A Really Weird Nightmare

Last Thursday morning at 3:20 a.m. our dog Button was acting hyper, and woke me up so I got up, and went to the bathroom. I got back in bed but Kyle was snoring loudly and Button was still jumping on me so I decided to try to get Kyle to roll over and quit snoring in hopes Button would decide she should play with him instead. When I touched Kyle’s shoulder, he was very clammy. I was shaking him hard, but couldn’t get him to respond. I turned on the light and when I said his name his eyes would open a little, but he wasn’t consciously there. His body was very stiff. I ran and got Hydee and we decided to call 911. They told me to get him on his back but he was so stiff we couldn’t move him. While we were waiting for the paramedics, he started foaming at the mouth. It’s a good thing I am able to stay calm in emergencies. If I had the tendency to panic I would gone completely nuts. I've always been grateful to be able to live near Don and Hydee, but never more so than that night.

When the paramedics got here, they immediately checked his blood sugar and it was 26. His sugars had been running high due to his having a stomach bug, so I was shocked it was so low. They started an IV and put a bunch of Glucagon in it. Then we all stood around and watched Kyle wake up into what he described as a “really weird nightmare”. I can’t really imagine what it would be like to have four paramedics, your wife, and mother all standing around your bed watching your every move. A blood sugar that low usually results in cardia arrest. His pacemaker may have gone off, but with him being unconscious, we don’t know. They asked Hydee to make him a peanut butter sandwich and she got some juice. Two of the paramedics stayed until he ate the sandwich and his blood sugar was in the 200 range. They were good to stay until they felt he was going to be okay. They said if we would feel more comfortable we could take him to the hospital, but they weren't sure what else they would do for him there. I felt good about that decision.

While he was eating his sandwich, I looked at his meter and at 12:30 that night, his level was 165. So in 3 hours it totally bottomed out which was very worrisome. The paramedic told me to get another sandwich into him and not let him go back to sleep until he was in the mid 300’s so if it dropped that quickly again we wouldn’t have a repeat. He was so weak Don had to help him out to the chair so we could change the sheets. He was sweating so badly the sheets were soaked. I checked his levels every few hours for a day or two.

The whole thing exhausted him and he slept the majority of the day. I didn’t let him out of my sight and had several conversations with the different member of Kyle's medical team about how to manage his insulin until he gets feeling better.