1:30 AM Phone Call

I am starting this blog almost exactly one week after the worst phone call of my life. My 11-year old son was suffering from an unquenchable thirst, stomach pains, headachs, weight loss and a lack of energy. After battling with my doctor's receptionist for a week ('We don't see people for stomach flu') I finally had him in to see the doctor last thursday. He ordered some blood tests. At 1:30 in the morning my phone rang, the on-call doctor saw the results, my son's blood sugar was 23... go to emergency NOW.
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In an instant my whole family's world was changed.
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The next 64 hours in the hospital were mostly a blur. My son was a pincushion for the nurses. Blood tests every few hours, EKG tests, more blood tests and an IV pumping painful potassium into his veins to prevent a heart attack. My wife and I spent the days with him and took alternating nights sleeping on the couch in his room while the other spouse went home to cry and take care of our three-year-old daughter. I don't know what we would have done without the support of friends watching our little princess.
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I am writing this blog to sort of calm myself down. Screaming at the world does not work. Bargaining with the world does not work. All I can do is explain to myself that I can get through this in one piece. I have no illusions, this is going to be hard work for everyone. My marriage is going to be stressed, my son is going to have to grow up and live with a chronic potentially crushing disease for the rest of his life. Even my daughter is going to have to cope with effectively becoming the older, easier to care for child.
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I know that things will get better. I also know that things will also get worse. Life is a journey, and parenting is not a job for wimps.