Sir Young Jonah Goodheart

Hi all. I don't post here much because I feel a bit uncomfortable around all the ladies. But I thought I would quickly peek in to tell about our boy Jonah.

We are learning by observation and by our own poignant experience that most people really have no clue about diabetes. We sure as H E double hockey sticks didn't until Friday, October 13th. That's when I finally decided to take Sir Young Jonah Goodheart to the pediatrician to see why he wasn't feeling so well.

They did some tests while Jonah sat lethargic in the patient room. When the doctor began lingering too long outside, I knew something was worrying her. Then to my alarm she came in with a massive wooden baseball bat. It was about 10 feet long and measured about 5 feet in diameter near the top, sloping sharply downward until the neck where she gripped it was a comfortable inch and a half in diameter. I was amazed she could stuff it so easily through the door, but I guess in her line of work you get lots of practice. She smiled at us both then looking right at me, she smashed me across the ear with the bat. And not just once. She would hit me, wait a few seconds smiling to verify the affect, then come in swinging again.

After a few dozen blows, she told me I needed to take Jonah to the Hospital imediately and that he would be staying there anywhere from 3 days to most of a week. So much for getting back to work that day.

Sir Young Jonah Goodheart, his mom, and I lived in the pediatric intensive care unit for the better part of four days. He was monitored around the clock with all kinds of finger poking, blood sucking, heart monitoring, etc. He had an IV pole that followed him everywhere, even into the bathroom. It took most of his stay before the keytones and CO2 in his blood reached levels normal enough for the doctors to let him come home with us. Even then, we were trained to be his nurses and every morning at 6:00 AM I had to call report into the Doctor so he could monitor Jonah's progress and make daily adjustments to his insulin injections.

That process has slowed now and we no longer call the doctor unless an emergency occurs. We still do have to wake him up in the middle of the night to check his blood sugar. We do that to collect a more clear understanding of his blood sugar patterns --- but also to make sure he doesn't go low in the middle of the night and drift off into a coma without telling anyone good bye.


In case you don't really know anyone with diabetes that's willing to tell you about it, let me pass along some facts. Everyone knows that insulin is a diabetic's medicine. You have to measure it out very precisely and inject it into the fatty tissue around the tummy, the arms, the legs anywhere from 4 to 6 times every day. In addition to insulin, however, most people don't know that every bit of food the diabetic eats is also their medicine. It must be schedule regularly and measured just as precisely as the insulin. The two balance each other out.

The insulin enables the body to utilize glucose that's flowing through the blood. The specific amount of insulin required by the body depends on how much sugar (measured as carbohydrates) has been introduced by the simple act of eating. In the case of Sir Young Jonah Goodheart, the insulin to carb ratio is currently 1 to 8. For every 8 carbohydrates he eats, we get to inject a measured unit of insulin.

If you want to appreciate what that means, go to your kitchen and examine the nutritional content of a few of your pre-packaged food items. Try some of the small items, maybe crackers. How many carbohydates per serving? You can't eat a single cracker without requiring a corresponding measure of insulin.

So, what happens if you don't properly counteract blood sugar levels with the right amount of insulin? In the short term, you get really high blood sugar levels. That doesn't kill you in the short run unless it's a symptom of NO insulin, because in that case, more or less ALL the glucose is getting stuck in you blood.

Your cells stare longingly outward at all the glucose goodies floating by while they are forced to start digesting fat and protein. When that happens, it only takes a little while before your body gets acidic. Pretty soon you pass out, go into a coma, and if no one rescues you with insulin and an extended stay in the ICU, you're dead meat.

With less extreme but extended failure to properly manage blood sugar levels, the body develops all kinds of nasty problems. Even with the blessings of modern medicine, most diabetics still die from diabetes. It just happens later in life than it used to.

About 30% develop renal failure. In other words, their kidneys get worn out trying to filter massive amounts of sugar from the blood. Similar problems include nerve damage to the legs, arms, and eyes leading to loss of vitality and eventually to loss of limbs and eyesight.

The other side of the insulin coin -- too much insulin -- gets you low blood sugar. That CAN kill you very quickly. Jonah has to carry his glucose monitor wherever he goes. At school, it waits for him in the admin office. When a person gets low blood sugar -- the really low kind that diabetics get -- they get confused.

School children can't be trusted to find their way to the office alone because they tend to sit down and forget what they were doing. If they sit down where no one can see them their blood sugar will continue to drop, they'll pass out and, well, you get the idea. A friend always goes along.

If low blood sugar is not rectified with a dose of sugar, and it continues to drop, the diabetic will pass out and death is not far off. To be prepared for sudden drops or hypoglycemia without the availability of edible sugar to change its course, we carry around an emergency shot of glucagon. If a person gets so low they can't take sugar through the mouth, you unpack the glucagon, mix and fill the syringe, then jam it deep into the muscles of the thigh. It works quickly and buys you some time to get the diabetic to the hospital and to additional nourishment.

Oh well, this is getting long. I just wanted you to know a little about this disease, how serious and life threatening it is. And when not life threatening, health threatening.

Jonah is brave beyond compare in my opinion. He has to my knowledge, not eaten a single thing without permission since this started -- except for one small piece of Halloween candy. He's getting used to the routine now. He has never complained although he was sad a few times and asked why he had to have diabetes, wished he didn't.

I wish it was me instead and would without any hesitation trade with him if I could.