And we are off

Grace seemed to pick up on the nervous energy that Mom and Dad both had. She slept about an hour and then woke up. She then played until about 1:30 AM. Grace woke up this morning to say goodbye to Rita and see her off to school. We keep telling them that they will not see each other for a few days. I guess it sunk in. For the most part, the two girls are quite close and play well together. Here is a photo of them at Christmas sharing Grace's new toy.

We are all set to go today. We got the call from the hospital that Grace is not scheduled to 'check-in' until 3:00 PM. She will get processed through admissions and then brought up to her room. We will then have training classes this afternoon to learn how to take her blood glucose levels and to check for ketones in the urine. We thought we would actually do more today.

This schedule may work out well. Grace has such trouble when they need to draw blood or insert an IV. We have all day to pump her full of fluids and hope that the IV insertion will go well this afternoon. It is so difficult to stand by and watch the doctors or nurses try to find a good vein for a blood draw or IV. Grace is this tiny little child with amazing strength. She has astounded several medical teams that she can buck off several adults trying to hold her down for this process! When she had pneumonia last month, it took 5 doctors and nurses to hold her down to try to get a blood draw. Grace still weighs under 30 pounds but when she is motivated, she has the strenght of a grown man!

I mentioned the skirt that plays the Chicken Dance. There is a picture of Grace with her skirt. Shew is wearing it as a cape rather than a skirt! If anyone is interested in more information on the musical skirts, the company is Acting Out and their website is http://www.actingoutdressup.com/ .

We have everything ready to go. It feels like we are packing for a vacation. We have clothes for Tom and Gracie. We have entertainment for both! And then we have all of the things we need to bring for the diet - food scales, liquid sacchain, non-carb flavor extracts, non-carb toothpaste, urine sticks, blood glucose monitoring and supplies, keto-koolaid stuff (the kool-aid packets that you would normally add sugar to and a gallon jug), special cups to encourage her to drink. Tom jokingly asked me how mnay suitcases I was planning to bring. I am only planning to bring one suitcase! It does seem like a lot though!

The diet starts tonight after dinner. Grace will have a 'normal' dinner and then after that she is only allowed to have keto fluids for the rest of the night. Keto fluids and non-caffeine, no carb beverages. She will start having blood draws around the clock - 5 times a day. She will be weighted at admission and then every morning from that point on. The goal is to maintain her body weight and not lose weight.

Hoping for the best....

Marie, Tom, Rita and Grace