Real People Sick

Riley started throwing up around 12:30 Saturday night. It is only the second time in his life he's ever thrown up.

He got it all over his bed and covers so I threw those in the washer, Michael cleaned off the mattress, and I fixed Riley a spot on the couch. He continued to gag off and on, so Michael dragged our mattress out into the living room so we could keep a closer eye on him.

A few hours later he threw up again. I worried about lows, but he stayed pretty stable. First thing in the morning I brushed up on my sick day rules. Not only was this Riley's second time throwing up, it was his first time throwing up with diabetes in the mix.

He did OK for most of the day on Sunday. That was until lunchtime. He hadn't been sick on his stomach any more, but he just didn't want to eat. I finally got him to eat half of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. You'd have to know Riley to know how strange that is. He has always been a big eater. He eats every single bite on his plate 99% of the time and then asks for more.

He refused to eat supper. I finally coaxed him into eating some apple sauce, but that's all I could get in him. He had taken a nap earlier in the day, which is also very out of character for him.

A little while into the Super Bowl he complained that his ear was hurting. I also noticed that one of his eyes was draining a little bit. I gave him some Tylenol for his ear. About an hour later he was lying on the couch crying and holding his ear. I gave him Ibuprofen and put the heating pad on his ear. He would lie still for a little while and then all of a sudden grab his ear and start to cry again. Eventually, the Ibuprofen kicked in and he took another nap.

This morning he went to the doctor. He has conjunctivitis and an ear infection. He's on an antibiotic and eye drops. He still does not have an appetite.

He's real people sick. This sickness has nothing to do with his diabetes. Yet, it affects it.

Because he's not eating much that's making his sugar go on the low side. And, we all know that to prevent ketosis he needs to get insulin in him. It's hard to get insulin in him when he won't eat.

After supper (he ate a few spoonfuls of spaghetti o's and a Reese's cup) we played a few games on the Wii. Then he lay down on the couch and went to sleep at 8 o'clock. Again, you'd have to know Riley to know how strange that is. He's not big on sleep. On school nights it's a struggle to get him in bed by 9.

Now, I'm sitting here trying to decide what the best route is to take so as to prevent nighttime lows. I want to let him sleep. His body is obviously tired. I don't think that even if I woke him up he'd eat a snack. I'm going to decrease his basal and go from there. I'll have to get him up at some point and check his ketones (they were small at one time but didn't last too long).

It's going to be a long night.