Back to School with T1D

I have been putting off writing this post.  The last 2.5 weeks have been so tiring and emotionally draining that I felt even the thought of pounding out a post on it might just tip the scales so far that I could be officially considered a wreck. These last two weeks have been the worst for me since I brought Sweets home from the hospital last June. I don't even know where to start.
Lets just say, the nonchalant manner in which the other T1D Mom's handle their children in Sweet's school, makes me look like a neurotic lunatic.  Granted, there are only two others, one boy who is Sweets age, and a girl just a grade younger.  She was diagnosed just a month before Sweets, he's had diabetes since he was three and has a pump.  Go figure.  But, it wasn't long before I realized that I was the only parent training staff members on diabetes, creating action plans and low blood sugar guides for all the classrooms she would be in, creating low blood sugar boxes for the office, her classroom, and other rooms she would be in, meeting with recess aids, talking to lunch ladies, planning ahead for fire drills and lock down, etc.  I was the only one coming into the school every day, checking my daughter, interfacing with the teacher, and consequently.......looking like a stalker.  Am I over reacting?  Maybe......  Am I overprotective ? ......Probably.  But, how can you leave your child at school unless you are 100% sure everyone can take care of her, that there is a plan and it will work, that she will make it through the day and not eventually pass out from low blood sugar, or be in trouble for laying her head down when she's high.  How can you make sure that she will get the correct insulin dose for lunch if she's normal, high, or even low for that matter?  How can you leave her there and go home and get anything done without worrying so much that you are in tears, or sick, or unable to stop yourself from texting the teacher or calling the office every hour?  You can't, unless you have taken every step available to make sure, sure, sure, that everything has been thought of, and all staff is on board.  And still, I worry.
See?  My blood pressure is rising as I write this.

Here is a copy of her Care Plan I worked out for her.

Here is a copy of her Low Blood Sugar Guide for the classrooms she is in

Here is a list of the items in her Low Blood Sugar Boxes
- 4 juice boxes
- 4 15 carb snack pouches
- Peanuts for protein
- Glucose Tabs
- Cake Gel
- Quick guide for Blood Sugar Monitoring
- Carb count book (office)
- Keton strips (office)
- Extra pen needles (office)
- 20 carb yogurts (office fridge)

I bought Sweets the cutest D-Bag (purse) she keeps in the classroom and carries with her everywhere except to recess. The items in her bag: meter, strips, alcohol pads, glucose tabs, Cake gel, Glucogon shot, juice box, 15 carb snack, extra batteries for meter, insulin, and extra pen needles to be with her everywhere.  Then, in the case of a lock down or fire drill or wherever she is, she has access to those things that will keep her alive.  The other D- kids keep their stuff exclusively in the office and that baffles me.  Why wouldn't they keep it with them in case they couldn't get to the office?


*She has reminder notes on her desk when to check and to help her remember to stop and think about how she's feeling.

*Myself or the Office manages her 10 'o' clock check where she gets a snack so her levels don't crash to a dangerous zone, again.

*The home health nurse comes in at lunch and 2 hours after for her insulin and checks.

*Her teacher texts with me her levels and she has a log for Sweets to fill out.

Still, every day is a battle as her diabetes makes us jump through hoops with unnatural high numbers in the early morning, to crashing lows in the later morning.  Then it laughs at us as we deal with low's before lunch and roller coaster numbers in the afternoon.  She has had to eat lunch alone on two occasions and has already missed a P.E. class.  I am constantly trying new things to hopefully figure it all out. I hope, one day, that I can come home, confident that Sweets will be fine at school and I don't have to sit here and worry all day.  It will take time, to realize that the staff can handle her, that she can take care of herself, and that the hurdles we have to get over will be behind us.  Until then, I will cry in the mornings, worry all afternoon, and cry again at night that we have to do this all over again the next day.