Saturday, June 30, 2007

Pumpy the 6th

Riley had an endo appointment yesterday. Everything checked out fine. He has gained 2 pounds. His A1C is 7.0. While this is a little higher than last time I’m still pleased with it.

He ran a temperature all through Wednesday night into Thursday evening. His only complaint was a sore throat, but that only lasted a little while. The fever and sore throat disappeared as quickly as it appeared. And, even though his sugars were a little higher, they didn’t do as bad as they usually do when he has a temp.

I mentioned the fever at his appointment, but didn’t make a big deal of it since everything seemed to have cleared up on his own. I guess I should have insisted that she look in his ears.

Michael and I had a much needed night to ourselves last night. We went out to eat and then went to a movie, the first we have been to by ourselves since Riley was diagnosed. We saw 1408. It was very good and very scary. I am a big fan of John Cusack and scary movies, so to have them both at one time was such a treat. And, I saw a preview for another Halloween movie coming out August 31st. That will probably be the next movie we go to see.

I got a much needed night of uninterrupted sleep. When I got up this morning, I called my mom. She informed me that Riley started running a temp again at midnight, but hadn’t had one since. He also woke up at midnight screaming and crying that his ear hurt.

When he got back to our house, around 11 AM, he said his ear was hurting again. And, his temp was 99.8. That was coupled with a sugar of 324. I gave him some Motrin and called his pediatrician. His ped is an hour away and they close at 12 PM on Saturday. So, there was no way I could bring him in today.

I explained what was going on to a very un-caring nurse. I explained that he was type 1 and that this was wreaking havoc on his sugars. I recounted with her the repeated ear infections he’s had over the last few months. She said that ordering an antibiotic for Riley without seeing him “would be doing him a disservice”. Um, OK, whatever. She said we could bring him in the morning. Then, she went on to say that I shouldn’t have waited so long to call. I told her that he had spent the night away and I had just found out everything.

Needless to say, the office will be getting a phone call or letter later. I am not at all pleased with her lack of concern. This is not the first time I’ve had trouble with this office.

So, I called Riley’s endo, Dr. M. I told her what was going on and she was quick to order him some antibiotics. She ordered him 2 week’s worth and told me to follow up with his ped in 2 weeks to make sure his ears were OK. But, I think I’ll be following up with a different ped, maybe one that cares about more than making a buck or 100 off of me.

And, Riley received his 6th Animas pump today. The last few times I’ve changed his needle the cartridge would not load correctly. When I rewound it then loaded the cartridge it didn’t load all the way up. This caused me to hold down the prime button for an extended amount of time in order for the cartridge to be loaded and then push the insulin through the tube.

Even though this is his 6th pump in 19 months, I’m still impressed with Animas’ customer service. When I called yesterday and explained that all of this had happened the last 3 times I’ve changed his set, they were very quick to overnight another pump. It now sits on the piano waiting to be set with all the info.


I’ll leave you with a few pictures. I hope everyone has a great weekend and a safe and happy fourth of July.




First, Mr. Best Offense in basketball.





Then, Mr. T ball champ.










6 comments:

Shannon said...

Riley is adorable!! OMG what a little sweetheart...those are great shots.

I was grrrr'ing while reading about the pediatricians office. There's nothing that feels worse IMO than an ear infection. I'm glad his endo put in a prescription for antibiotics.

Have a great 4th too!

Anonymous said...

I know how you feel about the ears! My kids are famous for not feeling any pain for ear infections until they are really bad. The last one Joshua had, was around 8pm one evening. He started complaining that his ear hurt alot. It was a Friday nite, but I just thought getting him thru til morning would be all that I needed to do. (Our ped office was open Sat. mornings) Joshua's ear drum ruptured during the nite. It was oozing out of his ear, so I knew what had happened. It relieved the pressure, so it didn't hurt as much. But if the dr could have just called in some antibiotics, all of it could have been prevented. (our ped was not the dr. on call, I think my ped would have just called it in, knowing my kids' history)
Hope Riley's ear is feeling much better.....and what adorable pics of your boys :)

Bernard said...

Those are great pictures. Thanks for sharing them with us. Man, he must break some people's hearts with looks like that.

Sorry to hear about the unhelpful pediatrician. I wish some of those folks would get a few ear infections so they can realize just how painful they are. I hope it clears up before long.

Sandra Miller said...

I'm sure I've said this before, but it bears repeating--

Man, what handsome boys you have!

Oh, and I was sorry to hear of yet another pump failure.

Maybe 6 will be a lucky number for both our boys... :-)

Carey said...

Wow, six pumps?

Great pics of your baseball stars.

Dot Connector said...

Hi Penny,

You know that when my girl starts getting sick and I see the rise in blood sugars, I now and used to wait way too long) increase her temporary basal up about 25 percent. I am checking her constantly, so I will catch if she goes low; sometimes she needs to go up by 30 percent at the peak of an infection.

I used to wait it out, thinking that she's not really "that" sick and her sugar is only in the low 200's, but that would quickly turn into ketones.

Sorry for all the struggle with the doctors. My thoughts are with you guys!

By the way, I posted a more thought provokinge and less tear-jerky post this morning. Thanks for your comments!