Tilly shares her son Archer's Diagnosis Story

At 16 months old we began to notice a change in our little boy. Our once healthy and thriving baby was coming down with a string of sicknesses- un-explained viruses, hand foot and mouth, roseola. We were frequently visiting our GP.

Archer became desperately thirsty and was drinking up to 2 litres of water a day. He was also starving and would stand at the fridge and beg us for food. He used to cry for 'peeeeessse' or cheese as we knew it. He's just going through a growth spurt, he's teething, he's a 1-year-old. All things that were telling ourselves during this tiring time. We look back now and see all the warning signs and although we had no idea at the time, we will live with this guilt our entire lives. Archer lost a lot of weight and we put it down to 'leaning out'. The nappies were ridiculous! In the morning we would get up to a pile of about 6 nappies on the change table. All sopping. He was completely wet through every morning. I began to research and decided that I might put a sanitary pad inside his nappy overnight.

I'm not going to lie, we did google. A lot. We frequently landed on Type 1 Diabetes as a possibility when typing in symptoms but quickly dismissed it. Don't be ridiculous! Our baby could not possibly have T1.  

In the week prior to diagnosis Archer was getting sicker and sicker. One day whilst shopping he suddenly vomited, everywhere, it just kept coming and coming. I will never forget it. He was so tired. He wasn't sleeping and calling out for water all night long. On the 26th October I called my doctor first thing. I could only get an appointment at 2pm in the afternoon. At 11am our exhausted 18-month-old lay down on the couch and could not get up. He was lifeless. I believe he was telling us 'Enough, I can't do this anymore'. I called my doctor back and quickly headed to the clinic. Our doctor wasn't sure what was going on. We were sent for urgent blood tests. I had to sit on Archer to hold him still which was incredibly distressing. I called my husband in tears saying I am so glad that I will never have to do that again. My husband jumped in the car and headed home.

At around 3pm I got a call from our doctor. Her voice sounded completely different; she had such urgency in her words. 'Go to emergency, now!'. We went straight into emergency and Archer's health began to decline further. Our baby lay on the hospital bed, completely still. Our local hospital checked his BGL with a finger prick, it read HI. They checked ketones- 7.7. Strangely, they were all completely shocked when they recorded these results. We had a string of doctors all doing the same tests, all looking puzzled. Suddenly there were loads of doctors crowding around, trying to do blood gasses on Archers tiny fingers. I recall that there was lots of blood- on Archer, on me, our clothes. I went weak at the knees from all the blood and had to go out and have a drink. After trying for over an hour, we were told that Archer's condition was so serious, that they in fact did not have the facilities to treat him. We were rushed to Monsh Childrens hospital and straight into ICU.

In ICU I didn't recognise Archer. He lay perfectly still. He was so thin. He held his teddy so tightly to his head, as if he had a terrible headache. It was here that an endocrinologist finally came to us and spoke those unforgettable words- 'Archer has Type 1 Diabetes'. He was in DKA. The first BGL that we heard was 37.7 and that was after they began with insulin. By this stage it was late at night and I was presented with the now familiar blue fold out 'bed' and my husband was very reluctantly sent home. I sat sleepless all night, watching the constant stream of doctors and nurses, not sure if I was having a nightmare. When my husband arrived in the morning and I fell into his arms, the weight of diagnosis and reality had finally set in. I cried. I cried and sobbed for our poor baby boy.

Over the next few days our baby came back to us. As his levels came down and the ketones disappeared, he began to say new words. He began to smile, he started to play again, and he started to fight the finger pricks which was frankly a relief- he had some spirit back.

Archer's diagnosis was the hardest time of our lives. On that day, a part of our hearts were broken and will never heal. We will forever live with the guilt of not getting an earlier diagnosis, even though we know it was not our fault. I am pleased to say that 6 years on, Archer is a happy and healthy boy who is thriving in everything he does.

Type1 Diabetes is never easy, but we are so thankful to have our beautiful boy here with us today.