All Discussions My Discussions Add Options▼Mis Diagnose of sonPosted by Kimberly Keyser on September 28, 2011 at 9:42am in Type 2 Diabetes Forum
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I’m the mother of son that was 15&1/2 when he got hurt playing football and shortly before this went to what the kids call hell week to try out at the high school for the football team. he started to drink alot after that week at try outs. Just thought it was due to the heat and working out. within a couple weeks john was playing football with friends and no one used pads ect. when john came home with friends they said he got hurt and one of the guys shoulder met with john eye when they went to tackle together. I called a friends that is a nurse and she said his eye sockit above his eye feels broke. So off to the emergency room we went. through this we had to have surgery the next week. the doctor had to have blood test ect done for the surgery so we went and got that done. Barely got home and got a phone call from the ER doctor that we needed to bring john emediatly to the ER or they would send a ambulance to the house to get him as soon as possible because his blood sugar was 650. this was the scareast thing to hear as a parent with no understanding of this desease. John was put on insulin and pills at first and only after 2 weeks was having bad sugar lows at school so we reduced his insulin to the point the pills in time seemed to be enough. He was on Metformin er and it seemed to work for him except it really bothered his stomach. John ended up back on some insulin about 2009 because of not taking his pills rite so his A1C went up and he was out of school at this point so had more time to concentrate on his diabetes. We were told he had type 2 from the begining because his age was almost adult by the time he showed any signs of having Diabetes. My son has struggled with the emotions that this desease bring on and has a hard time at times with why he has this. In the past year john went off to college and just got married in August. On September 14th 2011 John had been fighting a very bad sinus infection and his wife took him to the ER were they live. John was Diagnosed with having DKA . He almost died and we are now told he was type 1 diabetes. This is not something we thought could happen with type 2 so we hadnt watched for any signs of this. John hasnt had regular insurance but grew up on medicaid untill he turn 18 and they dropped him from the medicaid. I didnt understand why since he was still in school and really needed to see a doctor and get help with supplies. Its been a struggle since he lost ins to get help and see a doctor regularly. We did find help at VCU in Richmond Va. we are trying to get help again now since it has to be renewed each year. John lives in Lynchburg VA and we are trying to seek help now. It seems crazy for someone to tell us unless he looses a limb or is blind he cant get the help he needs for now while he is in college trying to make a better future for them. Income isnt much but we are trying to help him. Dont want him to go through the major things I’ve seen others go through with this desease. I’m getting educated but still new things to learn and try to help teach John and his wife. Hope this helps in some way. Thankfully have my boy still. Love in christ Kimberly
I’m horrified to hear what your son had to go through. It’s incredible that they would say a 15-year-old boy is too old to have Type 1 diabetes! Good luck to you. I hope his situation with the insurance gets resolved soon. take care and thanks for sharing your story.
If supplies are a problem, suggest that you contact the major manufacturers (in the US - Lilly, Novo Nordisk). They have programs to assist people who cannot afford insulin. Here is some further information.
Drug companies that sell insulin or diabetes medications usually have patient assistance programs. Such programs are available only through a physician. The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America and its member companies sponsor an interactive website with information about drug assistance programs at www.PPARx.org. Another program is at http://www.togetherrxaccess.com/. Maybe some of these places will have more suggestions for you.
There are also plenty of really good books that you can borrow from your local library: Think Like a Pancreas is one off the top of my head. Diabetes is the kind of disease where the more you know, the better you can manage it. Don’t hesitate to ask questions here!
thanks this site is awesome. Pray my son links in hear to. very soon I hope.
Hi Kelly,
As a Canadian I am interested in the results of your collection of stories about the misdiagnosed. Did you have the opportunity to send these stories to the CDA? Did you receive a response? Joanne
I presented in 2003 at a hefty 275lbs so my GP said Type 2, Metformin and lose weight. I did both and honeymoon lasted until 2008 when I was down to 160lbs and my bgl was not in control. I finally saw an endo and he did some blood work and told me I was LADA.
I’ll join in on this thread, just because I think my misdiagnosis might be one of the oddest. When I was 11 I was lethargic and moody and when I did go out and do something I hurt myself (rode a motorcycle off the road, played football with a group of boys and pulled my shoulder out of its socket, that sort of thing.) So, I was diagnosed as abused! The MD had me consult with a child psychologist. He called the city… my parents were checked out. I kept insisting I wasn’t abused, I didn’t feel good.
When I wasn’t off being a hyper 11 year old, I was hanging out “sunbathing” and drinking orange juice (yeah, that wasn’t a good idea, LOL). I smelled funny, I was pale, I couldn’t do the sports and things I liked to do for more than a few minutes before I’d get hurt…
My mom finally got very angry at all of the accusations and yelled at a children’s advocate and my doctor something to the effect of "her father’s a diabetic, have you checked that?!"
he checked, BG too high to read with his office equipment, and we went straight to the hospital.
When I was 18 I also was lethargic and moody and my school results dropped. So my MD sent my to a psychologist too, because, yeah, what else could it be than some mental issue:/ After a few appointments with this psychologist my mother insisted on some blood tests. She found it quite suspicious that I just kept drinking and drinking and remembered something quite similair happed to her father, before they diagnosed him a type 1.
So the doc draw some blood and said I had to come back for the results in a few weeks. But the day of the appointment I was sick and made a new one. Due to holidays it was more than 1,5 months after the test I finally got the results and was rushed down to the hospital with blood sugars off the scale.
I never want to see that man again!
hazatude … I suppose, this is where the confusion lies , except for the title of the type of diabetes …meds , weight loss since 2003 worked …5 years later and your BG’s were NOT acceptable …I am glad you ended up with an Endo !! and glad you were pro-active with your treatment .
I can identify with your frustration. My first Endo mentioned a test for LADA but never performed one. My levels would swing badly, to 400 and then back down. I experienced frustration because there was no remedy advised since my A1C was acceptable. I have been told by other doctors regarding LADA "There is no such thing.", "LADA, what is that?" from my PCP and my levels are hitting 500+...meanwhile...my appointment with the Endocrinologist was 2013. I questioned how much damage my body would have before I could get my glucose levels- leveled out. God blessed me by allowing my request to be on the cancellation list for the Endo to be moved up in front of 50 others. Now I have care from a Dr. that has listened intently, running a battery of tests and tells me not to worry, "we will get it under control". I am under an angels wing of care and knowledge now and although I still have terrible spikes sometimes, I feel I will be able to control it. How can we make medical professionals more receptive and compassionate to LADA? I am scared for LADA folk that get lack of care or misdiagnosed due to the 'old school ways of thinking'.