Savanna's Story

Savanna's journey with Diabetes began on November 22, 2011 at the age of 5 ½.  Well, I guess in all honesty, it actually began before that, but we had no idea what was happening.

Rewind back to the summer of 2011 - Savanna spent HOURS outside playing with neighbors, running around and riding her bike.   She never complained about being tired, being thirsty, or hungry.  In September, she started kindergarten - a whole new adventure for all of us, but she was excited and so were.  She went to preschool 3 days a week the year before, but kindergarten was a whole other story - she rode the bus, she was there for 5 days in the AM.  A big change for a 5 year old and it started to.   She was tired, hungry, cranky at times when she got off the bus.  We "chalked it up" to the new schedule, 5 days at school, etc.  By the beginning of November, we noticed no change - shouldn't she have adjusted to this new schedule by now?  Why is she coming off the bus still tired, hungry, cranky, lethargic at times??  Around the same time, we noticed some other things, things we now know are signs/symptoms of Type 1 Diabetes (T1D).  In addition to being tired, Savanna was ALWAYS thirsty...and she was ALWAYS going to the bathroom - sometimes she woke up 5 or 6 times a night to go to the bathroom.  Something just wasn't right...

I called our pediatrician and explained to them how Savanna was feeling.  Told them she wasn't herself, she was always thirsty, always hungry -- and the scariest part - she nearly passed out one afternoon when I picked her up from the bus stop.  Knowing what we know now, I can only imagine the low blood sugars she was experiencing to get her to the point of passing out...but, I digress…

On November 22, 2011, we had an 8 am appointment with Savanna's pediatrician -- she ate her normal breakfast of toast with Nutella, followed by a Danimals yogurt drink...how clearly I remember the last meal she ate that day - maybe because it was the last time I never had to count carbs, or because I couldn't believe that some bread with a little bit of Nutella and yogurt could affect my little girl so much.  The nurse had Savanna go to the bathroom - easy enough.  Then she needed to prick Savanna's finger - Savanna put up a little bit of a struggle, but in the end, the nurse got the tiny little drop of blood she needed and left the room.

I just knew...we sat there, waiting for the nurse or Dr. McW to come back into the room and I just knew...a Mother knows these things – even before the doctor says something is wrong, a Mother knows…

And I was right -- Dr. McW came into the room and told us Savanna's blood sugars were HIGH.  She seemed impressed that they were not as high as most children first diagnosed with T1D, but still, they were high.   She told us she had called the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and that we should go home, pack a bag (for several DAYS!) and head over immediately.

The next few hours were a whirlwind – we went home, packed a bag, had to figure out what to do with the dog, C had to call out of work, we called parents…all while trying to comfort Savanna, who was scared and nervous about going to CHOP.  We packed crayons, coloring books, movies, a DVD player, laptop, Puppy, blankets, pillows…it seemed like we were packing to go away on vacation.  But, these items comforted Savanna and our #1 priority was to make sure she was okay…so, with a packed car, we headed to CHOP.

The next 4 days were a blur of finger pricks, crying (mostly Savanna, but I did my fair share as well), blood sugar checks throughout the day and night, learning about what T1D was and how we were going to serve as our child’s pancreas for years to come (more specifics on this on the "What is Type 1 Diabetes? page), what we could do, couldn’t do, shouldn’t do…a blur, but the nurses and doctors at CHOP were AMAZING!  We left there scared and nervous about having the sole responsibility of managing Savanna’s T1D, but we had all the tools we needed and more!  We left the hospital on Friday, November 25^th, 2011 and so our journey with Type 1 Diabetes began…

Here are some pictures of our time at CHOP:

Our brave little girl!  Of course we packed her favorite horse PJs!

We spent Thanksgiving at CHOP - the hospital gave each family a "true" Thanksgiving dinner

Savanna, Daddy, and lots of stuffed animals -- some brought from home, others as gifts from visitors.