One of those days

Since it has been almost a month since I last blogged, I thought I should let you all know I am still alive!  :)
Just been super busy and trying to get into a routine now that school is back in session.  And still getting used to having one of my d-kids in school!

Speaking of school, it is actually going pretty well.  Lovebug loves it and I love the teachers and staff just as much. They have been amazing and I am so blessed to have her at such a wonderful school.  I am reminded daily why I chose that school for her, despite there being no nurse on staff.

Just last week, we had a really bad day at school.  Seriously of the worse all around days I have had in a while and too boot it was a Monday.  Started out with the girls getting up late and me having to rush them around so they were ready in time.  Then as we are walking out the door, I notice Lovebug playing with her site and ask her what she is doing. She informed me she was plugging her site back in because she forgot to plug it back in when she got dressed.  WONDERFUL No breakfast bolus. I guess I will have to explain that to her teacher when I drop her off and hope that it doesn't ruin the whole day.

Two hours later I get a call from the school secretary that she in the 400's.  Oh, joy. Give her a correction dose.  I knew the high number was coming, just didn't think it would be quite THAT high.  Then at lunch she is still still coming down, I had the secretary calibrate Dexie.  Then when she was giving Lovebug her insulin the meter remote said it couldn't communicate with the pump.  Great.  She was standing right beside it, what is going on?  SO had to talk the secretary though how to check the bolus history. I  couldn't chance her not getting yet another bolus after what happened at breakfast. Good thing I had her check because she had gotten the entire bolus. Not sure why the meter remote was being funny.

The I got another call just 10 minutes later.  It was the secretary again.  Lovebug pulled her site out!!  Yes, I do know this happens, and up until now has only happened at home but at school? And during lunch??  I started to tell her that I would be right up to school to put a new one in and the secretary told me her assistant was sure she could put a new site in.  Really?  Seriously?  Well, Okay if you are comfortable I will walk you through it over the phone.

Sure enough she was completely comfortable and Lovebug even helped her out a bit.  Come to find out the assistants mom has Type 1 and she had helped her mom change her sites before.  How "cool" is that!  I was relieved and amazed at the same time.  That someone, a complete stranger to me, would be willing to change Lovebug's site.  Did I mention how much we LOVE her school!!  :)

I wasn't prepared

This morning started out like most mornings.  I got up at 5:30.  Got myself around and my hubby got up at 6am. I got the girls up at 6:30.  The girls fooled around, like they do most mornings and I was yelling at them to get ready because I was running a little behind and I didn't have time to help them out this morning.  They actually did pretty good, except for the fighting. It happens with 3 girls around the house all trying to get ready in the morning.

We got breakfast and were finally on track.  I was ready to get out the door to drop Lovebug off to school.  I turned around and looked at her and she had her pants pulled down a bit messing with her site.(which is on her bottom)  I asked her what she was doing and she told me she was hooking herself up because she forgot earlier.  Great.  That means she didn't get her breakfast insulin and is going to end up with a really HIGH blood sugar in about and hour and a half.

When I got to school I explained what happened to her teacher and told her she might have to send her down to the office to get bolused for her snack today.  As I expected, I received a call around snack time and it was the Secretary.  Lovebug was 420.  I expected it and instructed her to give her a correction bolus and not bolus for the snack since she goes to recess right after. I asked her what Dexie was saying as far as arrows, I wanted to know what direction her blood sugar was trending.  Of course Dexie was ???  Seriously Dexie?  Right now? At school?  I explained we get ??? on Dexie every once in a while and to just keep a close eye on her since it wasn't working.

I got another call from Lovebug's teacher about an hour later.  She was up to 480.  Okay, great. I really should have bolused her for her snack but there is that little thing called hind-site.  Then an hour later it was lunch time.  Got a call from the secretary that she was 319 but arrow was down on Dexie.  I instructed her to just give insulin for the carbs and no correction since she was heading down already.  Of course Dexie was 100+ points off so I had the secretary calibrate Dexie, but Dexie was greedy and wanted 2 bg's not just one.  Then as she was actually bolusing Lovebug for lunch and the meter remote for the pump gave that nice warning.  "Bolus cancelled, move devices closer together."  So I had to talk the secretary through looking through the bolus history to see if she had actually received her bolus.  She had received it, which is usually the case but had to make sure. I didn't want a repeat of breakfast!

Five minutes later the phone rings AGAIN.  School name was on the caller id.  I almost wanted to answer the phone with "What is wrong now??"  I didn't though.  The secretary said the lunch lady had sent Lovebug back down to the office.  She her site was falling off.  WONDERFUL.  I was getting ready to tell them I would be right up to put a new one in when the secretary told me that the office assistant said if I could walk her through it on the phone she would be comfortable doing it.  Really?  I was pleasantly surprised but she explained to me that her mom has Type 1 and she had helped her with site changes before so she was okay doing it.  She just said her moms looked a little different.  I walked her through it on the phone and Lovebug even helped her out.  It went really smoothly and I didn't receive any more phone calls the rest of the day.

To say the least I was just a nervous wreck all morning.  I knew this could happen but all of this in the same day?  Sheesh.  I just wasn't ready for it.  And on a Monday to boot.  I seriously don't know how all you moms out there who have had your T1 kids in school for a while do it!  I just wanted to run to school and bring her home for the rest of the day!  Even though I knew that would not be good for her. Lovebug just loves going to school and I knew unless she was really sick she would not want to come home.  I just wasn't prepared for the whole emotional part of it.  Why does this make me so emotional?  I just wanted to cry. Why is it so hard to send them to school?  Even when I know that she is in really good hands.

I guess it's probably just my motherly instinct, right?  I don't want to say that I worry when ever she is with someone else, but I do.  I don't want to but I still do.  It's hard. It's just plain hard.  Hard to let someone else be there to comfort her and "fix" her up.

I know those of you with kiddo's in school understand what I am talking about.  Rather you have a good situation at school or a not so great one.  Despite all my worry and fears we are very blessed to have wonderful, caring staff at our school.  I am just simply blown away by how much they have gone out of their way for her and how much they truly care for Lovebug.  Words can not express my gratitude for the staff there.  I just want to give them all big hugs and a HUGE thank you because if they only knew how hard it is to send her to school in the first place.

Blessings

Today I made the dreaded call to set up our 504 plan meeting.  This is only the second time I have had to make the call so maybe that is why I say that I dread it.  I really don't like being forceful with teachers and school staff when it comes to my kids, but I know I have to be when it comes to their diabetes.  The girls lives are in the schools hands for the day and they need to know how to take care of her and what to do should (god forbid) the worst ever happen at school.

When I made the call I expected to hear the secretaries voice on the other end.  I know she knows what she is doing since she had been helping with the other T1 at our school for the past 2 years.  I knew she would know who we needed to have at our meeting besides herself and Lovebug's teacher.

Much to my surprise someone else answered the phone (actually I accidentally called the business office instead of the elementary office, oops!)  I asked her (assuming she was filling in for our secretary) if she would know who I should talk to about setting up our diabetes plan meeting.  She said that she could help me but that she was the other T1 kids mom from our school!!

So we chatted for a while and she told me a little about her kiddo and he uses and Animas Ping pump too, just like Lovebug!  She gave me some great advice and shared with me how they handled things as far as who did the dosing and checking to make sure things were getting done correctly.  She also said that he does go down to the office to check his blood sugars and for dosing. The secretary double checks what he is doing and then she emails her his blood sugar, correction dose if any and the amount of the bolus given.  I know this is probably happens for a lot of you but I thought that was really cool!! My though was way to go the extra mile, especially at a private school.  She keeps a mini-fridge in the office with his snacks and low fixes and told me that I could use it too.  :)

Oh, boy did it do my heart good to talk to her today!  She was so helpful and caring.  It was refreshing to talk to another d-mom right at our school going through the same day to day struggles that we are going through.  She told me to give her a call anytime I wanted to talk or needed advice.  We have never met before yet this mom was offering to do what she could for me.  How awesome is that!

She eventually did transfer me so I could talk to Lovebug's teacher, who by the way is also amazing!  She was so encouraging and excited to meet Lovebug next week at our diabetes plan meeting.  I have met her before, but don't know her all that well.  As we were talking she mentioned she lives in the same subdivision as another d-family that goes to our church.  She said she has heard how that d-mom has struggled and what her daughter has gone through. She really sympathized with me and it is refreshing to have someone whom I barely know encourage me and tell me that she will take good care of my little girl.

Needless to say I was just blown away.  I had been having a few doubts about sending Lovebug to school at the private school (mostly because of cost) but God showed me once again that she is there for a reason and I am even more convinced of that now.  This may not be the school she stays at all through elementary but for this year, she is right where she is supposed to be and I am confident of that now.  The good Lord knew just when I needed a little confidence booster!!