Question from Atlanta, Georgia, USA:

I have a five year old son who has experienced several of the noted symptoms of DKA. Over the last two years he is always having headaches, recently over the last three weeks he has started vomiting from time to time. He has had two separate occasions where his foot is tingling and he sometimes at least twice a week falls asleep at around 5:00 and sleeps through the night. He lost 3-4 pounds in two weeks and the doctor has accredited it to his allergies. However, his paternal grandfather is a diabetic (three shots a day) and I have hypoglycemia.

I am concerned this is the beginning stages of DKA and asked the doctor to test him. They have said that they will do a urine test. Does this sound like it could be attributed to DKA? Would a urine test confirm the existence of DKA or should a blood test be done instead?