Cara's First Day of School

Well it has finally come and gone, over all an O.K. day with a few minor hiccups and a bit of frustration, but Cara attended her first day of J.K. today.

Let me just start this blog by letting you know that Cara starting J.K. has been a topic of many debates lately in our house. First off she is only 3 but turning 4 this year and that is why she is eligible to start Junior Kindergarten, her blood sugar numbers have been extremely high during the mornings and I believe attributing to some of her bad behaviors. Of course J.K. at her school was only offered during the morning. The biggest reason that we were unsure of Cara attending J.K. is of course the lack of control and monitoring of her diabetes that I would have to give up and entrust someone else. So the planning for this day has been in place for a few weeks now, we have been trying to make some changes to our "normal" routine to help the transition into J.K. go smoother. We changed Cara's insulin from NPH to Lantus to lower and have more control of her BG numbers, which at this point seems as though it has worked (you can read about that here). I made arrangements for a nurse to go to the school before Cara got on the bus home to check her BG to make sure she is in a safe range before the long trip home. We met the teacher and explained in detail Cara's needs and our expectations. I stayed up all night the night before school to print out an information page for the teacher again highlighting Cara's needs and what they will need to do with her to ensure her safety. We packed her emergency pack with snacks and juices and her meter all ready for a wonderful start for her J.K. morning.

So her first day went something like this: She woke up with great BG numbers, she ate breakfast and was very excited to be riding the bus with her big sister and brother. We pack up the letter that I spent a good hour working on the night before to give the teacher a refresher course of Cara's needs, made sure that her emergency pack and meter where in her bag and she was ready to go. We took our pictures, she waved good bye with a smile on her face and that was the beginning and unfortunately the best part of the day. My husband went to the school around 9:30am to check up on Cara and see that all was O.K. When he arrived he was told that he should not let her see him because she had a screaming fit and wanted to go home a little while earlier after getting into the classroom. Even Kailyn (her older sister) could not settle her down. She did eventually settle down and all was peaceful and full of smiles for the time being. At around 11:00am I received a phone call, I did not panic, I thought that it must be the nurse because she was to take Cara's BG before she got on the bus around 10:30. If her BG number was low she was to give 15g of carbs and re-test in 15 minutes. So when the phone rang I figured it was the nurse saying all was fine and she was on the bus. Boy was I wrong, it was the secretary telling me that the nurse never came to check Cara's BG and now they do not know what to do with her. I was so pissed I spent my whole Friday afternoon the week earlier meeting with this nurse and her boss. I explained where the school was, what time they needed to be at the school and why and what the nurse need to do. But one nurse had no idea where the school was and seemed very confused about the schools location and the other nurse that was suppose to be teaching the other nurse what to do with my 3 year old diabetic was in Home Depot and confused about the time in which she was suppose to be at the school.... Not impressed what the hell was our 2 1/2 hour meeting 3 days earlier for if your not going to listen?!
So I told the Secretary to get Kailyn (Cara's older sister) have her take Cara's BG and if she is lower then 5 give her a carb. Cara's BG number was 4.4 and they gave her a carb snack and by the time she came home she was back in target at 7.2. Also the informational letter that I spent all night typing out for Cara's teacher was in the bottom of Cara's bag and unread which is the real reason for Cara's low at home time because they did not take her BG number before she had her snack. They just gave her the non carb snack when she should of had a carb snack which I explained to the teacher at our meeting the week before.....so much for planning :( I just wish that people would see that Type 1 diabetes is a very serous condition and they need to start listening when I'm explaining things to ensure my child's safety.

Well here is to fresh starts tomorrow....