Wednesday, March 20, 2019

Got sugar?

Apparently, Kira doesn't. Well, not as much as she should anyhow. Today is Wednesday. On Monday at 4 p.m., we went for her normal, monthly port flush. It's just a saline flush and a heparin lock to keep her port-a-cath line in her chest clear. Every now and again, we may do some labs if needed. At the appointment, the nurse asked me if I needed any labs? I said "nope". Then right beforehand, I changed my mind, because her urine has been smelling slightly off to me, so I said, "You know what, let's go ahead and get some." The next morning I get a call at 6:30 A.M. from a nurse telling me that I need to get Kira into the ER right now, and if I can't that I need to call 911. They said to get some sugar into her right now because her blood sugar is at a critical level of 30. My head was spinning.. we live in a LOT of different worlds, but blood sugar world is not one of them. I'm completely ignorant to it. I did what I was told while panicking of course. I put 3 heaping tablespoons of straight table sugar and water into her and off we went. When we arrived, her sugars were 151. The nurses at the desk told me they did not believe that the 30 was accurate. They said it was just too low, and she is now 151. I felt better. Then we go back and see the E.R. Dr. who also tells me it almost positively was NOT 30. He said, "30 is truly not conducive to life." So obviously at that point, I'm pretty convinced it was a lab error. Until we draw again. Now she shot back down to 44. The 30 was actually very accurate, and she was sitting at that for hours..days...weeks..months? We have NEVER had an issue with her blood sugars. Many times over, this girl has fasted for 3 days upon some pretty sickly pneumonia admissions. The food is held off because intubation could be a possibility and being vented and fed don't work well together. And if going 3 days without food (only I.V. fluids) don't alter her blood sugars, what the heck is doing it now? Everyone is stumped. We haven't changed her food or meds. She isn't sick (that I know of)...it's a mystery! Her Dr. is amazing and being so thorough! She is doing so many lab work ups on her, bringing other Dr.'s in, and experimenting with some things. Apparently hormones can mess with sugars, so she is doing a full hormone panel. Oh my gosh.. what if this is Kira's PMS?! Ooooooooh girl!! Okay, Kira Jean, you tell your ovaries, if hypoglycemia is going to be your PMS, then cramps and mood swings are off the table! No deal. Seriously though, I am pretty anxious to get the panels back. What a very confusing world this one is. She will shoot up in numbers when fed, or given glucose, but quickly drop, and drop low. So, the current sitch is this; We have been giving her a continuous drip feed since last night, and as long as food is being pumped into her, her numbers have remained stable. We were checking every hour, now we are checking every 2 hours. On a side note, and your kid (maybe you) will thank me for this one, "STAY AWAY FROM THE BLUE LANCETS!!!" I'm surprised my ladybug's thumb is still attached after that! Stick with the lilac ones, for SURE. *cringe* Moving on... So we turned the feeding off at 5 P.M., it is now 6 P.M. and we will check her at 7. Let's see what happens 2 hours off of food. Then turn the drip feed back on. Starting tomorrow morning, we are going to attempt to give her her normal breakfast, lunch and dinner, BUT with some additional corn starch in between. Apparently corn starch is a complex carb and will help keep blood sugar levels pretty stable for a few hours. No clue what will happen with all of this. Perhaps God thought I needed some additional "hands-on" experience before going into actual nursing school? I love hands on God, but please let me lick her sweat to gage her sugars or something, no needles.