Join Jeslyn's Fight Against DKA
Donation protected
My name is Amy Ford. I am making this GoFundMe for my family and baby girl. She's been a happy, healthy, vibrant, sunshine-in-the-room baby girl.
The scary story starts on Monday, November 25th. Jeslyn went to school that morning. Around 10:30 am, the school nurse called stating that Jes had been there a few times, which is really out of character for her. I went and picked Jes up. She said her tummy and head hurt. We went and got some soups and crackers and headed home to snuggle in.
Tuesday wasn't much of a change. Jes wasn't feeling great and was very sleepy.
Wednesday is when everything started to change. After dinner, she took a shower and said she was going to bed. Around 9 pm, Jes vomited and had extremely labored breathing, stating that her chest hurt. Megan (my wife) and I decided that it was time to take her in. We got to the first emergency visit. They tested her for COVID, RSV, and influenza. They then did an X-ray. When that came back with no pneumonia, they basically said that it's most likely a viral infection and to let her rest for the next 48 hours and she would be fine. They stated, though, that she potentially could be faking all of this but she does look like she's starting to starve herself. We got back home around 1:30 am.
Thursday, Jes stayed in bed with the family checking on her throughout the day. She was responsive with us but not really moving or wanting food. After dinner, I went upstairs to check on her. She was unresponsive at that point. Her mouth was very dry and looked like there was dry blood on her lips and teeth. Megan carried her downstairs and I called 911. This is when everything became extremely scary.
- In the ambulance, the paramedic asked if Jes was a type 1 diabetic. My natural response was no. She was never tested for it and it was never a thought. The paramedic did take her blood sugar just in case and it was 530. They decided that they needed to run full lights and sirens at this point. Thankfully they did. About halfway to the hospital, Jes became unresponsive.
- When we got to the second emergency room, there was a full team waiting for her. About 16 people were waiting to help Jes. In a matter of what felt like minutes (I'm sure it was longer), they had done X-rays, labs, and made the scary realization that it was in Jeslyn's best interest to have her intubated to protect her airway. She was sedated so they were able to do everything safely and with minimal pain to Jes. She was whisked up to the pediatric ICU.
On Friday, there wasn't a ton of changes to what was going on with Jes. They did take the breathing tube out. I was told that we were on her time for her to come out of the sedation.
Saturday morning before 8 am, I got the call that Jeslyn's condition hadn't gotten any better and had honestly gotten a bit worse. They had made the decision that the best place for Jes to be was at The Children's Hospital in Minneapolis. Megan and I took a quick shower and got packed. We had to make plans for our house. As we were packing, I got a call from the hospital. It was the nurse calling to let me know the form of transportation Jes took, her room number, and phone number to the room. Jeslyn was life-flighted down. (She now can say she's been in a helicopter.)
Megan and I got to Minneapolis just before 1 pm.
- The doctor stated that Jes was in a very serious situation. He told us that he wanted to reintubate and sedate her to make her comfortable with the procedures to come.
- He stated that Jes was in DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis) and they weren't sure if there was any kind of brain damage as Jes was only moaning at this point again.
- They wanted to do an MRI of her brain. Needed to put in a central line for her to start dialysis. Needed a larger PICC/second central line for medication and fluids. An arterial line for blood draws so she's not being poked anymore. An EEG to see if she's having any seizures or strokes.
- This was all done yesterday, Saturday, November 30th. Her tiny body was so puffy and bruised that she didn't look like herself.
December 1st: Today she has come off of the ventilator but is still very unresponsive to questions but does look much better.
We have been told that this will last a minimum of two weeks. Both Megan and I will be taking FMLA for this. I don't have any PTO to use for this as I have to use mine yearly or I lose it. Megan has a little PTO left to use. I'm not sure that either of us have short-term disability. We will be making calls tomorrow.
We are staying with my father-in-law right now and I'm very thankful for that. We are able to get food at the hospital so I'm not super concerned about our stay down here. My concern is that we will be out of work for a while and bills never stop. Christmas is right around the corner and I'm not even sure what that will look like.
Organizer
Amy Ford
Organizer
Duluth, MN