What's in a Day?

There are certain days in the year filled with memories. On Christmas day you can think of years and years of happy memories. October 1st is filled with many happy memories (12 to be exact) as that is my anniversary. Each of my kids birthdays are filled with happy memories of their births and of fun times on their actual birthdays. Well, there is another day that has changed my life forever now in two different years. That day is January 17th.
On January 17th in the year 2004 my life changed. I lost my little boy when I was only 17 weeks pregnant with him. I won't go into the story, but I spent the entire day in the hospital waiting to birth him and then spending time with his tiny, yet perfect body. My life changed spiritually that day. I also learned that life is full of many hardships that can either make or break you. After I picked up the pieces of my heart I decided to let that experience make me!!
Well, January 17th 2011 will now go down in history. And once again it includes a hospital stay. Yesterday, the 17th, Brad and I took Ryan into the doctor for a physical. We had some concerns and wanted to make sure all was okay with our sweet 9 year old. Well, come to find out our '"worst case scenario" as far as his symptoms came to pass. Ryan was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes!! The doctor did a urine test and found the glucose in his urine was over 1000 which is not good. He also had ketones in his urine which is another sign. They then did a blood glucose test. It came up so high that it couldn't give us a number. It just said, "Too high to read". We all sat there in shock. Brad and I weren't as shocked as Ryan because we knew it was a possibility. He had no idea, and really didn't know what it meant. Dr Glade, our fantastic pediatrician, said we needed to head up to Primary Children's hospital immediately. He got a hold of the endocrinologist who said to get there quickly so we could get the process of correcting and educating started. We ran home, grabbed essentials for the next couple of days, and then headed up.
Now we sit in Primary Children's Hospital trying to soak in everything. I still feel like I am living a dream, not necessarily a nightmare surprisingly enough, but not a good dream either. Ryan had a very difficult time going to bed last night as he was trying to grasp how this would change his life forever. He stated that he too was still in shock!! Can you blame him?
Let me back up and answer the question that everyone has asked so far. How did we know to take him in? Well, we almost didn't. The past few weeks Ryan has been drinking.....a lot!! He was always needing a drink and always complaining of being really thirsty. Secondly, he was going to the bathroom all the time. I mean, all the time. Brad and I mostly noticed it in the evenings when we were around and things were slower. We all thought it was linked to him drinking so much, but I was starting to get concerned because he was only getting drinks out of the drinking fountain and such. I kept thinking to myself "Can he really be getting enough water to be needing to go to the bathroom that much?" Also, he was eating constantly and tons! I was so glad he was finally eating, he is such a small kid and usually doesn't eat that much. The strange thing was this past weekend I was noticing he was looking a little guant in the face and his ribs and bones were protruding more than normal. At first Brad calmed me a bit by saying that was a Bell thing, which it very much is. But, on Sunday Brad himself started looking at all of these things and we both noted that Ryan was way more tired than usual and wasn't his normal perky self. We decided to take him in to get a physical. I called first thing Monday morning and they scheduled a physical for 10 days from now. She also put in a note to the nurse to call us in case she thought we should go in first. I wasn't surprised when our nurse fit us in for 2:40 that afternoon. What a blessing that was. Now we are on top of the diabetes and in the process of healing. I am afraid if we had waited until next week Ryan could have gotten pretty darn sick. He is already doing so much better now that he is on insulin.
It is funny. 8 months ago we sat in the hospital praying for one sons glucose numbers to go up enough and stablize so we could go home. Now we pray that another sons glucose will go way down, which it is, and regulate so we can go home (after we do all the "educational" stuff of course)!! I have to say that Heavenly Father works in miraculous ways. When I was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes last February I was scared to death. Once I got information I was fine and did everything I could do manage it. I learned to count carbs very well. Now, I am using that new found knowledge to help and to educate my sweet son that will be doing that for the rest of his life!! Also, I went into this experience not near as scared as I would have been because I knew that once I had knowledge we would all be okay. I was able to pass on that advice to my son knowing exactly the fears he was feeling!! I have been told that the trials I have now will prepare me for what is to come on the marrow. This is a perfect example!
Ryan is taking this all in so well. He is keeping up with Brad and I on all the education. He doesn't cry with the injections (although he HATED having to give himself the finger prick this afternoon). Tomorrow he gets to try injecting himself tomorrow. Wish him luck!! His only big incentive is that once he injects himself he gets to test Dad's glucose levels!! Brad's not super excited. Ryan is, of course. I am so impressed with his attidude. It is also wonderful seeing the effect of the insulin. All of my doubts wondering if he really has diabetes (which is a very common doubt of parents with kids diagnosed with this) are diminished with seeing how much better he looks, is acting, how much less frequently he is going to the bathroom, and even his appetite. It will be wonderful to see the old Ryan back!!
Another miracle to note. I decided to finally bite the bullet and sleep train Benjamin. I have been wanting too, but he has been sick whenever it was convenient with work. I let him cry it out on Friday night and Saturday night. Sunday night he slept for 11 hours straight. I couldn't believe it!! Well, last night I was worried, because I wasn't home, that he would wake up. But, he slept through the night again!! Let's pray he does tonight. Brad needs all the sleep he can get. Also, he slept 2 1/2 hours for my sister Tiffany today. He never naps that long for me EVER!! What a blessing!!