First day of school

With the first day of school came a new diabetes schedule. Left behind were the late nights and sleep in mornings. We started the new schedule a few days before school started, but I still knew the lazy days of summer that fit her current diabetes protocol was sure to change with the active life of a new 4th grader. I knew she would be more active so the morning of the first day I reduced her fast acting insulin. Mid morning she had her provided snack, but at lunch time a bg of 70. 2nd day of school, reduced insulin even more, usual snack and a lunch bg of 63. On the plus side, bg's have been normal at dinner which means her dose is good at lunch as well as the carbs in her afternoon snack. Tomorrow I'll make another reduction to see if that helps with the low blood sugar at lunch.

Going back to school

School starts 1 week from today, so I broke out Alyssa's most recent diabetes plan and starting filling out the paperwork for my meeting with the school nurse on Thursday. I will also give a brief training to her teacher on what to look for with Alyssa. The teacher will be attending a diabetes class provided by the school that usually happens sometime during the first week of school as well. So, this little training session is just so she knows what to expect the first few days of school.

I purchased enough snacks to last a month for the teacher to keep in her room as well as several juice box packs to treat lows. I've started getting her diabetes bag ready that stays in the office that will contain her meter, strips, syringes, glucose tablets, alcohol swabs and insulin. Ideally I would have liked for Alyssa to be on the pump before school started, but at least we have the ball rolling.... hopefully final approval in the next couple of weeks!!

Beaching it....

Vacation to Key West was great and the trip through airport security on the way back was much better than on the way there. Blood sugars behaved for the most part. We did have a few lows at the beach, but we were well prepared since we expected it.

Airport Security

The start of this trip reminded me of the Griswalds..... We were an airport security train wreck. I was so concerned with letting security know about Alyssa's diabetes supplies that forgot to remind her to remove her laptop from her bag and to toss her bottled water. So that was a little hold up...

I packed all of Alyssa's supplies in a little bag cooler. Inside was also a 4-pack of juice boxes and the security officer told me they needed to be less than 3oz umm no...4oz is 15 grams of carbs. I cleared it all up, she swabbed the juice and after running everything back through the scanner, we were on our way.

Overall, not too bad for Alyssa's first time flying since diagnosis. I'll be better on the return flight!

Getting ready for vacation

We are nearly packed for vacation. This is Alyssa's first time flying since her diagnosis. I got a letter from her endocrinologist and packed double the supplies we will need for the week long trip. I'll let you all know how it goes on Wednesday :) This afternoon, we even had time to hit the nail shop... Key West here we come!

Treating Lows

When I ask Alyssa what it feels like when her blood sugar is low, she says that she feels like she's shaking and her heart feels like its going to beat out of it's chest.  What I notice when she's low is that her face pales and although she's cool to the touch, she breaks into a sweat.  Also, her pupils dilate and her speech is affected.....it appears as though she's drunk.  Last night, just before bed she came to me and said she was low.  She was already treating herself with a juice box, as she had checked her sugar and it was 34!!  I sat her down and retrieved the Smarties from our supply cabinet and gave her a few of those after she finished the juice box.  This is always a touchy time because there is always the chance she'll lose consciousness.  The 15 minutes before re-check seems to last forever.  Then just as quick as the low came on, the color starts to return to her cheeks, her words become clearer and she says she feels better.  Re-check 92.  I gave her 4 peanut butter crackers.  At about 2:30 a.m., I checked again.....bg of 187. 

She had an 1 1/2 hour cheer practice earlier that evening, but her bg's were good before and after.  And what was crazy, was that at this time she was just playing on the laptop, nothing physical. She had a normal bg before dinner and ate really well.  Ughh....unpredictable!!

The D-O-C

When your child is first diagnosed with diabetes your world is set into a spin, especially if you have no previous exposure to the disease.  In my case, my step dad was diagnosed when I was in my early teens and I had gestational diabetes when I was pregnant with one of my children.  So, I had a little understanding of the physiological aspect of type 1 diabetes.  However, when my daughter was diagnosed I still felt like a steam roller had flattened me.  My new job was going to be her artificial pancreas.  I was going to have to measure and calculate what she ate.  I was going to need to determine the amount of insulin she needed based on her blood sugar levels and consumption of food; all while being sure to account for her physical activity.  I wasn't sure if I was the best person for this job.  What if I messed up?  What if I made a mistake?  And then there was the fact that our entire lives were flipped upside down.  This disease affects the entire family.

We were and are very fortunate to have a supportive "village" that immediately jumped in to help us make sense of this situation.  But what we needed too were other families who lived with this disease, who had been where we were.  I began to search the Internet for more information about living with this disease and stumbled across a mother's blog, D-Mom, The Sweet Life with a Diabetic Child.  I read her current and older posts.  Her blog led me to another d-mom's blog, and so and and so on.  Their blogs also led me to Facebook groups and Twitter events.  This is the Diabetes Online Community (#DOC).

Connecting with the DOC helped me know what to expect when my daughter returned to school after her diagnosis, helped me figure out what a 504 plan was, and led me to volunteering and advocating...they led me to start this blog.  From the DOC I've gotten advice, support, and understanding from other parents who live similar lives.  From the DOC, Alyssa has built relationships with other children who are like her....who have to prick their fingers and take injections and who feel bad when there sugar levels aren't just right.  (And they've helped us choose what pump we will get)

If you or your child is newly diagnosed, my advice to you is to connect through blogs and social media with others who have been where you are.  I'm sure glad I did!