We've had a LIFE CHANGING weekend!

Our little Bradon has been diagnosed
with having Type 1 Diabetes!

Saturday Bradon had a ball game in Orem. At the game David and I both noticed that he wasn't acting like his normal self. He was distant. He didn't seem to say much to any of the other players, he acted tired, and David and I both chalked it up to him struggling with confidence or self esteem or something. After the game we went to the BYU Creamery for dinner and then to the BYU mens volleyball game. Thinking back on it now I realize that he went to the bathroom an awful lot. At the volleyball game Bradon could hardly keep his eyes open. He kept telling us how tired he was. I thought he must be coming down with something. After the game we drove home and told all the kids to go to bed. As Bradon was dragging himself to bed I asked him why he was so dang tired. It was then that he told me, "Because I wake up every hour all night long to go pee!" I was shocked! That's not normal! I sent him to bed and headed straight for the computer! I Googled, frequent urination in children. And #1 on the list of possible problems it could be was DIABETES. I read all the symptoms and then talked to David about it. We decided to stay up to listen for him, in fact David decided to sleep on the couch right outside of Bradon's room so that he could count just how many times Bradon woke up to pee. Between 10pm and 2am he woke up 5 times. And each and every time he didn't just pee, he peed A LOT! That next morning being Sunday we got ready for church and did our Sunday thing. In Sacrament meeting I sat there with my iphone searching and reading everything I could about diabetes. By the end of church I was pretty convinced that Bradon could very well be diabetic but then there was always that slight chance it was something else. After church we went to my Uncle Jay's house for dinner. Jay is diabetic and I knew that he had a tester thing. When we got there I asked him if we could test Bradon. Since we were eating dinner we decided to wait until after dinner to test him. A few hours after eating dinner when everyone had gone home we decided to test him. Jay got out his little tester thing and we called Bradon up from the basement from playing. We tested his blood and the tester thing read, "HI". Jay looked at me and said, "I don't know what that means. I've never seen it do that before. Let's test it again just in case it's something weird with the machine." We tested again and again it said, "HI". Jay went into the other room to look it up on the computer. By this time Bradon had gone back downstairs to continue playing. Jay came back in the room and with a very concerned look on his face he said, "I looked it up on the computer and it says a HI reading means it's over 600!" He then told us that the highest reading he had ever seen was into he 400's. Fear and panic started to set in and David and I just looked at each other with looks of disbelief mixed with fear. Jay calmly said, "Let's just give my neighbor a call. He's a doctor and he'll know what to do." He called his neighbor and I could over hear most of the conversation but what I remember the most is, "Have them get him into the car and drive him straight to Primary Children's Hospital tonight! Don't mess with a hospital close by, go straight to Primary Children's!" My heart sunk and I couldn't help but to cry. I asked David if we should give him a blessing and he said yes. We called Bradon up from the basement once again and told the kids to hurry and get their things together because we were leaving. All the kids ran upstairs. We told Bradon what the doctor next door had told us and that we were going to give him a priesthood blessing before going to the hospital. It was VERY obvious that every adult in the room was upset and concerned about this news and the children knew it! You could have heard a pin drop during the blessing and anyone that knows our Talan knows that this was a miracle in itself! We quickly headed to the car, drove home to drop off the kids giving instructions the whole way, and then headed to Salt Lake City. Bradon held his head down trying to hold back his tears the entire ride there. He was scared of the unknown and the situation all together. And to tell you the truth, David and I were too! We walked into the ER, told them the situation. They pricked his finger and took quite a bit of his blood to test for several things all at once. Not too long later a doctor came in and said, "Bradon has Type 1 Diabetes. For some unknown reason his autoimmune system decided to attack his pancreas and now his pancreas no longer is working." They informed us that we would be checked into the hospital and be educated and trained over the next few days on how to take care of Bradon.

And then we did just that!
Bradon was a little freaked out about having to get shots but he was brave about it and has done a fantastic job! He loved the special attention he received by all the hospital staff and he LOVED the room service! He could just pick up the phone and order whatever he wanted to eat and they would bring it to him. They would answer, "What can I get for Bradon?" I think Bradon ordered bacon with every meal! No joke! One time he failed to order bacon for dinner so after he was finished eating he picked up the phone and ordered 4 strips of bacon and a diet Dr. Pepper. A few minutes later a nurse walked in with his tray and said, "Bacon? Really?" He gave her a big huge grin and said, "YES, BACON!"

We had class after class giving us a crash course about everything we might need to know about diabetes. We all gave each other shots and Bradon learned to give himself shots after practicing on his dad first! We came home last night after a 2 night luxurious hospital stay (NOT), feeling rested (NOT), and totally comfortable with our new responsibilities (NOT)! We have a boat load of new medical supplies and our lives will never again be how we once knew it!

Bradon has a terrific attitude about his NEW life that I imagine will wear off after a few weeks when reality sets in! We've decided to jump into life again with 2 feet and are heading to St. George for a baseball tournament Bradon will be playing in this weekend. Wish us luck with our new endevors because heavens know we'll need it!