Accepting And “Welcoming” A Diabetes Related Complication.

11 December, 2008 · Filed under By Kate, Diabetes Complications, Diabetes me, Diabolic, From Parent to Parent, Insulin Pumps, Peripheral Neuropathy, WDTID News · Tagged 5 yearly foot check, acupuncture, burning feet at night, endocrinologists, fear of complications, gut feelings, hot, massage to improve circulation, paediatric podiatry, Peripheral Neuropathy, pins and needles, podiatrist specialising in diabetes complications, second opinion

I haven’t been dealing very well with Lance’s diagnosis of peripheral neuropathy.

I have not been able to write, nor look at my blog since Lanc’e’s birthday on the 23 November. (He loved his Lego truck btw, I was the coolest Mum in the World that day.)

 

I am really numb.

I had to write tonight, because I am getting NO support from Lance’s medical team.

Once again, I find myself alone.

Lance mentioned some symptoms to me in late October that made m ears prick up. After a consult with his GP, I had a referral in my hand  for a podiatrist, specialising in Diabetes complications.

She diagnosed Peripheral Neuropathy after the first examination she performed.

Even though I was almost positive that he may have it, I had been brainwashed over the years by specialists, diabetes educators and other people with diabetes  that PN would NEVER happen to a child.

 The podiatrist wrote to Lance’s endocrinologist, who was on leave. (again.) I received a phone call from his colleague, who wanted to discuss with me the findings of the examination.

“We just don’t see it. We don’t. Kids Lance’s age and PN just don’t go together.”

I mentioned the symptoms that Lance was experiencing.

“Oh listen, If I tested for peripheral neuropathy everytime a child mentioned leg pain, I’d be showered with gold by the Podiatry Association.”

Right.

Nevermind that EVERY NIGHT, I sit and scrub Lance’s feet with a loofah while he showers, in an attempt to stimulate circulation.

I take him for a walk down our street on the footpath, and back  up again.

I massage his feet and legs with vigour for at least 15 minutes a night.

Why do I do this?

Not because I was told that Lance has PN.

Not because I am trying some revolutionary new concept to relieve the symptoms.

I HAVE to do it, because to watch my child in so much distress and racked with foreign sensations of burning,hot, aching feet leaves me paralysed with fear for his future.

At around midnight, or on a really bad night, Lance will eventually drop off to sleep at 1am, usually with his feet anywhere but where they should be.

I massage for up to 90 minutes. The second I stop, he begins to thrash about in the bedsheets. We pace together up the hallway. We scrunch our toes up together-we play foot wars-where we sit opposite each other and place our feet together and push..it’s just all about his feet.

One night, in desperation, I called the after-hours endo.

(I can barely force myself to write this sentence.)

“Hmm, a dose of Panadol should settle those feelings down. Give that a shot.”

I made another appointment for Lance with our GP. He was devastated by the diagnosis. He also received a letter from the podiatrist. He was shocked and saddened by her findings, but assured me that we would receive his full support to help find something to relieve Lance’s noctural misery.

I was somewhat comforted by his words, but I was a woman on a mission.

“Dr Congo, I want another opinion. I am getting no support from his team, and anyone that should be able to provide words of support ends up scoffing at the very thought that I could suggest PN is responsible for Lance’s “condition.”

He said, “Oh Kate, no, you don’t need…”

“Yes, yes we do. We need another opinion so that his endo and educators will take this diagnosis seriously, and offer some support and advice treatment more appropriate  than PANADOL to treat this discomfort.”

He nodded his head,  clicked a few buttons on his computer, and scrolled down a long list of names.

“There is a podiatrist that specialises in the  treatment and diagnosis of PN. The only problem is that he’s about 90 minutes away.”

“Great. We’ll take it. Can you please write a referral for Lance?”

He knew not to talk me out of it. He turned and faced his computer and began to punch out the words with a finger from each hand.

I was able to get an appointment four days later.

This podiatrist is such a feet expert, I wouldn’t be surprised in the least if he doesn’t have a kinky foot fetish.

He conducted the prick test, and again, the same devastating results were apparent to him.

“Do you get weak or tired legs during the day, Lance?”

“Sometimes, but it’s mainly just the pins-and-needles and the heat that make me anxious.”

A tear rolled down my face as I heard my son describe this condition as making him feel “anxious.”

He is EIGHT years old. He shouldn’t even know what the word means.

I shifted to a chair beside the examination recliner where Lance sat. I  slipped my hand into Lance’s, and felt that familiar, knowing squeeze. My own son knows that he’s in trouble, yet, because of the intensity of our relationship, he can recognise when I am distressed. I looked up and his eyes twinkled as he gave me a sympathetic smile.

Not a sympathetic smile aimed at the fact that he was having tests conducted by a concerned looking specialist, nor the fact that he was having another foot examination, but a sympathetic smile for me. He knows that I haven’t been dealing well with the diagnosis.

Anyway, the podiatrist sent Lance out to the receptionist and asked her to get out his son’s XBox for him to play whilst he delivered the verdict.

“Okay, Lance does have peripheral neuropathy. There’s no doubt about that. He has significant nerve damage in his left foot, more so than his right. I will be contacting his doctors’ and requesting that he commence oral medication, and that you begin using the topical capsicum cream immediately. I also want him to begin acupuncture on a regular basis. This is going to take a huge commitment from you to teach him how to take care of his feet. Everyday from now on is imperative to maintain tight blood sugar levels, and to get those clogged up areas in his feet replenished with healthy, nourishing blood”.

I nodded, unable to speak, even though I had heard it all before.

This made it REAL. The doctor’s would have no choice but to take notice now.

Lance was in ignorant bliss with the receptionist: he was in the middle of a Star Wars game. The podiatrist spoke about how he believed a Western medicine approach with a little natural therapy intergrated would provide Lance with significant relief.

Call Number 2 to the Endocrinologist. Still on leave.

I had to re-tell the entire story to the endocrine registrar.

“Hmm, right. Okay. We’ll we can start on that medication, yes.”

“Oh, how heavy is Lance?”

“He’s about 32 kilograms.”(67 pounds.)

“Umm..how much did you say? 32?”

“That’s correct.”

“How old is Lance?”

“He has just turned eight years old.”

“Oh.”

“I think the best thing to do, is to call in to your pharmacist on the way home, and grab a tube of DeepHeat. That will provide amazing relief.”

My face turned as red as Rudolph’s nose.

“Yeah. I have used Deep Heat on an old netball injury. It did  JACK.”

I began to sob.

“JUST BECAUSE HE DOESN’T FIT THE  MOULD OF THE TYPICAL DIABETIC WITH PERIPHERAL NEUROPATHY DOESN’T MEAN HE DOESN’T HAVE IT!!” I hissed.

“I just think..that we leave it for a little while, and rule out whether it may be growing pains.”

(Ever seen Terms Of Endearment? Where Shirley McLaine goes absolutely nutso at the duty nurse because she won’t  give her dying daughter pain relief?? I transgressed into Shirley momentarily.)

“YOU! YOU LIVE OUT OF A MEDICAL TEXTBOOK! GET MY SON THE MEDICATION HE HAS BEEN TOLD TO TAKE!!! THE PODIATRIST CAN’T WRITE A SCRIPT FOR IT, SO I HAVE TO SIT AND GROVEL TO YOU FOR ONE. I HAVE LIVED EVERY SECOND OF THE PAST SIX YEARS WITH LANCE, AND I HAVE SEEN HIS BLOOD SUGARS SWING FROM 1.9mmol/L to 32.9mmol/L AND BACK AGAIN TWICE IN A DAY. NOT ONCE OR TWICE, BUT HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS OF TIMES.  WHAT I HAVE BEEN FEARING HAS HAPPENED BEFORE MY EYES, AND I CAN’T BELIEVE THAT YOU ARE TELLING ME TO BUY DEEP HEAT?” The phone slipped through my fingers, and I kicked it so that it slammed into the wall. (I’m not proud of that behaviour. I guess having your diabetes team doubt the diagnosis of a complication plus night after night of early morning massage has the ability to send one slightly off the rails.)

Anyway, we are having regular acupuncture sessions, as well as using a topical cream which is helping more than it isn’t. We have embarked on an exercise program aimed at getting plenty of circulation to the feet, and lower leg area.

Besides having people compare Lance’s condition to feelings  they may have had that turned out to be “absolutely nothing”, I have been working hard at trying to accept that I now have to deal with IDDM, Coeliac Disease and now PN.

After much research, I know that PN can be halted, and even reversed. It’s going to take a lot of extra work, but if  I can save my son from going through any more trauma or pain in his life, then I’d turn myself inside out to do it.

I was always aware of peripheral neuropathy. I guess I feared it because I knew just how much Lance had hideous blood sugar control as a baby and a toddler. It wasn’t until we switched from Protophane to Levemir two years ago that I realised  just how terrible his  control had been.

So, I guess I am asking you to do the same.

 If you are a parent of a child with diabetes, and they have been diagnosed for at least five years, HAVE their feet checked by a doppler test (like an ultrasound.) Never underestimate Diabetes. Never put all your hopes in what the doctor’s tell you. Follow your gut feeling;  and, if you ARE worried, don’t take “Don’t Worry” for an answer. This isn’t meant to induce fear or more concern, but if I had listened to the “experts”, I would still be believing that Lance had a stupendously elongated case of growing pains. When your life is shared with type 1 Diabetes, a good mantra to live by is, “Be alert and stay aware.” (I was going to write “and stay on your toes”, but it didn’t seem appropriate for this post.)

 You are responsible for your child, and if you request an investigation, you are doing what a good parent does-and follows through with something that could inevitably affect your child for the rest of their lives.

I have contacted JDRF Australia, to do a story about Lance’s diagnosis. I don’t want to scare people, but I think it’s high time that diabetes specialists stop with the “cure in 10 years” and “chance of complications are very rare at his age” chitchat and provide some preventative techniques and up-to-date education for parents.

No one likes hearing the truth about what  effects Diabetes can have on the rest of the body. Strangely enough, when I sat Lance down after his birthday, and explained why he had hot and burning feet amd pins and needles regularly, he replied, “Hmm. I knew it had something to do with Diabetes. I guess I’m really lucky I have my pump then.”

Diabetes cannot and should not be sugarcoated any longer.