Night 1 – Korle Bu Children’s Ward

At about 7:30 p.m. we got a phone call from Sly, and the boys were standing by to talk to us. Sean had a limited understanding of what Alex was going through, but was worried and solicitous on the phone to Alex (not normal, trust me). Then Mike got on, “wuz up?” I believe was his comment (very normal, trust me). He told me on the phone that he wanted to bring Alex something when he saw her. I told him that she couldn’t have anything with sugar in it, no soda, no juice, no cookies, no candy, no cake. He listens to that, pauses and then says, “Okay, so what you’re saying is I can give her water.” Smart ass. But, yeah, I guess it did sound like that. Know what he brought her? He made her a necklace out of some buttons and, get this, a plastic chocolate chip cookie that came with one of Alex’s cooking sets. Why not rub salt into the wound.

Believe it or not, with the exception of giving birth, I had only once been away from my boys overnight. It felt weird not to give them their good night hugs, which they both come in for every night, even waking me up if I’ve dozed off.

As exhausted, both physically and mentally as I am, the night just dragged and dragged and dragged. I couldn’t sleep. Of course, it doesn’t help that the nurses were in every 2 hours to check Alexandra’s blood sugar level, and then give her an insulin shot every 4 hours. They are extremely vigilant, as much as any nurse in any U.S. hospital. Just not as chatty.

Alexandra’s blood sugar numbers were so high that they don’t even record; our glucose meter, a OneTouch Ultra 2, only registers to 33.3 mmol/L (which is equivalent to 599 in the States), and so it could have been significantly higher than that. We’ll never know, it just says HI. In any event, whether it’s 33.3 or HI, it’s too high.

The doctor has said that Alex’s reading should be between 4 and 8. Jeez, and I kept wondering, is that even achievable? We’re working towards it. As I go through the meter readings, I see that the numbers didn’t even budge until she’d been on insulin and the IV drip for a full 12 hours, and then they dropped too far and she had to be given glucose to bring it back up. Up and down and down and up. At one point, she was 2.9 (52 in the U.S.) and within 2 hours she was at 31.1 (560). It was crazy.

What was also crazy is that we didn’t get any information on what Alex should or shouldn’t be eating. I was scrutinizing packages in the little store on the hospital grounds to see what was sugar-free, totally neglecting the fact (that I’ve since tattooed on my brain) that carbohydrates convert to sugar, too. So the sugar-free oatmeal cookies had enough carbs in it to make the sugar-free point totally moot.

So, anyway, our first night… up every 2 hours or so, shots every 4. Alex took it like the champ that she is. Naturally, I couldn’t sleep. I’d scarcely drift off and the nurse was back. If it wasn’t the nurse, then it was some loudmouth in the hall outside who didn’t realize (care?) that there was a sick kid in the room. Some time after the midnight check (12:34 a.m. 22.7 mmol/L), I gave up and pulled out the laptop. I had, fortunately, remembered to ask for my mini-modem, which has pre-paid units loaded onto it. MTN made a small fortune off me that night, the frigging rip-offs… it cost me about $7 for a lousy 20 minutes online. I needed to email my mom and tell her the news anyway, and ask her to pass the info on to my brothers and sisters. My mom puts CNN to shame, that news was out there so fast, and by the next morning, I had notes and e-cards galore for Alex to read.

Alex was funny when she opened the e-cards. She’d read the message, listen to the music, watch the video. And then she’d say, “Is that all?” She is so used to getting real paper cards (with money in them!!) from Grandma, that she couldn’t really be bothered with the cyber version. Boring. Oh well, I enjoyed them.

By 6:00 am we were both up, since Alex needed her insulin shot and had to eat a half hour after that. Her breakfast was tea with milk and a fake sugar tablet, cornflakes and milk, and a banana. Then we watched the Wizard of Oz. Again.

Today, the plan was to learn to do the glucose blood readings. Doesn’t that sound like fun?

Later!