A Quick Update

Rosie is in the sixth grade now, and so far things have gone well with school this year.   Her teachers continue to let her test and treat in the classroom as needed, and she only goes to the clinic if a site comes out (she needs to call a parent for that) or she needs medicine for a headache (usually from being high and coming down quickly).

We stopped using the Enlite in late Spring.  The constant alarms and conflicting advice we got from the "help" line were just too frustrating.  Rosie was in tears several times about it.  We decided that it just wasn't worth it for us, so we've gone without a CGM for a couple of months now.  We're hoping to change back to a Dexcom system this Fall, if our insurance will allow it.

Otherwise, not much new in Rosie's d-world.  We're finding that the older she gets, the more diabetes is taking a back seat to her other activities-- and that's exactly how we want it.
 

5th grade: So far, so good!

Rosie has been back in school for nine days now.  I have only received one call from the Clinic Aide, and that was about some missing paperwork that the endo's office hasn't faxed yet. I think it's a record-- usually by this time I've been in to "chat" with the Clinic Aide about some kind of problem at least once!

Rosie has a plastic shoe box with supplies in her homeroom.  She tests in the classroom as needed.  When she changes classrooms for various subjects, she carries glucose with her in her pump belt, and generally can rely on her Dexcom to see if she's going low.  If needed, she can leave the other classrooms and go to the clinic to test.  

She's run a little on the low side nearly every day, which tends to happen at the start of every school year with the changes in routine.  She's been able to treat/test herself and has done really well.  I'm so proud of her!
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Back to School Blues

My kids start back to school on Tuesday.  I know it's cliche, but where did the summer go?  Ugh.

This summer has been good in terms of diabetes-- Rosie's A1C is the lowest it's been in two years.   Rosie has taken charge of counting carbs and doing her own bolus at lunch (with supervision).  She hasn't had any sites ripped out or any pump issues for quite a while now.

School.  ::sigh::  We love the Catholic school that our kids attend, and the only issues we've ever had there involve extra care-- both with Rosie's diabetes and her brother's learning disability.  Both conditions require extra services (read: paperwork and meetings) that the school is required by law to provide, but getting them to provide those services isn't always easy.  My mama bear side tends to come out, and the clinic aide tends to look like a deer in headlights if I bump into her when she wasn't expecting to see me.  Oh well!

I feel like I'm gearing up to do battle again.   I know that going back to the school routine will throw her numbers off for a week or two- it always does.  I also know that every year we have issues with the clinic aide, and every year I can count on multiple phone calls before things are straightened out.  The first month of school is, basically, exhausting for all of us.

So, yeah...the thought of summer ending and sending Rosie back to school makes me kind of sad. Anyone else wishing for a few more weeks of summer?

 

4th Grade

After four years of battling the incompetent school Clinic Aide, I finally feel like I "won" this year.   

I met with the Principal a few days before school started and we talked about my request to have Rosie removed from the Clinic Aide's care as much as possible.   I went to the meeting armed with my ADA paperwork, a lengthy list of complaints about the Clinic Aide, a sample 504, etc.    

It turned out that I didn't even crack open my folder- the principal could not have been nicer.  She was happy to let Rosie test in the classroom (Clinic Aide was always opposed to this), let Rosie treat her lows in the classroom, and even have a teacher in the cafeteria double-check Rosie's carb counting after lunch, rather than making Rosie go back upstairs and wait for Clinic Aide (while missing recess) to do it as she has in the past.   My only complaint was that we didn't do this sooner.... this was a much different attitude from the principal than the last time I met with her!

Basically, the only time Rosie is going to the clinic now is when she needs Ibuprofen or when she needs to call me about something with her pump.   It is SOOOOOO much better!   There have been a few minor bumps, such as Rosie forgetting to bolus a high one day, but for the most part, this system has been working out really well. 

 

Summer Break

My kids are officially on summer break.  The end of the school year means so many things for the kids- no more early-early mornings, a more relaxed schedule, no homework, more fun.  And most significantly for me: no more dealing with the school's Clinic Aide and praying that she doesn't mess up Rosie's stuff each day.  

The kids will be at a babysitter part-time this summer, and she's great with the d-related stuff.  I've explained things once or twice, she's understood, and we've moved right along.  She calls me any time there's a question and she makes great judgement calls as to how to handle day-to-day stuff.   Ahhhh.... such a relief to know Rosie will be there instead of under the "care" of the Clinic Aide.

I've worked really hard to restrain myself this school year in dealing with the CA.  We had one confrontation at the beginning of the school year, and a meeting to follow-up.  Since then, I've done my best to let little things slide and to ignore her obvious incompetence unless it was something that would directly impact Rosie's health.  Rosie is old enough now (age 9) that she can handle a lot of things on her own. We took care of the necessities and that was about it.

A week before school was out, though, I had had it.  Rosie came off the bus upset and complaining about the CA being "mean again" and listed several things that had happened that week.  I wrote a lengthy email to the school district nurse supervisor and to the principal detailing the most recent problems.  I respectfully requested that Rosie should be removed from the care of this woman for the next school year and I offered some ideas of ways we could make that happen.  Since we're in a private school, we don't have a 504, because I was initially told by the CA that they don't use them... but I think it's time that we change that.  (I'm wiser now to the way the law works in this area!)   

The principal and nurse both responded that they'd like to meet with me and address my concerns after school was out.... perfectly reasonable since the last week of school is busy for everyone.   I anticipate a call this week, and if the principal hasn't called within a few days I'll call her.  

To be continued...

   

Stormy Day

Cloudy this morning.  5:30am check of 260.  Breakfast check at 7:40am: 400, but negative for ketones.  Bolused, fed, bolused the carbs.   I downloaded her pump and Dexcom and emailed the info to her endo, since she's been having a lot of highs lately.  Rosie said she felt fine, so off to school she went.

Thunder.  9am call from school: blood sugar is over 600.   I head to school to change her site and set a temp basal.  I also sneak in some ibuprofin to ward off the headache that's sure to hit Rosie as she comes down... ibuprofin is still an issue of contention with the school.  Wish I'd taken some myself as I deal with the clinic aide.

Lightening.  11:40am phone call: it's lunch time and she's still reading over 600.  This is going on three hours now, and we're getting really worried.  Daddy is at home, so he's dispatched to go pick her up.  I'm half an hour away at work... not really getting anything done, but there, just the same.  I pace my office and try to be a psychic long-distance pancreas.   I can't for the life of me figure out why she's so high.

Lull in the storm.   12:55pm.  I can't stand it... I'm not getting anything done at work for worry over Rosie.  I call home.  She's down to 450.   We joke that it's a bad day when we're actually celebrating a 450.

2:45pm.  I'm home.  I was useless at work.  It seems that Daddy and Rosie have found a magic formula that works to bring her blood sugar down: lunch from McDonald's and playing at home.  Not my first choice of ways to deal with it, but, whatever... she's ok.   Rosie is playing around the house, laughing about the McDonald's cure for her crazy high.  She's down around 189.   I'm exhausted, worried, and relieved, all at once.

Raining again.  Rosie's at 131 with an arrow straight down.  A 15-carb snack levels her out.  We'd normally let a number like that ride a while, but we know better-- she typically crashes after coming down from a crazy high like that.

Supper: calm skies.  She's fine.  Glucose in normal range, no headache, anxious to go to softball practice and Brownies with her friends.  To look at her, you'd never know that the last eight hours have been a diabetes rollercoaster. 

Ironically, after supper we head out to softball practice, where it promptly started raining, for real. 

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Math Homework? Try Carb Counting!

This morning, my 8 year-old is wandering around the kitchen, calling out numbers as she goes--  32, 13, 13... and adding them up in her head.  (Oatmeal= 32, milk= 13, yogurt= 13.)  She adds them up correctly in her head, confirms the number with me, and boluses for her breakfast carbs.   This is fairly new- usually I am the one to figure out her carbs, but lately, she's enjoyed the challenge of doing it herself.   I smile, listening to her figure out the numbers and double-check herself. 

I have to admit, I laugh when she comes home with a homework assignment to practice her math facts.   Flash cards? Worksheets?  Ha!  If there's one thing that diabetes has given her, it's the understanding that HER math skills can literally come down to life or death.   I'm guessing that math comes easily for a lot of our d-kids!

 

NHBPM: Let It Be

Today's Prompt: Let It Be. What’s something that bothers you or weighs on you? Let it go. Talk out the letting go process and how you’re going to be better to yourself for it.

If you've been around my blog much at all, you already know one of my biggest challenges... the school clinic lady.  Her lack of interest, lack of accountability, and flat-out rude comments really, really, get to me.  We can be having a pretty good d-week here at home, and one negative comment from her to my daughter, or one phone call from her will really set me off.


Most of the time, I bounce back from these "incidents" with the clinic lady pretty quickly.  I take it as an opportunity to attempt to educate her further, or, when needed, a reason to meet (yet again) with school officials to work out a problem.  I try to turn it around in my head to be an opportunity rather than a problem.

But sometimes.... sometimes I can't get her/it out of my head.  I can't wrap my mind around the notion that she is the person I am forced to rely on when my daughter is at school.

So, I try.  I make myself look at the very bottom line: Was Rosie hurt?  Was there serious potential for harm?  If not, I try really hard to make myself take care of whatever needs done and then stop dwelling on it.  I mentally move on.... at least until the next incident, which tends to set me off again.  Ugh. 

This post was written as part of NHBPM – 30 health posts in 30 days.

Meltdown Week

Long story short: my patience was all used up with the school Clinic Lady (not a nurse) by about Tuesday of this week.  I have had numerous problems with this woman and her attitude in the past, but up until now, I have tried to remain fairly polite and respectful.  However, I pretty much lost it on Thursday.

Clinic Lady called me at work on Thursday to tell me again that Rosie wanted Motrin  (she gets bad headaches when her blood sugar comes down quickly) but she doesn't have a doctor's order for it.  I say again, because this was at least the fourth time this year that we have discussed this issue... twice I had other witnesses present.  The doctor's order was faxed to the school along with all her other orders on August 11th.   I was very short with her on the phone, trying to maintain my cool, and reminded her that indeed she DOES have an order there.   Clinic Lady proceeds to dig through Rosie's chart  while I remain on the phone and finally, guess what... found the order.   Argh.  She also repeatedly tells me that she doesn't remember ever talking about this before, she doesn't understand why she doesn't have the order, blah, blah, blah.   I remain very short with her and get off the phone to return to my work day, but I was mad.

The repeated conversations about the Motrin order was just the latest in a long string of "forgotten" things, misunderstandings, and blatent disregarding of my directions regarding Rosie's care at school.  Earlier this week Clinic Lady treated a low blood sugar of 40 with only TWO glucose tablets.  Another day she messed up Rosie's carb counts and blood sugar, reversing the numbers.   I understand that we all make mistakes, but this stuff has become a serious pattern, and the attitude that accompanies all of it is completely unacceptable.  I've had enough at this point and I decide to call Clinic Lady's supervisor, a nurse in the school system.  

As I am on the phone setting up a meeting with the nurse, Clinic Lady calls me back at work, so I get off the phone with the nurse.  Clinic Lady then proceeds to tell me that I WAS RUDE TO HER and she feels the need to "clear the air".   Yep, that's when I totally lost it.   Rude??  Really?  I have never said most of the things that go through my mind when I deal with her.  Being rude would be the least of her problems if I did! 

We proceeded to "clear the air" in a conversation that lasted about half an hour.... I covered the many reasons I no longer feel that Rosie is safe in her care.  She came back with plenty of excuses and plenty of comments about not knowing what I wanted her to do.  (Reading the one-page very simple school plan I wrote and actually following it would be a good start!)  She ended the call with telling me that she thinks we both need to "learn not to over-react".   I was furious, but I could see that the phone call wasn't getting us anywhere.  

On Friday I met with two nurses from the school district and we covered all the things that medically need to happen to keep Rosie safe.  They weren't especially interested in my concerns over Clinic Lady's attitude, but I understand that they probably had already been told by Clinic Lady that I was a psycho mom or something along those lines.   The nurses will be stopping in at school twice a week for a while, and I'm to call them if things aren't improving.   We'll see....

Week One Down

My kids started school last Tuesday.  So far, so good, D-wise! 

I've only gotten one call from the clinic lady, with a question about whether she should treat Rosie a second time for a low.   Rosie said she felt she was "crashing", her Dex said 70-something with double-arrows down, and this was 15 minutes after she'd had a juice box.  Ummmm..... YES!   I resisted my urge to scream, and instead calmly reminded the clinic lady that she could rely on both Rosie's gut feeling and the Dex to tell her that yes, indeed, another dose of some form of sugar was needed.   (Rosie wound up poking her finger and she was 59.) 

This was last Tuesday, and Rosie mentioned this morning that she'll probably crash again today.  When I asked her why, she explained that on Tuesdays she goes straight from recess to gym class.  Uh-oh.  I told her to see how she does today (juice boxes are at the ready) and if she goes low again, next week we'll adjust things.  In the past having uncovered carbs for gym class led to highs... but we've never had recess and gym back-to-back before.  We'll see how it goes.  I don't want to make any changes until we know if it's a pattern or just a one-time fluke.... but I'm so proud of Rosie for thinking about these things!

Considering the numerous battles I've had with the clinic lady in the past, I've been pretty happy with her so far this year.  So far there haven't been any incidents of her telling Rosie something other than what I've instructed, and she seems to {finally} have a grip on what to do with highs and lows.  

Here's hoping all of our D-kids are having great starts to the school year!

 
Do I seem familiar? :) This blog is new, but I've been around the DOC for a while, and I've been blogging about other topics for years. I'm AmyMCGS pretty much everywhere online- CWD, Twitter, etc.

Getting Ready for School

Today is Open House at Rosie's school- the day we find out who her teacher will be and meet them.  It's also the day I try to educate the teacher (Or teachers? Rosie thinks they change classes in 3rd grade.) in a very quick format about Rosie's needs.  

In First Grade, this went well- her teacher actually invited me to stop by the next day so we could talk more.   In Second Grade, the teacher gladly accepted the material I'd printed, listened to what I had to say, and promised to call/ email if she had any questions. 

My problem every year has not been with the teachers, but with the Clinic Aide who is the one Rosie sees daily in the clinic.  The woman is not a nurse, and she has no interest in learning any more than the absolute basics about Rosie's care.  We have had many, many "discussions", this Aide and I.... some much nicer than others. One resulted in me calling a meeting with the principal, during which DH nicely says that I "was clearly in charge" of the meeting.  (I may have been a little upset. I came well prepared, including carrying a pile of ADA papers. They had poked Mama Bear!)  We'll see what today brings.

Supplies I'll be dropping off in the clinic today include: monitor, strips, lancets, big bottle of glucose tablets, 8-pack of juice boxes, glucagon, and copies of all the paperwork (doctor's orders and my own things.... our private school does not do 504s).     Additionally, Rosie always has a back-up monitor and sugar source in her backpack, which stays in her classroom with her.  

I'm praying for an understanding teacher, and dare I say it, a new Clinic Aide.  However, if we still have the same one, at least she has basic knowledge and I won't be starting from scratch with her.

Now, if only my voice would come back enough to talk to people today without coughing, I think we'll be all set. 

Do I seem familiar? :) This blog is new, but I've been around the DOC for a while, and I've been blogging about other topics for years. I'm AmyMCGS pretty much everywhere online- CWD, Twitter, etc.