Yesterday we had something happen that as a mother, NEVER would want to happen. My dad is visiting us and he had some of his diabetes medicine in his pocket and when he picked up his shorts they fell out without him noticing. Ashley was upstairs playing and she found the medicine and she ate one. We know it was only one, but when I called the poison control center, they said that this certain medicine in children can make their blood sugar go super low and could make it so she couldn't breathe so they said I had to go to the Emergency Room. We did.
So began a long day. When we got there they tried to give Ashley an IV for blood and medicine. This did not go well. The ER tech poked her twice and got nothing! Ashley was so brave and didn't even cry! They were so impressed, but they spoke too soon. They tried a third time and this time got a little blood, but they were moving the needle all around her arm. Ashley was done and started crying and saying "I'm done! I want to go home!" As a mother it was so hard to not be able to take the hurt away and know that this needed to happen, but I don't know who cried more: Ashley or me. After they got enough blood, they had to take the IV out and I just prayed they wouldn't have to do it again. (Luckily they didn't)
After testing her sugar (it was normal) she had to eat some charcoal balls mixed in pudding. With bribery I got her to eat about 1/2. The doctor came back in and said that they had read up more about the medicine and saw that the most critical time was in about 12 hours. Since that would be in the middle of the night, they told us that Ashley would have to be admitted to the hospital and stay there overnight. We then went upstairs to the Pediatric floor and went in our room and just waited. The nurses kept coming in and laughing because Ashley was her normal self--running around, playing, talking, talking, talking. At times I wondered, what are we doing here but it was better safe then sorry.
Ashley had to get poked (this time in the finger or toe) every 2-4 hours and each time her blood sugar came back great and normal. In the end, her blood sugar remained normal. Everything was alright and we got to come home this morning.
What happened yesterday was a total accident. It was no one's fault and in the end everything was okay and Ashley was fine, but it was very scary for the first few hours not knowing what might happen to my little Ashley. I'm so thankful that everything turned out alright and that we can learn from this for the future. I'm grateful today for doctors, nurses, insurance, prayers, and family. I also learned that when life throws you a curveball, you just have to run with it, whether you want to or not, and hope and pray that you can hit it out of the park. :)
A combination of charcoal and Oreos--yum
I woke up in the middle of the night (one of many times) and Ashley had turned herself all the way around in her bed. I couldn't resist: I got out of bed, got the camera and got a picture before I turned her back around.