My sister is in the hospital right now with DKA. You know i have never heard of this before until now. I am really scared right now. She looks so bad and they are talking about stuff i have never heard of before. This is the deal right know she has DKA,pnuemonia,GI bleed,she can’t breath for herself so they have her on a ventilator.Now today they had me sign papers for them to give her blood…Can some one help me out here Have they or someone they know ever been threw this and survived…Please help. Do anyone know if she’s gonna live???
Kitty Kat, you’ve come to the right place. I went DKA at age 10. My blood sugar was over 1000 and I was in a comatose state for 3 days and stayed in the hospital for about a week and then went home with my new diagnosis of Type 1. Am healthy and happy, 18 years later. Haven’t been hospitalized since.
What’s happening with your sister is totally survivable but extremely dangerous, so they will be treating her VERY aggressively and that’s going to be scary for you and for her. Many of our members here were diagnosed in this state. They will be trying to flush her system to remove dangerous acidic ketone bodies that have formed and are affecting the pH of her bloodstream. This happens when the body has allowed glucose to build up in the blood and it has to spill somewhere so it starts spilling into the urine and forming these crystals. Many type 1s are diagnosed in this state and there are millions of us alive today, so that’s the good news.
People do lose their lives to this and we will all be hoping that her doctors are doing all they can. I can tell you from personal experience that it’s scary, awful, and most importantly, that many many of us here have been through it and are just fine. We’ll be with you while you see her through these tough next few days.
Oh wow. I’m so sorry. DKA can be very, very serious. I have had two episodes. One I was in the hospital for 4 nights and one I was in the hospital for 8 nights, 3 of them in Intensive Care. I survived but I did not have anything else going on.
Maybe the pneumonia came first - infections can make bloodsugar skyrocket.
But then, maybe her blood sugar was high and caused her immune system to not work so well and she then got pneumonia.
With the other stuff going on it sounds like she needs to be watched very carefully.They will probably have many different doctors taking part in her care.
My best wishes to your family.
You should read the article i wrote on this subject: Fear of DKA – what we know, what we don’t, and what we NEED to know
Am very sorry about your sister. Of course, you’re scared for her–who wouldn’t be?
I was DKA in late May & how I got diagnosed. Never heard of DKA before it happened to me. Just thought I had the flu when my husband dragged me kicking & screaming to the ER. I was so out of my head that I didn’t even know how sick I was. I was pretty near comatose when I woke up in intensive care with tubes, a heart monitor & nurses checking on me every 30 minutes. I didn’t think I was going to die, but my husband thought I wouldn’t survive. I also had pneumonia. I wasn’t on a ventilator, but I couldn’t breathe well & had respiratory therapists hovering about & giving me treatments. My husband told me later how bad I looked & how scared he was. I was in the hospital for four days.
If this is of any comfort, doctors & nurses deal with DKA fairly frequently, sadly. They really do know how to treat this effectively. They’ll be watching her around the clock, checking her constantly & making adjustments to the treatments. I got such good care that I couldn’t sleep!
Sending all good thoughts to surround your sister & your family. Please let us know how she’s doing.
Hi Kitty Kat,
As everyone has been saying, we are all with you. You are not alone. There is tremendous power and strength with the family all together and we are. I add my love and prayers and hugs too. I know you are scared and things look realy bad, but this is survivable. Please know that we are wrapping you both in our love.
Hello thank you for your support.Sometimes i feel alone and very scared for her.It just bugs me so much how every time i go to the hospital come home I go back and its something new wrong with her.I don’t really know a whole lot about dka or anything but its nice to know there is people out there that can help me understand alittle more.And i hope i don’t sound selfish about me being scared.I love her so much it would kill me to lose her.Thank you again
Yea the doctors keep telling me they are doing everything they can.She’s been in ICU for six days now.They have told me the pneumonia came first.It’s just its full bloom her lungs are so full theirs no more room.Now they are talking about doing something like trying to drain some fluid off her lungs.But theirs a chance they can make her drop a lung…The doctors keep telling me she’s not doing any better but not any worse then when she came in.That i find hard to believe cause every time i go back they go on about need to do this need to do that. Then some new doctors come in and tell me she’s pregnant but in the process of losing the baby.I’m happy to hear u are doing great.Can i ask u did they tell u that u had lung damage…Do u know how serious that is? What that can mean for her?
I have read your page.Thank you it was helpful.I learned things i didn’t know in the first place.You know one of the things that really scared me is the doctors kept saying the DKA were more worried about that then anything.I kept asking what is that and no one would even tell me I had to go online to even get a feel for it.And know that i did i feel more scared then ever but everyone on here really makes me feel better Just knowing people out here have had it lived threw it and know helping others to know people can get better and have a happy life after all…Thank You
Thanks for the update. At least things are not any worse. I will light a candle for you guys tonight.
No, they never said that I had lung damage. Because all of the chemicals in your blood get goofed, DKA can make it very hard to breath and I was on oxygen. Maybe your sister has lung damage from the pneumonia.
Had she already had db before this happened?
Thank you for being here for me even though u don’t know me its nice to know there really is great people left here cause its hard to find nice,caring people.My sisters update well There haven’t been any improvement at all.She is striking a bad fever.They said she has bad lung damage,Her oxygen keeps falling they keep upping her ventilator But they said that to can be harmful more on her lungs,the pneumonia isn’t changing not better,but not getting worse,they said they think they have figured out what kind of pneumonia she has something about staph,something about it grows i don’t know.One thing the GI bleed wasn’t a bleed she was in or is in the middle of losing a baby (i didn’t know she was pregnant.) To tell u the truth I am scared to death.Some of the things they tell me just blows my mind.I don’t really have anyone to talk to (Thank You 4 being here 4 us)
I’m glad 2 here ur doing great.I hope the same comes out 4 my sister as well.I pray and cry every night that she will just wake up and say hay i feel better.And she has a great nurse that i have come pretty close with,she will explain things to me the way i understand (thank god 4 her) The Doctors come in say what they wanna say and off they go.I have filled out an ap for her to get a daisy certificate.(not sure what that is) but i know its for nurses u think goes out of her way to help u.You know i feel bad cause the guy my sisters with left her at home the way she was to freaking die.He left at 6:55 am i called the ambulance at 7:26. The doctors said she had to have been sick for days for her to be in the state she is in.How could someone that loves u not take u to the doctors before u get that bad?I guess the whole time she was camping that weekend he said she was sick and never left the tent? How could he think that was fine 4 a type 1 diabetic?He said she was just really thirsty and kept throwing up every 10 minutes.Man i just wanna wring that guys neck so bad.So before i got 2 her she’s been that way for days. when the paramedics and I got their she was out cold on the floor not breathing and ice cold.I thought she was dead when I got their.I think there should be a law against something like that.A law that say’s if u don’t help U get to go away as well.I love that girl so much she’s my life.I really do pray she come out of this real soon. I will keep u updated…
Thank you and u know yesterday i was at the hospital and for some reason I really didn’t feel all alone as i always did.Its like God has wrapped his arms around me and said its okay.But at the same time something was pulling at me and telling me not to leave the hospital.Something held me i couldn’t even cry like i usually do.I wanna thank u Because i really do need someone right now.I’m alone there all the time it’s so hard 4 me to even look at her she is so swollen all over.It don’t even look like my sister.Thank u again people on here are so caring and nice that’s the hardest thing to find anymore in this world.I promise to tell my sister all about it (when she wakes up) I have and keep good hopes 4 her i will never let my self think the worst.Some people tell me not to do hat cause I’m setting my self up for a fall.Do u believe that? Is it bad to always look 4 the good and not the bad? Thank You
I have little family but we don’t really see or talk much it’s mainly me and Laura (my sister) My dad i keep him informed but he don’t or won’t go to the hospital.My mom is here but she can’t really do much either so its pretty much just me.Yea i feel scared all the time and alone
Yea she’s been a diabetic 4 many years now She found out when she was pregnant with her son and he is now 9 yrs old.Her lung damage is from both the pneumonia and the ventilator they said the longer ur on it the more damage it can do.plus her stats keeps dropping they have to keep upping her ventilator at some point they had it at max 100 percent but they adjusted something else on it so she’s down to 70 percent. the other thing they adjusted is at 10.5 and they said the most they had some one at is 15…
Your sister will pull through and join this community.Your faith and support of wonderful people around you is a driving force to look for the good.Keep praying as we all do for your sister.
Thank you it’s nice to know i have good people out here praying for her i know she will be very thankful for all of you on here as i am
So very sorry to hear that things are still in limbo & about the baby. Know you’re worried & frantic:( Even worse that you’re all alone going through this.
My pneumonia wasn’t as bad as your sister’s. I had pneumonia once before. This first time it was much worse because I had a high fever, trouble breathing & couldn’t keep my head up. I spent two weeks in bed, only because I begged my doctor not to send me to the hospital. Neither time did permanent damage to my lungs. While I was in the hospital with DKA they gave me IV antibiotics for pneumonia & a respiratory therapist came by three times a day to do therapy to help clear my lungs. I felt so crappy from the DKA that the pneumonia wasn’t that important to me at the time & I didn’t ask much about it. Sorry, wish I could tell you what this means for your sister. Afraid I don’t know.
How awful that the ventilator is hurting her lungs.
Sending lots of hugs. Praying for good news soon.
Thanks sometimes i think i just wish it was as easy as just asking a doctor something and getting a straight answer. Have u ever realized doctors kinda talk over u not to u.They think well every one should know what there saying no further explanation needed.Crap her nurse has to always stay behind him and try to tell me more so i can understand…Crazy isn’t it.
I’ve went through DKA 4 times. Each time its gotten worse. The last time was in the beginning of July. I was put on oxygen to help me breathe because I was pushing out acid through my breathe. Its been affecting my heart rate as well. I’ve went from a normal heart rate to a heart rate of over 100 beats per minute. I’ve never had to have a blood transfusion, but I know the acid from the DKA can cause a blood transfusion. Your sister is in my prayers.