New Years...

Well, I would say "Happy New Year" to all of you.. but this New Years Eve was frighteningly alot like our previous New Years Eve.  Hudson got the flu.  I thought I was prepared enough, and had enough supplies at home to conquer any low... and enough meds to last us a few days since all the stores would be closed.. that was, until Hudson started to throw up.  Thats when I panicked.. but remained calm as I pulled out the buckets and the blankets and set up camp in the family room in front of "Time Square's" live countdown.  As the ball began to drop, so did Hudson's blood sugar numbers... lower and lower.. until he was a heart stopping 2.5!!!  Remaining calm, I just went to the kitchen to get him something sugary that would act fast before he dropped lower.. grabbing a regular gingerale and a straw I brought it back to him and let him take some sips before he decided he had enough.. that 15 minutes between the sips and being able to re test him seemed like forever and when I finally was able to grab his green meter and do the test it came back at a 4.0!  STILL low.. now what?!  he was now refusing to eat anything and I was forcing him to eat rockets... and candy.. and dex.. ANYTHING to get these numbers to shoot up!!  After ANOTHER long 15 minutes I went back to retest him, expecting to see a 8.0 or a 12 pop up on the meter's screen.. but instead it read 3.8!  3.8? After all that candy.. after all that pop!?  How could that be right?? thats when he began to puke.  Thankfully in the midst of all this, with Rene watching Hudson's every move like a hawk, I had put Tenley to bed without a fuss and than was racing up the stairs to find absolutely anything to bring his numbers back up to a safe level.  We spent the next half hour trying to decide what to do while holding Hudson over his pail and watching as his eyes rolled every time he went to use it again.  Rene decided to at least call the ER in Taber to see if they have any ideas or if we should bring him in and the response we got was " If you think he needs to" OF COURSE we think he needs to, thats why we were calling!!!  Not getting any answers from them we decided to call the Peds ward in Lethbridge to see if they wanted us to bring him in before he got dehydrated and before he dropped even lower which could cause him to go unconscious, in a coma or have some sort of seizure.  They told us to call Health Link.  We began to feel, on this New Years Eve, that no one was there to help us, that we were left on our own to try and save our son's life.  I than ran to our drawer with all Hudson's supplies in it and tore open his emergency Glucagon pen.. but than realized that I had no clue how much to give him.  All the while I was on facebook frantically typing on the Canadian Parent's of Type 1 page updating them and receiving some great advice from tons of parents who should have been celebrating the new year with their families but instead were trying their hardest to help us from all over the country.  The house got quiet.. a bit too quiet, so returning to the family room, I saw a scene that stopped my heart and my body went numb.  There was Hudson, hunched over his puke pail, asleep.  I began to frantically try to wake him up but every time he opened his eyes, he would droop back over trying to go back to sleep.  Yes, it was 9pm, and a half hour past his bedtime.. but if he went to sleep this low, he may never wake up.  Shaking him I kept asking him "Do you want to go look at Christmas lights with Daddy Hudson?  Daddy will take you for a drive to look at lights" since that was Hudson's favorite thing to do this last Christmas.  When really Rene was just going to take him to the ER in Taber and was packing his penguin pack in the kitchen with everything we would possibly need to go.  The lights bribe worked and we were able to get Hudsons coat on and get him out the door.
Staying by my phone, waiting any sort of text, half expecting them to keep Hudson in the ER over night on a sugar drip or something.. I waited.  FINALLY I got a text from Rene saying that on our meter Hudson read 3.8 and on the hospital's meter it read 4.0 so they were sending him back home.. I couldn't believe my eyes!!! BACK HOME?!?! After it took us almost 2 hours to even get him up to 3.8?!  THATS INSANE!!!  I was panicking and begging Rene to take Hudson to Lethbridge.. Rene asked the doctor if there was any sort of glucose gel we could squirt into Hudson's mouth if he started to pass out again and the doctor told him they dont make the gel anymore.. but to watch Hudson for another hour and half and if his numbers dont go back up higher to bring him back in and gave us some gravol type pill to stop Hudson's puking.  I have to admit, I was so mad that even a doctor was, in my view, choosing HIS new years over saving my son's life!
Thank goodness we had a ton of people praying all night for Hudson!  Because that night was one of the  longest we have had since diagnosis.  Once the boys got home, I ran back downstairs to the stash of halloween candy I had bought for just this occasion.. and offered it to Hudson who of course turned it down.  So I , in my stressful state began to nervously munch on the candy until I finally realized what I was doing and stopped, thinking "What am I doing?! This is for emergencies and here I am, eating a TON of it!!!"  All this happened in just 2 hours but seemed like time stood still even though the count down on the tv was proving that time was indeed continuing on. I couldn't watch the New Year ring in, I was on the floor, stroking my baby boy's paleish gray face as he tried so hard to sleep in between hourly finger checks and continuous streaks of puking.  I needed to give him something.. anything to get these numbers up.. something that he couldn't eventually puke up or cause his lil tummy to  turn.  I found it in my kitchen baking drawer.. Decorators Gel.  I tried to pry open his mouth to rub it on the inside of his cheek so it could absorb but I could only get in as far as his gums.. so that would have to do..I slathered on the sticky red gel and prayed that this would at least begin to bring his numbers up to a safe range that I felt secure enough to go to bed and let my husband check Hudson all night for me since our little girl, who is teething, would be getting up any time for a sip of a bottle and more tylenol.  Finally by half past midnight, Hudson's numbers began to rise.. up to 5.6.. still not where I wanted them to be for him being so sick but at least it was out of the very dangerous zone!  I gave Rene orders to text me every time he checked Hudson so that I could get some rest knowing his numbers were in a safe range and I crawled into my bed downstairs.   A few days later and alot of gingerale and suckers later.. Hudson is doing much better.. he is still off of his insulin ( still taking just one needle a day with just the longer acting stuff in it instead of 4 needles a day) and is having way better numbers which are right in his targeted range.. I am sure that once the flu bug is gone that he will feel like his little old self but it is so good to see him play today even though it tires him out really fast, at least he is up and playing!!