US Pilots Labor Discussion

[mrbreeze]

Praise that we haven't had a seizure yet. I know the feeling of total helplessness. I think it's hardest on the moms. Of course, the one close call we had I was in freaking MEX. My wife tested our son early in the morning and he was 27 and not really responsive. She called 911 but was able to get enough juice into him without using the glucogon gun.

It's a freaking job. You are so right about that.

God how I wish I could take it from him. Blessings to your daughter.

Thx, and to you, also. Your son is at an age where as he goes through puberty and a growth spurt, he will get much stronger in dealing with it. Better days ahead. 🙂

 

[700UW]

Diabetes is a terrible disease, I was stricken with Type II about 8 years ago, was doing great for the several years with only diet, off all meds.

Then last Valentines Day my gf died, unexpectedly and a week later I was having some serious symptoms, couldnt see, tested and I was at 532.

Called the Dr the next day and told me I need to get there ASAP, and when I got there it was over 300, told me I was lucky I wasnt in a coma or dead.

Went on insulin for several months till it got under control, was good for the past 8 months, with only metformin, went for blood work and my HA1C was 8.7% so now on glipazide too.

I hope the stem cell research helps cure this and best of luck and support to both your kids.

I have to get surgery on my retinas as the high sugar has left some damage.

 

[mrbreeze]

Diabetes is a terrible disease, I was stricken with Type II about 8 years ago, was doing great for the several years with only diet, off all meds.

Then last Valentines Day my gf died, unexpectedly and a week later I was having some serious symptoms, couldnt see, tested and I was at 532.

Called the Dr the next day and told me I need to get there ASAP, and when I got there it was over 300, told me I was lucky I wasnt in a coma or dead.

Went on insulin for several months till it got under control, was good for the past 8 months, with only metformin, went for bllod work and my HA1C was 8.7% so now on glipazide too.

I hope the stem cell research helps cure this and best of luck and support to both your kids.

I have to get surgery on my retinas as the high sugar has left some damage.

WOW....had not heard of a type 2 being so bad, sorry to hear that, apparently stress has a lot to do with it. I hope you have good luck with the surgery, no complications. When Rebecca was diagnosed at age 7, her BG was 425 and the docs said that if she had been an adult, she would have been in a coma. You are lucky to be alive, let alone flying jets.

The pump is a marvelous machine, if you happen to get that far into it......much more stability that meds and injections. Rebecca had a checkup just a couple of days ago and her A1c was 6.1.....praise God.

Good luck to you.....hopefully research will come up with a cure in the next few years.
breeze

 

[mrbreeze]

Praise that we haven't had a seizure yet. I know the feeling of total helplessness. I think it's hardest on the moms. Of course, the one close call we had I was in freaking MEX. My wife tested our son early in the morning and he was 27 and not really responsive. She called 911 but was able to get enough juice into him without using the glucogon gun.

It's a freaking job. You are so right about that.

God how I wish I could take it from him. Blessings to your daughter.

It is a helpless feeling.....27 is incredibly low.
When Rebecca was 9, she had a seizure at 4 am while staying with me (single parent). I checked her BG and it just said LOW...did not even register. I squirted cake gel into her mouth and thought she was feeling better a couple of minutes later, just to find that she had quit breathing, was grey, and her eyes were rolled back in her head. As I picked her up, she went into convulsions.....lips sucked back into her mouth, fingers and toes curled in....etc. Talk about feeling small, it was just me, her and God in that room that night. I am not a practicing Christian, but believe in God, and called out to him for his help that night. I started talking very loudly to Rebecca, telling her that she needed to breathe with me.....then started doing the Lamaze type of breathing technique. Rebecca started coughing and breathing again. I gave her a glucagon shot, which brought her up to 107 on her BG, then took her to the ER. She didn't remember a thing about it, but I swear, I aged 20 yrs that night. We went on the pump right after that episode.

As young as your son is and having to deal with this, I am sure you have had your tough battles too.

It still amazes me at the number of people who don't understand what Diabetes is all about.

 

[mrbreeze]

Ok, enough of the heavy BS. You guys can go back to the bickering. LOL

Have a good night.

 

[luvn737s]

Gee, for a good solid 5 minutes I forgot we were Westies Vs Easties. Maybe even 7.

 

[mrbreeze]

She called 911 but was able to get enough juice into him without using the glucogon gun.


Aqua,

One last comment......Somewhere over the years a nurse or doctor told me that if you have to give your child a glucagon injection, you don't have to use that Howitzer sized syringe that comes in the kit. Just use your regular syringe and mix up a dose equal to one unit for each year of your child's age. When I got Rebecca to breathe again, I ran downstairs and got the kit....came back up and gave her 9 units in her thigh muscle with her regular syringe. Her BG came up to 107 in just about 5 minutes.

Hope this takes some of the fear out of the glucagon gun.

breeze

 

[CactusPilot1]

Gee, for a good solid 5 minutes I forgot we were Westies Vs Easties. Maybe even 7.

Probably a good conversation to have considering it is Easter/Passover weekend.

 

[Phoenix]

... considering it is Easter/Passover weekend.

In that case perhaps you should give us a lecture about keeping our commitments and all the HTT stuff.

 

[CactusPilot1]

In that case perhaps you should give us a lecture about keeping our commitments and all the HTT stuff.

Are you looking for the one I give children about:

A. Not stealing (as in my seniority).

B. Not being a spoiled brat and taking your balls and going home when you lose.

C. Hitting..As in shoving people into metal door frames.

D. Just flat out lying......To advance your flawed objectives.

E. All of the above

 

[aquagreen73s]

It is a helpless feeling.....27 is incredibly low.
When Rebecca was 9, she had a seizure at 4 am while staying with me (single parent). I checked her BG and it just said LOW...did not even register. I squirted cake gel into her mouth and thought she was feeling better a couple of minutes later, just to find that she had quit breathing, was grey, and her eyes were rolled back in her head. As I picked her up, she went into convulsions.....lips sucked back into her mouth, fingers and toes curled in....etc. Talk about feeling small, it was just me, her and God in that room that night. I am not a practicing Christian, but believe in God, and called out to him for his help that night. I started talking very loudly to Rebecca, telling her that she needed to breathe with me.....then started doing the Lamaze type of breathing technique. Rebecca started coughing and breathing again. I gave her a glucagon shot, which brought her up to 107 on her BG, then took her to the ER. She didn't remember a thing about it, but I swear, I aged 20 yrs that night. We went on the pump right after that episode.

As young as your son is and having to deal with this, I am sure you have had your tough battles too.

It still amazes me at the number of people who don't understand what Diabetes is all about.

I dont' know how single parents do it with diabetes. Trying to maintain amicable relations with the other parent is tough. Throw in managing diabetes, and I can appreciate that you've taken the stress of diplomacy to a whole new level. I say this not being divorced but knowing that the first person you aim at when something goes wrong in managing diabetes is the other parent. When you see your child lying there barely conscious, it's like watching them fall from a tall ladder or get run over by a car. You don't know when the lows are coming and the anxiety erupts at the other parent when it happens. Throw in a divorce and all I can say is you shoulder a heck of a lot. I'm mortified that the glucocon gun only brought her up to 107. That's supposed to nuke the kids with sugar and it only got her up to 107!

The flipside to kids having diabetes is that every one I've met are really put together kids. They learn to understand cause and effect at a very early age and they appreciate the consequences for their actions. If diabetes doesn't kill Rebecca and Jake (and it probably won't given the ability to manage it these days), then it will make them stronger. My grandmother died at 40 of diabetes. My mom was raised poor as dirt on an Arkansas farm and there wasn't any way to test her sugars. My mom would just pour sugar water down her mother's throat until she came back. Insulin dosages were a total guess. The result was an early death. I've also got to hand it to the kids who have conditions. They have to deal with reality at a very young age. My son this past Christmas asked Santa to take away his diabetes. Damn . . .

The pump will make it a lot easier, but we had a learning curve with regards to the mechanics of putting in the inserts. The needle needs to be done with the right angle and the right force to keep the catheter from crimping. We use a Medtronic and they as a company have been great to us. Does Rebecca do her own inserts?

 

[mrbreeze]

I dont' know how single parents do it with diabetes. Trying to maintain amicable relations with the other parent is tough. Throw in managing diabetes, and I can appreciate that you've taken the stress of diplomacy to a whole new level. I say this not being divorced but knowing that the first person you aim at when something goes wrong in managing diabetes is the other parent. When you see your child lying there barely conscious, it's like watching them fall from a tall ladder or get run over by a car. You don't know when the lows are coming and the anxiety erupts at the other parent when it happens. Throw in a divorce and all I can say is you shoulder a heck of a lot. I'm mortified that the glucocon gun only brought her up to 107. That's supposed to nuke the kids with sugar and it only got her up to 107!

The flipside to kids having diabetes is that every one I've met are really put together kids. They learn to understand cause and effect at a very early age and they appreciate the consequences for their actions. If diabetes doesn't kill Rebecca and Jake (and it probably won't given the ability to manage it these days), then it will make them stronger. My grandmother died at 40 of diabetes. My mom was raised poor as dirt on an Arkansas farm and there wasn't any way to test her sugars. My mom would just pour sugar water down her mother's throat until she came back. Insulin dosages were a total guess. The result was an early death. I've also got to hand it to the kids who have conditions. They have to deal with reality at a very young age. My son this past Christmas asked Santa to take away his diabetes. Damn . . .

The pump will make it a lot easier, but we had a learning curve with regards to the mechanics of putting in the inserts. The needle needs to be done with the right angle and the right force to keep the catheter from crimping. We use a Medtronic and they as a company have been great to us. Does Rebecca do her own inserts?

We divorced when Rebecca was about 4 yrs old (16 yr marriage). When she was diagnosed at a 7, we did have to work together to keep it under control. There were many trying times, but we are still friends....as long as we don't spend more than about an hour together. 🙂 Rebecca stays with her while I am flying and with me when I am home.

I can't imagine starting off at 15 months, that's a whole different ballgame. That had to be tough, the feedings and all the finger poking while they are too young to understand why you are hurting them. Also, I am sure you were climbing the walls when Jake had the low that morning, being stuck at work.

Maybe I wasn't clear about the glucagon injection. She came up to 107 with my injection of 9 units, which I doubt that you really want them to go much over 200. I could have given her 18 units instead of 9, which probly would have brought her up to over 200. If you give him more than about 20 units, and the Howitzer will hold a lot more than that, I would be concerned of getting him too high, mainly due to his body size. I think the kit is designed to handle adult-300 lb diabetics, so 20 units might be a good target. Anyway, the kit is very effective and a good tool in an emergency.

I agree that the Medtronic pump is the greatest thing going. I was astonished that with all the cuts we endured in the East, that insurance covered all but $36 on the $7000 machine. Rebecca has been much happier since we started the pump 5 yrs ago, and yes, she does her own inserts......has been for about a year now.

She has been a patient at the Barbara Davis Diabetes Research Institute for about 7 yrs now and is very active in donating blood and participating in different studies....she is involved with something everyday. At 9 pm she uses a palm pilot to transmit her daily numbers to Denver for the study groups. So keep your fingers crossed in hopes that they come up with something soon...at any lab.

take care

 

[aquagreen73s]

She has been a patient at the Barbara Davis Diabetes Research Institute for about 7 yrs now and is very active in donating blood and participating in different studies....she is involved with something everyday. At 9 pm she uses a palm pilot to transmit her daily numbers to Denver for the study groups. So keep your fingers crossed in hopes that they come up with something soon...at any lab.

take care

Wow. That's awesome. How many teenagers can say they are vital elements to medical research? Her diligence in transmitting her numbers each night is very impressive, especially in light of the fact that most parents are trying to just get their teenagers to not lose their cell phones. If this means anything, my son's friend and classmate has a father doing research at USC: http://www.doctorsofusc.com/doctor/bio/view/72410 Yasir is one of the nicest people you'll ever meet, but also it only takes about 30 seconds to figure out that the man is brilliant. He says a cure is close. As you say, let's keep our fingers crossed.

 

[Art at ISP]

I send thoughts prayers and good wishes to those of you whose kids are not well---and may they be much better very soon.
Happy Easter all...

 

[mrbreeze]

Well, to wrap up this topic, and this wasn't my original goal, here is the link to Rebecca's website. I have just a small percentage of East pilot email addresses and if you guys on the other side of the fence want to donate, that would be awesome, however, under the circumstances, I will not be offended if there is no response. 🙂

http://main.diabetes.org/site/TR?px=5344560&fr_id=7610&pg=personal

I guess I am exposing my identity here, but if Rebecca can fight her battle everyday, it's the least I can do.

With a donation on the website, you will receive an email with your tax deductable receipt. Also, so far, Rebecca has replied to each donor with a note or email.

Thanks guys,

Happy Easter!