Ella is her father's daughter...

... in many ways. I thought I would give everyone the story, for those who haven't heard it yet. She had been thirsty and wet the bed two nights in a row - very unusual. So I thought I would have Jeremy check her blood sugar after he woke up, but she says, "let's check it now!" So we did, and it was too high for the meter to read. I woke Jeremy up and confirmed that wasn't good, so we took her to the urgent care clinic. Her blood sugar was too high for their meter to read, too, so they sent us to the ER. All this time, Ella is just cruising along, feeling fine. We went to the ER, and their meter reads: "Critically High". Yikes. So they drew blood, and admitted her, and tried to start an IV. Through all this, Ella is not complaining, mind you. Not even when they had to put the IV needle in 9 TIMES. Yes, 9 TIMES, all over her arms and hands, because the high blood sugar and dehydration had made her veins so fragile. She didn't say, "I don't want to," or "that hurts" or "how many times do you have to do this?" She didn't even wince!!!! She just watched them, and talked to all the nurses, and was just generally very cute.
They didn't have very much experience treating 4-year-old type 1 diabetics, so they decided to send us to a specialist - the nearest being Dornbecher's Children's Hospital up in Portland. So they didn't treat her, just sent her up there with us. We got there at about 1:00 at night, and they had to poke her finger, get her admitted, etc. Still chipper and peppy. We got to sleep at about 2:00 a.m., and they woke her up at 7 for more finger pokes and some new shots. Still not complaining. We got to watch cartoons for a couple of days, and she got her own meter, and syringes, etc. She was adamant about being able to check her own blood sugar (which the doctors and nurses were amazed at), and would have done everything else on her own if they would have let her. She said she was having a fabulous time, but wanted to go home, because on the way home, we were going to stop at the Newport Aquarium. We got a bunch of diabetes training, which went much faster due to previous experience, and they were saying how unusual it is to catch the diagnosis this early, before the symptoms start to really crash the body. So, we were glad.
They said that they usually don't talk about the patients, but all the doctors were telling the fellows and interns that they had to take turns on checking this patient because she was so cute and VERY grown up, they wanted everyone to meet her. She knows that she has to check her blood sugar 5 times a day... forever. And that this isn't going to go away. We give her shots twice a day, and she has been really good about eating what she has to, and not eating what she can't. Still NO COMPLAINTS!! How is that possible? I would be whining quite a bit about my rotten luck, but not Ella, or I guess Jeremy either, when his time came.
The only trouble she had was remembering the word - "Mom, I'm... detergent. Magnetic. Mom, what am I?" "Diabetic." So, so far, we're doing good, and we are having a family home evening tonight where Ella gets to show off all her new stuff, and educate the kids. Thank you for all your phone calls and prayers, it went so unbelievably well. Only with Heavenly Father's blessings would this have been so trauma-free. On the way home she said it was the best trip ever. Even the shots. What a kid. Definitely her father's daughter.