alex in hospital

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bev

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Hi all,
Alex spent the day in hospital yesterday as he was borderline DKA. The reason for this was 2 bent canulas - one after the other.😱

I had to follow the ambulance and panicked when they put the blue lights on - but later found out it was because the traffic was so bad that they didnt want to get stuck in it!.

He was 31 on arrival at a&e and had ketones of 3.1. They took ages to work out what sliding scale he should be on and i was annoyed that they took the pump off. Then a great doctor came in and told them he didnt agree with their methods and to get him back on the pump asap - which we did and eventually at 6pm his levels came down and zero ketones. He was put in HDU and they was absolutely brilliant and so caring and kind.

Just thought I would share with all you pumpers as i was extremely shocked to find the 2nd canula very bent and wondered if its a faulty batch or not?

He started with ketones at 4am and by 8am he had gone up so fast it was shocking.

What puzzles me is that after seeing the teenagers on the 'hospital' programme - why they arent all throwing up like Alex was and why they werent in pain like Alex? He ached all over and he was only borderline DKA (he was 7.31 and the cut off is 7.3). These teenagers said they dont inject for days - so why dont they go into DKA?:🙂Bev


P.S. A HUGE THANKYOU TO ADRIENNE FOR KEEPING ME CALM WHEN I RANG HER AS I WAS DRIVING WHICH I WOULD NEVER NORMALLY DO - BUT FELT REALLY WORRIED - SO THANKYOU ADRIENNE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How is J - have the antibiotics kicked in yet? x
 
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Good grief, thats sounds really bad...........hope thats not a common problem............

As someone who has run high for lengthy periods I can say your body does get used to being high all the time and can cope with it...........

Although I was suprised at the guy on TV who was 50, I was skin and bone, constanlty tired for a good year but was never that high......

Hope it doesnt happen again.....🙂
 
Blimey hun.

Glad everything is better now.
As for the teenagers on the programme they proably dont have great control like Alex does so to them its not such an extreme difference (if that makes sense).

Big hugs for you and Alex xxx
 
Goodness bev how scary for all xx


glad everything is ok now, x x x x take care and keep us posted
 
How awful Bev - Wishing Alex a speedy recovery x
 
How awful for you :(

Glad Alex seems to be on the mend. Did this happen while you were away? Difficult enough to deal with on home turf, but must have been a nightmare if on holiday too.
 
everydayupsanddowns said:
How awful for you :(

Glad Alex seems to be on the mend. Did this happen while you were away? Difficult enough to deal with on home turf, but must have been a nightmare if on holiday too.
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Hi - yes we are still on holiday - great hospital in Truro Cornwall - lovely nursing staff etc..🙂Alex threw up so much I had to buy a whole new set of clothes for him to leave the hospital in! Lovely!🙂Bev
 
Sorry to hear about Alex, glad he is on the mend.. hugs x
 
Blimey bev! Glad Alex is better now, how scary for the both of you *hugs*
 
Oh Bev, terrifying. So glad that it was acted on quickly and that you had a doc who could see sense... the one time E was in hospital with borderline DKA (last autumn), my OH had to put his foot down and insist on keeping him on pump with a new set. The doc was very hesitant and required half hour tests etc...

ANYWAY. Phew.

Re the cannulas: are you on quicksets? All I can say is that as soon as E hit his major growth spurt, these became impossible for us to use. We had bent cannula after bent cannula, no matter how careful we were or what we did. ALSO we had many 'No Delivery' signals, even when cannula came out fine -- this was due to the set running into muscle rather than fat and not being able to get the insulin out. He was also finding insertion painful.

At the suggestion of Medtronic and our clinic, we moved to sils. They have been pain free and six months in have given us ABSOLUTELY no problems.

Saying that, it took us several weeks, maybe three months to really act upon these problems... And your experience with Alex could just be plain bad luck, so don't take my word for it of course...What Medtronic did say is that it was more common for boys to encounter these problems at puberty because of the way they develop six packs! At which point E became quite amused...

Oh Bev. Please send Alex comfort from us. And yourself. When E came out of hospital, one thing we were surprised by was how long it took for him to stabilise. We ended up with him on 200%, then 150%...for three days.

Re feeling bad: quite. The body must become used to it. And it's the ketones which make you feel bad. You can be quite high with few ketones, and you probably feel okay-ish. But I can relate: E feels at his absolute WORST when high even with small ketones, and almost immediately begins throwing up. I'm sorry Alex felt rotten.

Take care.

xxoo
 
So sorry to hear this bev. Never good, but on holiday too! Glad to hear that he got excellent care after the initial hiccup. I hope YOU are OK now too, and I hope you are able to enjoy the rest of your holiday without incident! 🙂
 
Hi Bev. Sorry to hear about this and I'm glad Alex is ok now.

I was up at 30 when I had my insulin pen stolen in australia. I felt pretty bad, but wasn't throwing up or anything. I'm asuming it's because I had some Lantus helping me out.

I just happened to be reading this blog again the other day: http://artistmom2two.blogspot.com/2010/07/when-you-think-it-cant-happen-to-him.html

and it seems to keep happening to them too :(
 
katie said:
Hi Bev. Sorry to hear about this and I'm glad Alex is ok now.

I was up at 30 when I had my insulin pen stolen in australia. I felt pretty bad, but wasn't throwing up or anything. I'm asuming it's because I had some Lantus helping me out.

I just happened to be reading this blog again the other day: http://artistmom2two.blogspot.com/2010/07/when-you-think-it-cant-happen-to-him.html

and it seems to keep happening to them too :(
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Thats unfortunate, who would want your insulin?
 
Patricia said:
Oh Bev, terrifying. So glad that it was acted on quickly and that you had a doc who could see sense... the one time E was in hospital with borderline DKA (last autumn), my OH had to put his foot down and insist on keeping him on pump with a new set. The doc was very hesitant and required half hour tests etc...

ANYWAY. Phew.

Re the cannulas: are you on quicksets? All I can say is that as soon as E hit his major growth spurt, these became impossible for us to use. We had bent cannula after bent cannula, no matter how careful we were or what we did. ALSO we had many 'No Delivery' signals, even when cannula came out fine -- this was due to the set running into muscle rather than fat and not being able to get the insulin out. He was also finding insertion painful.

At the suggestion of Medtronic and our clinic, we moved to sils. They have been pain free and six months in have given us ABSOLUTELY no problems.

Saying that, it took us several weeks, maybe three months to really act upon these problems... And your experience with Alex could just be plain bad luck, so don't take my word for it of course...What Medtronic did say is that it was more common for boys to encounter these problems at puberty because of the way they develop six packs! At which point E became quite amused...

Oh Bev. Please send Alex comfort from us. And yourself. When E came out of hospital, one thing we were surprised by was how long it took for him to stabilise. We ended up with him on 200%, then 150%...for three days.

Re feeling bad: quite. The body must become used to it. And it's the ketones which make you feel bad. You can be quite high with few ketones, and you probably feel okay-ish. But I can relate: E feels at his absolute WORST when high even with small ketones, and almost immediately begins throwing up. I'm sorry Alex felt rotten.

Take care.

xxoo
Click to expand...

Hi Patricia,
Thanks for your reply - I must admit I hadnt even thought about it being the quick sets. Alex has had a growth spurt lately and I am wondering whether this is also a sign of puberty etc..He doesnt have a six pack - he he - he is too skinny! I think I will ring medtronic when we get home to ask for some sils to see whether they suit him.

I put him on 200% when we came home and then slowly dropped it throughout the night as i was guided by his levels. He is back to normal basals now and doesnt appear to have any lasting side effects. He was very upset and crying when he was in pain and just wanted it to stop - but there wasnt anything we could do until his levels came down.

When we were on HDU the lovely doctor who had insisted on the pump being put back on, came to see us and told me that in future I should always insist that the pump stays on unless they have a very good reason to take it off. They had left him without any insulin for half an hour and his levels had increased in this time obviously. He said that they cannot remove it without my permission and they cant force me to either - so that is worth remembering.

Thanks for your kind words.🙂Bev
 
Oh goodness - what a fright you must all have had,especially being away from home. Glad to hear he is doing better now.

Big Hugs
 
Bev, sorry to hear about Alex, hope he is feeling better now.
 
Sorry to hear of this Bev - hugs to Alex.
 
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