So where do I even begin? We planned a Christmas vacation to England and the Canary Islands. We were to leave on the 19th of December, spend a few days in England and then head to an All Inclusive in the Canary Islands on the 27th of December and ring in the New Year there. On the 19th, the kids last day of school, we went to their school to watch Chloe’s first Christmas Concert. The concert went surprisingly well for a JK concert, but after the concert Chloe looked tired. We talked to her a bit and decided to take her home early cause it seemed that she was coming down with something. Sure enough, she had a slight fever. Now I had to remember everything that we were taught about a T1Der having a cold. “When you’re sick, pee on a stick” – that mantra was playing over in my head. OK, pee’d on the stick and no ketones. But fever was still there. Time to get lock the suitcases, pack the T1D kit, keep the insulin between 2 and 10 degrees and make it through airport security. Just about to leave, pee on stick – and negative – yes we are good to go!
We get to the airport, pass through security in a breeze – with ginger ale, water and insulin staying chilled in a thermos. Kaitlyn and Chloe are good, Chloe’s fever broke with a dose of Advil. We ate some food and gave Chloe her insulin dose, 1:30 ratio with a ham and cheese sandwich. 30 mins to boarding – we are good to go. Ok, one last time – pee on the stick. Shit – medium ketones – what the fuck do we do? We quickly call the diabetes after-hours clinic – they said that we are good to go as long as the ketones go. We have to give insulin to take care of the ketones and recheck in 4 hours, if there are still there we have to give 1.5x the amount and recheck again, if there are still there we have to take her to ER and have them flushed out via an IV drip. …But our flight is 8 hours and we may not have time. I called my co-worker, a highly trusted and reputable MD, she suggested that it isn’t worth the risk. Alas, Chloe and I didn’t make the trip, as we didn’t want to force an emergency landing and a trip to a foreign ER – so Donna and Kaitlyn, along with our 4 suitcases and 3 carry-on’s made the flight.
Us missing the trip was a bit of a blessing in disguise – as the flight that Donna and Kaitlyn were on was forced to land 4hrs away in Birmingham due to a shutdown at Gatwick because of drone sightings. Not sure how we would have been able to manage Chloe’s T1 while being shuffled around with no proper access to bathrooms, running water and being herded into small holding rooms.
Chloe and I were are home now, and its up to me to manage this sickness. Daddy vs. Ketones – Round 1.
Round was a serious blow to me. This was the first time that I was struggling with this disease. But I had to be strong – every time that I have championed something, something else happened for me to deal with. Fever, ketones, diarrhea, vomit, lack of sleep…. it was all there and it was all up to me. After 5 days, the fever finally broke and we got the all clear to fly. We eventually made it to the UK – we caught a flight on the 23rd and made it there for Christmas Eve.