The Diagnosis

We've been asked by many about Maverick's recent diagnosis and we have decided to continue sharing his story and his journey. We are learning something new each day (sometimes the hardest way we can learn) and we are quickly realizing the best way to help find a cure is through the relentless efforts of educating as many people as possible. The best way for us to keep Maverick (and all people with T1D) as safe as possible is to educate as many people as possible. And we are learning the best way to help other parents catch an early diagnosis like we did is to educate as many people as possible. 

Early this summer we noticed some major behavioral shifts in Maverick. It is very difficult to distinguish between typical toddler behaviors and that of someone who is having internal medical issues. I joked often that he is running straight for terrible twos with his constant fit throwing and massive mood swings but we now know those behaviors are sometimes associated to his health. In hind sight his behaviors were his way of screaming to us that something was wrong and I feel so horrible we didn't pick up on it sooner. 

The two major indicators that made us really start to realize there was possibly something actually wrong with him medically were,

1. Excessive thirst. And by this I mean if he could see your drink container he would do anything possible to get it in his hands. He was pushing between 1-2 gallons of water a day. It felt at first that maybe he was just really hot from all the outside activity we were doing all summer long. We had hit a point of hiding our drinks in the car and reminding our kids to not leave anything on the table because I was worried he could overdo the water. 

2. Excessive Urination. We felt that each time we changed his diaper it was minutes until he had gone again. We watched this for about 2 weeks and had gone through many avenues trying to help him not soak his bedsheets, his clothing, and pretty much anything that he came in contact with. We tried every kind of diaper, sheet protectors, toddler training pants, and many layers of towels. 

We hit a hard brick wall and felt like we had no more fight in us to fix these symptoms. I laid down in bed on Sunday July 31st and was completely defeated. After a talk with my sister about calling his doctor the next day I pulled out my phone and began to type ideas for help on his symptoms and quickly found myself down a rabbit hole about Type 1 Diabetes and why those two symptoms are the top two indicators that you have T1. 

I have never felt more terrified in my life with tears streaming down my face I said a quick prayer, gathered my emotions, and told Chris to be sure and get to work early and that I was taking him in first thing in the morning. That morning I watched the clock turn to 8am and I made the call. We were quickly transferred to a triage nurse who quickly encouraged us to get to the closest Emergency Room. She didn't say much but she promised that by the time we got there she would have his information in the system and they would be waiting for us. It seemed so weird that he was behaving so normally but my gut knew we had something very heavy ahead of us. 

When we arrived at the ER, the desk team was watching us like they had been waiting for our arrival. We bypassed people who seemed far worse off than us. He was quickly tested for his blood pressure and a few basic vitals and then within minutes we were taken back to a room. All the while he played, giggled, and behaved like a normal toddler. When the nurses arrived to check his blood and ask a few questions it was so terrifying to watch the reactions on their faces as this blood came through the vials. It was like they knew and one nurse even showed me his vial and hinted that I was right on my suspicion. When they took his first blood sugar test he was in the 500 range. *Average blood sugars range from 70-180 with spikes around meal times.  By the time we left for Boise he had nearly doubled that number but, I think, because he had started some treatment to help stabilize those numbers he was able to avoid any major shock or other issues. 

We literally brought him in at the most perfect time before things could have been far worse for him. This kid has the best guardian angels watching out for him! 

Within about 10-15 minutes of being in the room a doctor came in and confirmed that Maverick had Type 1 diabetes. He did his best to talk to me through my tear filled eyes. He reassured me that our son would still be able to live a full and happy life. He promised the technology has never been better than it is today and the advancements made just in the last couple years were major breakthroughs for parents and patients with Type 1. Just shortly after that, we were notified that we would need to be taken to Boise due to his age and that most of our stay would be for Chris & I to be educated on as much as possible to care for him the best we can. 

I'll save the rest of that story for another day and I will leave it with this. 

If you have any suspicions that your child is acting strange (not just the symptoms we encountered) get them seen by a professional. We have witnessed multiple children that are in a similar situation to Maverick but their diagnosis was caught in much later stages. We are eternally grateful that we followed our instincts and feel beyond blessed that we caught it when we did. 

Stay tuned as we plan to use this site as a way to share his journey, educate those who are interested in learning with us, and hopefully we can help people like so many have helped us! I am learning very quickly how isolated you feel as a parent of a child who has some extra care needed so I hope this avenue opens the door for us to build a network and is a way to help others avoid the feelings of isolation that come with a diagnosis. 

Much love!