At the ER, a nurse took me into Triage quickly. Dexcom said bg was 277. \u00a0Hospital meter said 324. \u00a0I had been running between 77 to 126 all day even while puking. \u00a0Dehydration was kicking my butt. \u00a0After getting my vitals, I explained to the nurse everything that had and was currently happening to me, I concluded by saying I needed to take a correction. \u00a0She told me not to. \u00a0Actually she said she could not advise me to take a correction. \u00a0Ummmm what?!? \u00a0She said I needed to wait for a doctor. \u00a0Ummmm more what?!? This is the same woman who, when I showed her my pump and Dexcom, asked if they control each other. \u00a0I explained it isn’t a closed-looped system. \u00a0That did not help my cause. \u00a0She asked if my blood sugar is normally that high. \u00a0I politely explained my current HbA1c is a 6.4 so NO my BG is NOT NORMALLY 324! \u00a0I was told again NOT to take any additional insulin, was handed a puke bucket and sent to the waiting room. \u00a0I immediately took a mini correction.<\/p>\n
30 minutes went by and I felt less nauseous (believe me there was nothing left in my system). \u00a0I started to feel desert-like thirst though. \u00a0Time did that thing it does, you know, ticking by. I took another mini correction. \u00a0BGs eventually in upper 200s and staying steady. \u00a0No one had checked on me. \u00a0They’d told me NOT to take a correction until I saw a doctor, they knew my most recent BG had been 324, and they LEFT ME! \u00a0 I sipped diet ginger-ale I’d brought in my bag. \u00a0Baby sips. \u00a0I seethed.<\/p>\n
I finished my drink. \u00a0I waited. \u00a0I needed a hand (well an arm) to get to the reception desk. \u00a0The woman who checked me in (not triage) explained there were people with more serious emergencies and that would delay my seeing a doctor. \u00a0Fair enough. \u00a0I told her I needed to take more insulin and explained I’m diabetic, on a pump, on CGM, blah blah then I stopped because I didn’t think I was connecting with her. \u00a0I apologized (not sure why), and asked if she was a nurse. \u00a0She was less than pleased but since she hadn’t been responding I wondered if my T1D\/puking chatter was clicking. \u00a0Yes, she was indeed a nurse. \u00a0She said my vitals were good. \u00a0She told me I was looking at a 3 hour wait. \u00a0Ummmm what?!? \u00a0I needed fluids. \u00a0Give me the IV and I’ll figure it out myself out. \u00a03 hours?!? \u00a03 MORE HOURS?!? \u00a0So I explained, for the record, I was taking a necessary correction. \u00a0She told me not to. \u00a0I told her she was too late. \u00a0She said they didn’t want me to crash. \u00a0I said that wouldn’t happen. \u00a0I got feisty in my I-am-wearing-pajamas-with-multiple-sweatshirts-and-why-are-my-legs-wobbling-so-damn-much way. \u00a0I told her I’d been diabetic for 33 years and “they” could not expect a T1D to sit for 3+ hours with a high blood sugar and do NOTHING about it. \u00a0I *may* have even tossed out the word insane. \u00a0She explained they needed me to NOT take a correction so the doctor could see what was going on with me. \u00a0I could feel the heat in my neck. \u00a0I stayed calm (well calm-ish).<\/p>\n
Then she said it, “They need to make sure you aren’t going into DKA<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n In my mind I may have punched her. \u00a0In my mind I also shook my head in disbelief like a cartoon character. \u00a0In my mind I stopped shaking my cartoon head and punched her again. \u00a0I leaned across the desk and slowly explained that if you tell a diabetic who’s blood sugar is in the 300s and escalating, NOT take a correction bolus while they continue to dehydrate, you will have bigger problems than possible food poisoning. \u00a0She argued back about not crashing. \u00a0I was about to crash her. \u00a0I tried to sound strong but I’m pretty sure my voice shook as I informed her that without a correction, there was no doubt they would be treating me for DKA.<\/p>\n We waited and waited. \u00a0No one EVER checked on me. \u00a0No additional BG checks. \u00a0My BG hovered between 185 and 194. \u00a0I’d take that. \u00a0Exhaustion was kicking in. \u00a04 hours after I’d checked-in, I was taken into treatment. \u00a0A gurney in a hallway with another patient at my feet and another patient at my head. \u00a0A doctor arrived. \u00a0He was familiar with my story. \u00a0He may have been Doogie Howser. \u00a0I told him about the correction debacle(s). \u00a0I informed him of my present BG. \u00a0He told me that he felt T1Ds on a pump know more about their diabetes than they do so I should continue just doing my thing.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I got an IV like a harpoon.<\/p>\n Yeah I got pics.<\/p>\n I was there FOREVER. \u00a0Anti nausea stuff and fluids perked me up. \u00a0The head doctor visited. \u00a0I got sassy as is my way, and we all smiled. \u00a0I told him the correction debacle. \u00a0He repeated what Doogie had told me, that I know more than they do about my diabetes, keep treating myself and they will treat the rest of me.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I continued checking my own BGs. \u00a0I saw some crazy stuff go wheeling by. \u00a0I got silly. \u00a0I was sent home at 3am.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I’d like to preface this post by explaining I have lots of exciting, super-duper exciting things to post about, but those will have to wait for now. \u00a0This past weekend was a big one, but there was a big bump … Continue reading ![\"arm-IV-768x1024](\"http:\/\/www.surfacefine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/arm-IV-768x1024-copy-225x300.jpg\")
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