Back to School

The boys returned to school this morning - Jake to 8th grade and Ryan to 3rd. The last week has been a flurry of school shopping, back-pack-finding, and re-acclimating to a decent bedtime. And of course, school / diabetes management prep.

We hit Target for pencils and paper, then headed over to the food aisles for individually packaged cookies and crackers, along with snack-size skittles and juice boxes. Then it was off to the pharmacy for 2 new bottles of ketone strips and prescription refills to ensure that we had enough supplies to stock both nurses offices and all the classroom areas. When we got home, the boys sorted their school goodies while I sorted diabetes stuff (gotta make sure I don't send the Arthur-themed juice boxes to the 8th grader's nurse). I updated their classroom info sheets and Ryan's bus plan, made sure Ryan's current medical management plan from the doc was dropped off, and discussed Jake's plan with his nurse (signed paperwork to follow! I promise!).

Both schools hold an Open House prior to the first day, where you get your schedule, meet your teacher(s), drop off supplies, join your PTO, etc. For us, it also included a trip to the nurses offices to deliver supplies. And in Jake's case, it also included handing each teacher an info sheet and a ziplock bag with 'lockdown supplies'. They had a lockdown last year, and were not allowed to leave their classrooms. Jake felt low, but had fallen into a routine of going to the nurses office for testing and treating, and had left his kit in his locker. So, now I equip each room with cookies and skittles, to be kept in the teacher's desk as backup.

Jake tolerated my quick speech to each teacher and my corny jokes about giving them snacks that they can't eat. Having his (now shorter-than-him) mom talk about his diabetes in the midst of an open house can't be thrilling. But it's the best way to be sure they get the info they need.

Ryan's teacher seemed comfortable with the diabetes info I gave her, which is good because 2 of the 3rd graders with diabetes ended up in her classroom.

For both, my newfound unemployment (I resigned my job in June) means that I will be even more available to communicate with staff and (especially in Ryan's case) I will be a much more active volunteer at school. Hopefully, we are set up for a good year.

This morning I completed the final prep steps by ensuring Jake had enough insulin in his pump to get through the day and handing Ryan's bus driver his emergency glucose supplies.

T's crossed, I's dotted, good to go.

But, in true real-life form, the phone rang at lunchtime because Jake forgot to reconnect his pump after we changed the cartridge. Luckily, after nearly 6 hours without insulin (and a decent sized breakfast) he was only 252 (what is up with that??).

Oh well, perhaps tomorrow we'll get it right!