to wake up. Dr. C was excited, but warned us that due to many complications, Ethan might have brain damage. However, not long after that Ethan started pulling at his IVs and opened his eyes. He looked around and said “Momma? Da da? I go outside.” You would not believe how loud all the nurses cheered when he spoke! It was such a relief.

 After we moved out of the PICU and into a regular room, I finally sat down. It was good that Ethan was well enough to go to a regular room, because by that time I was in labor. I had to leave him and go to labor and delivery where the doctors we able to stop my labor. The next morning I got to go back to Ethan’s room, and our education began. Ethan was getting back to his old self, and we spent 3 very intensive days with a variety of CDEs and doctors learning how to take care of our boy.

We were sent home on Christmas Eve. I got the best Christmas gift EVER. My son was alive and was going to be ok.

P. S. Remember that lab in the 1^st paragraph? They had decided that their results from Ethan’s blood work were ‘anomalous’ and so they sent them to another lab in another city late Friday for a recheck. They didn’t call us, they didn’t call the doctor who had specifically ordered a glucose test and a full blood panel to check for diabetes. In short they screwed us royally. They actually never called the doctor. They sent over a report that was improperly filed with some other lab reports. Our doctor didn’t even find it until after we called her Monday morning to tell her we were at Children’s. Hmm. I never paid that lab either. Nor do I ever intend to.