Parents Take Extra Precautions With Kids At Higher Risk

Parents of children with compromised immune systems or who are more susceptible to illness should act quickly when symptoms present themselves. Something very important to Patrick and Katie Mannle.

Meredith, their Type 1 diabetic daughter, was diagnosed with the flu this week at Cookeville Pediatric Associates.

“Illnesses tend to make her blood sugars run higher anyway. So whenever she gets sick and those numbers go up we’re always concerned about DKA happening, so it’s very important for us to get her in to see some quickly,” Katie Mannle said.

Mannle said diabetic ketoacidosis is a condition that diabetics with uncontrolled blood sugar can develop, resulting in a myriad of health problems, including coma or death.

“That’s the thing we worry about the most, so anytime like Katie said, with her blood sugar, we have to check her keytones every time she uses the restroom to make sure that those aren’t getting out of control.”

Patrick Mannle said the next step would be hospitalizing Meredith to get the keytones back under control. Katie said when Meredith started experiencing cold and flu-like symptoms she knew it was time to make the call.

“I called not to make an appointment,’ Mannle said. “I called and spoke to a nurse first thing and told them what was happening with Meredith. And asked if it would be better for us to try and bring her in or if we needed to just keep her quarantined at home and continue to self-treat.”

Due to Meredith’s symptoms, the Mannle’s were advised to take Meredith to be seen, but because of her symptoms and her more-susceptible immune system, for Meredith and other patients presenting flu-like symptoms, Cookeville Pediatrics, in attempt to avoid exposure to children receiving routine care or checkups, advised the Mannle’s they were holding drive-up appointments at the back of the building, to limit exposure for both well children and those with compromised immune systems.