On Friday 11th June we came within hours of losing our little boy, Harrison Bear.  

I want to share his story so that other parents know the signs of Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA) in children, and hope that if you ever spot the symptoms in your or another child you act quickly.  

We flew back from a family holiday on Thursday 10th June.  He had been absolutely fine travelling back, and was his normal happy go lucky self.  The following day (Friday) he was off his food but wanted more milk and very tired.  We assumed it was from the travelling but at around 4pm he vomited uncontrollably and I just felt he looked mottled and pale. 

We took him to A&E where they examined him, and he had no fever, heart rate, blood pressure etc were all fine.  After four hours and a lot of sickness at the hospital they sent us home, citing a stomach bug and to sit it out for the next 48 hours.  It didn't feel right and I asked for another doctors opinion.  The superior agreed this was a tummy bug, and we were sent home.  

We went home and I slept in his room with him, trying to give some fluids as he was waking every hour or so throwing up.  Early morning his breathing became shallow and fast, and he looked terrible, listless and he was turning grey.   

We called an ambulance and it came quickly and we made it to the hospital within 10 minutes.  During the ride the paramedic did a blood sugar test and he was extremely high.  This is not something they did the night before in the hospital but I’ve since learnt this was an oversight and should have been checked.  

He was quickly diagnosed with diabetic ketoacidosis and was in a critical state.  They worked super fast to get fluids and medication into him immediately (they drilled a line directly into his leg bone).  It was very frightening and they were telling us that he was very ill, they may airlift him to sick kids in Edinburgh.  They had a ventilator and anaesthesiologist in the room with us. They want to avoid moving children HB's age onto a ventilator at all costs and were monitoring him so closely to make sure he was working hard to move the CO2 from his body.  He was and this was the laboured breathing he was doing at home and in the hospital.  The team worked on him and he was moved to high dependency. 

The good news is that he responded quickly to the medication (insulin) and fluids.  His glucose levels normalised and his ketone levels came down within a few days.  Of course we are all home now and have been for a few weeks. 

Of course, we don't know what triggered this type 1 diabetes, but he will have it for life, and it will be managed with daily injections.  The team of nurses and doctors were fantastic, so kind and the diabetic team a have been so supportive. 

The hospital said that most children who present with this generally arrive in a diabetic coma, and are already unconscious.  The fact we got him to the hospital and his little body was able to work hard to clear this without a ventilator, saw him come through it unscathed.  Had we waited any longer they felt he would have been in an even more critical position.  It was very frightening. 

So all in all a fraught time but our HB is a trooper and doing amazingly.  There was a moment when we thought we might be without him and nothing could have been worse.

To look at him you would never know he had been so unwell.

We have gone from knowing very little about Type 1 Diabetes to counting carbs, testing blood sugars and managing his hypos.  The initial stage after diagnosis is always very sporadic but as time goes on, it will settle.  

Adjusting to this change has been a challenge for us, but this is a manageable condition and if done properly he can live a happy, healthy life and do anything any other kiddo can do.  We will make sure that’s the case for our amazing little boy.

Please share the signs of DKA. It is a very scary experience and the symptoms came in within a 24 hour period.  

Last year I did the million steps challenge without really giving the cause (Diabetes UK) a second thought.  This year Ian and I are doing the challenge for Harrison Bear ❤️