Itchy Update

My head finally hit the pillow somewhere around 10pm last night. I was emotionally, mentally and physically exhausted. I felt like every bit of life had been sucked out of me. Kacey was on the couch again last night. I could hear her wiggling trying to get comfortable. The couch is right outside our bedroom door so I was within talking distance. I asked if she was ok and she replied, "Yeah *sigh* I'm just a little itchy again". The Hydroxyzine that the doc had given her was working some. I could hear the exhaustion in her voice. She was tired...tired of itching....tired of the blood sugars over 400...just tired. She got quiet and after a few minutes I heard, "Goodnight Mommy"....ahhhh she was settled. She was getting some relief from the itchies that have stole her sleep the last two nights.

I spoke with the NP from her Endo's office yesterday evening. She got my email with the pictures and the drama that had unfolded the last 2 days at Urgent Care. She couldn't believe the diahrrea of the mouth that the doctor had. She said sometimes it's ok to think out loud but then there are times when you can scare a mother to death when you tell her "Well, I don't know what this rash is now." and "Do you think she could be allergic to her insulin?" (yes he asked me that!) She looked over the pictures and she said it was kind of hard to tell without being about to feel her skin but if she had to make a best guess then she would say that it was a bad case of Fifth's Disease or some other virus. To make sure she was making the right call, she was going to consult with our Endo this morning and show him the pics. She said she would call me back today and let me know what he says but she thinks he is going to agree that it is either a virus, Fifth's Disease or Strep. In the meantime, she told me to take her off that Prednisone immediately because that will continue to wreak havoc on her blood sugars and as long as her sugars stayed up then she couldn't get well. She wanted me to keep her on the Amoxicillan because if it is Strep then at least she's getting it in her system. She went on to explain that you CAN have Strep and not have a sore throat. You CAN also have a negative rapid strep test and then after it grows a few days then it turns up positive. Sadly, with it being Urgent Care, most of them don't grow things. They do the rapid stuff and send you on your way. (Yeah....so thats how those kids at school are walking around sick and the strep is negative...blech!) She also went on to explain that the Hydroxyzine is a great antihistimine. She said they use it for their patients with severe exema and it was safe for Kacey to use. I was scared to give it to her after the drama we had with that doc yesterday. I had to make sure she was able to take it and once the NP validated that then I gave her a dose.

Once I was finally able to relax, the headache kicked in. STRESS! I closed my eyes and felt a million things swirling around in my head. I was just worn right out! I got out of bed around 12am to check and see how Kacey was doing. She was sleeping so sound. So angelic. So peaceful. The check of her blood sugar revealed a 467...thats better than the last 2 tests that read "over 500". I knew she was coming down. I corrected her...AGAIN. It seems like all we've been doing is correcting! I layed back down...2am...stumbled out of the bed and tested her...354...ok we're coming down! I stumbled back to my bed and got back up at 6am...she was still resting so sound...test...307. She woke up and said she felt a little itchy but now she's got a stuffy nose and head congestion. She's still covered from neck to ankles in this hive-like rash. I gave her the meds and she crashed back on the couch with the TV remote.

The NP called me back just a little bit ago. She sat down with Kacey's Endo and they reviewed the pics together. He said it looked like it was just a virus and it had to run it's course. Sometimes viruses affect people different ways and since she's diabetic, those symptoms are not going to be "classic" or "normal"...haha...yeah we know that NOTHING with diabetes is ever NORMAL! So he said to continue on the antibiotic in case it's something else going on and keep on the antihistimine until the itching is gone. The rash could last from a few days to a week or more. She also said that from now on, since we're having a problem getting in with our family doctor and we're not comfortable with the urgent care doctor, we can just bring her right down to CHKD ER and since they're right in the hospital then we can request they be called in to help with diagnosis and treatment. She said they don't like to encourage people going to the ER with simple things but since this was something that we'd seen Urgent Care for and it was worse but then you throw diabetes in the mix...it's just safer for Kacey down there. I agree! :)

So I feel a little better knowing this is NOT a food allergy! This is one time when I can be happy about a misdiagnosis! Kacey is relieved to know it's just a virus and not anything more serious. And so we're going to take advantage of that doctor's note and she's going to relax the rest of the week! I think she's been through enough this week and school is the furthest thing from my mind. I have kept her teacher in the loop and I'm going to pick up her work this afternoon. Thankfully they are off on Friday and next Monday so we've got a nice long weekend for her to get better.