Since I can't seem to escape the fact that diabetes stinks, I think I better post it so everyone knows what I have it today more than normal.
Today is the Princess' 2nd day of first grade. I don't want to be THAT kind of mom that is constantly hovering over her child, and I thought we went over everything enough last week with the teacher and the school that I thought I didn't have to go to school today except for lunch.
My stomach got all in knots around 9:15 when I thought she would be getting tested. They were told to call me if her #'s were out of range, but if there were ok, then there was no need to call. By 9:30 I didn't get a call so I thought everything was ok. Well about 10:30ish I got a call that she was 40!!! I know!! I asked what she had to bring her back up. A few teddy grahams. I told her she needed a juice too and to call me again in 15 min after they tested.
I was headed to the school at about 11 so I could get her all set for lunch. I hadn't received a call yet by the time I got there and was panicking a little. I walked into the school and she was still in the office. This was more than 30 min since she had been first tested by the way. She had been down there for so long. They had just tested her again and she was at 118.
One of the ladies at the office told me that the Princess had refused to test at 9:15, then again at 9:30. Finally by 10 she agreed to test herself. What the heck? I am irritated that she would refuse to test. If she would have tested earlier maybe she wouldn't have dropped so low and wouldn't have missed so much school. I have no idea why she would do this, but the teacher thinks that maybe she was embarrassed in front of the other kids. (I am going in tomorrow to teach the class alittle about diabetes.) We decided that she is going to do all her testing at the office, and I will talk with her when she gets home to see what happened.
So back to giving her insulin for lunch. We decided we would let her try school lunch. Last night I printed up the menu and all the carb counts and let her decide what she was going to have. She decided that she wanted a chef's salad, applesauce, a roll and chocolate milk. Not too bad. When I got to the school today the nurse and I gave her the insulin and the nurse left. I hung around to see how this was going to go. When she got in there the school didn't have the same side dishes that they had on the menu. There wasn't applesauce at all. (remember I had already given the insulin, and THE only reason why I was still there is because this is her first week of school. There is no one there to watch her while she eats, I wanted to make sure she can do this on her own.) Since there wasn't applesauce she had to choose something else. They had strawberries, bananas and "trail mix". Let me interrupt to let you know that this "trail mix" was a a mixture of fruit loops, rice crispies and chocolate chips! What kid would choose strawberries or bananas over this? Either way let me do this. The applesauce was 20 carbs. The strawberries were 16. The bananas were 10 and the trail mix was 45!!!! Whatever she was going to choose since there wasn't applesauce, there was going to be a difference in carbs no matter what.
She choose the trail mix.
Do you know what hell we go through to get her blood sugar down after she eats cereal? It's awful.
Anyway, I was not trying to "hover" too much. I want so badly for her to not feel left out that I let her get what she wanted. However, I went home thinking there is no one there to watch these kinds of things happen. Watch her make choices like this because what the school said they were going to have as side dish choice they actually didn't have. Watch her eat her food to see what she actually eats. Watches to make sure she gets more insulin because what was available to her has a much higher carb count than what she got insulin for. Who is supposed to be the watcher? I think for now it is me.
I get to go to school every day for lunch with my 3 year old in tow.
Atleast until I figure this out.
But honestly, why do they think that a handfull of cereal is a side dish?
I am irritated on so many levels.
If my daughter wasn't diabetic I would be able to send her on the bus to 1st grade like every other parent. Let her have her space at school. Let her have whatever side dish she wants. Let her eat the snack before recess. She wouldn't get in trouble on the 2nd day of school because she is refusing to test her blood. I could let her get back on the bus and come home to a mommy that wasn't so tired and stressed.
Stupid diabetes.
10 comments:
Hugs!
Shannon sending HUGE HUGS your way. You may just want to send lunches with her instead of doing school lunch.
I have the kids call me after they eat. I count the carbs of what they choose to eat and then have them enter the carbs into their pump. With all the running around they do at recess, it all works out. Is this an option for you? Then she could choose what she wanted, and eat what she wanted and then report back.
I'm sorry...I have a first grader this year too...and the learning curve was pretty hard the first week. I feel your pain momma. ((HUGS!))
Ride out the storm! The first few days or even weeks of school are stressful for everyone. Give yourself time to figure out the kinks. I realize that means you will be in panic mode much of the time and having to fail a lot with trial and error but ride out the storm.
Based on what she chose for lunch I wouldn't have bolused her at all to be honest. Other than the cereal side dish, and yeah that's really weird, she didn't eat anything that would have affected her blood sugar too much with playing in the sun at recess. But everyone responds differently to food at different times of the day.
If your nerves can handle it try school lunch for a week. If there are too many surprise side dishes then pack a lunch.
I think it's good that you are going in to teach her class. I remember my parents setting up something like that for me. She may still feel uncomfortable taking care of herself in front of everyone. I got my dietician to take out my morning snack because it was so embarrassing for me to sit in the back of the room and eat.
If she is uncomfortable in the classroom testing and eating then work with the office staff or school nurse in giving her a more private place to do those things. Diabetes sucks and it's embarrassing sometimes. I'm not going to lie. But there are ways to keep the spotlight off of her if that's what she prefers.
Give it a week. You'll have a better idea of what to do to help her.
I'll echo that senitmiment: stupid diabetes! Last year, at the beginning of first grade, I realized the lunch situation was not going to work for Jack. I realized that either I had to go to school every day and monitor him at lunch, or someone on the school's staff would have to do that. Not wanting to be "that" mom, and wanting to have some space from me, like every other kid, I went to the principal and made a request to get Jack a dedicated lunch aide. I had to "fight" for the aide, submit a formal request in writing, prove why he needed one and endure a hearing to get his 504 amended. But I did it!
Jack now has an aide, who meets him in the cafeteria, monitors what he eats, escorts him to the health office, makes sure he accurately reports what he eats to the school nurse before she administers his insulin and then monitors him on the playground (because otherwise there's only 1 playground aide for over 100 students - not a good ratio for a kid with T1D). She does not hover. She doesn't make him feel like "that kid with diabetes." She discreetly does her job and ensures his safey.
Jack doesn't mind her presence at all. Not one kid has ever said anything to him about her. She makes sure she helps other kids by opening milk cartons, fetching forks and napkins, answering questions, etc. By helping the other kids, too, she makes it seem as if she's not just there for Jack.
Good luck to you and Princess! I know how hard this is for you both!
I was directed to your blog by a mutual friend, the amazing Diane Callison. My daughter was diagnosed with T1 in April of this year. I remember the sick feeling I had in my stomach all day her first day back at school. Because of those exact things...and I sent her lunch with her, but she still didn't eat it all, but had already dosed herself (I'm in CA, no school nurse for us) with the insulin for the carb count of the entire lunch. It was gut-wrenching.
I had already decided that I was going to homeschool my daughter for sixth grade before her diagnosis and I tried to let her finish out her fifth grade year at the public school. It just didnt' work for us. A newly diagnosed kid, a mom who has a half hour away (Gotta love Amador County) and no nurse to administer insulin.
Hopefully, once you guys get past this week you'll have a better time of it. I look forward to reading more of your blog...
Joe has refused to re-check after a low...I think it is in part due to the fact that the low hasn't quite resolved yet and he is being a "low-difficult".
Meri's idea on the food thing sounds good. We are lucky in that we have a school nurse at Joe's school full time. Hang in there Shannon.
I am heading into do my education of the school personnel tomorrow morning - my private hell starts in a day...
I'll be doing this tomorrow with a 6th grader. I can't imagine with a first grader. I plan to ask the kitchen to save back one serving of everything so she can have her pick just like everyone else. I will see what they say. They really should have to do everything in 158 carb servings. HaHa, wouldn't that be nice. The school lunch part is going to be hard, but I don't think just because you are diabetic you should have to pack your lunch every day.
I seriously wonder is she was already going low and that is why she didn't want to test?
Hold on....I need to get a glass of wine or something....I swear stuff like this just about puts me OVER THE EDGEEEEE!!!!!!!
If there's anything to be thankful for when it comes to dealing with celiac, it's that I just pack it. She doesn't question it. I have control over it....and....
OMGsh WHERE IS MY WINE????
Unfortunately, this is the reality when you have a child with diabetes. Your day is pretty much dictated by what D feels like throwing at you.
When Britt was diagnosed (1st grade) I was soooo grateful that I wasn't working because D was (and still is) a full time job. I was constantly driving over to the school for issues just like this. Britt lived in the front office during the first 2 years. I had to change things and force the school to allow her to test and treat her sugars in the classroom.
This made things go so much smoother. She misses much less class time and can deal with the low feeling immediately with little disruption to the class. So even while she is sipping a juice, she can still be a part of the class. I also didn't want her missing all the verbal instruction given in class because of the amount of time spent sitting at the office.
We also gave up on hot lunch. Even though they will provide it gluten free it was totally unreliable. I would have to send her down to the cafeteria every morning around 10 to find out what they were 'actually' serving that day. Not worth the effort and frustration. Hang in there woman. You can do this!!
side note: I thought it was so strange when Britt went to a diabetes day camp and they bolused for meals AFTER the meal. It went against everything we were taught, but in situations like these it does make sense to only give insulin if the food was actually eaten.
You are such an amazing person. You will figure out what works best for the both of you. You are definetly not alone!!
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