Oh, hi.  It's been a while, hasn't it?  Yeah.  Slacker central over here.  I read and I think about things to write but the motivation just disappeared last month (and the month before that, if I'm being honest).  I'm hoping the new year will kick my butt into action a little bit and have me posting here more often.

On to the latest: 

Olivia has been going to the nurse too frequently to treat low blood sugars.  She usually has stuff in her bag to treat, but the nurse has been insisting that Olivia go down there for every low.  In O's IEP it states that she can treat in class and there's a doctor's note in place, so I don't quite get what the deal is with the nurse.

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During our 504 meeting with the school staff, my wife and I mentioned that we'd like to read a short children's book to Charlie's classmates so that they could have a basic understanding of diabetes. Surely they would want to know why he was putting a blood sample into a strange device every couple of hours and why he was able to eat at times that they weren't.

The teacher and the principal thought it was a good idea, but the district official, who was there to make sure everything was kosher, suggested the principal have a look at the book before approving A Ruler, a Number 2 Pencil and Diabetes by Dr. Troy Apaches.

My initial thought was that this was strange. I mean it's a published children's book. What could possibly be offensive? Though, truth be told, it had been years since I read the book. I suppose I could have forgotten about some of the content. (READ MORE)

Charlie begins first grade tomorrow. He will have two health aides. One in the morning and another in the afternoon. Neither aide has seen a pump and I'm pretty certain, they've never tested someone's blood sugar. So ...

Susanne will take the first shift, stalking with binoculars from an old, abandoned house across from the elementary school in army fatigues.

As for me, I'm going undercover - enrolling in Charlie's class as a transfer student from Ghana.

We do feel fortunate that the school has decided to provide health aides, but we just hope that they can slip somewhat into the background. We're also very much aware that this sort of special arrangement could be socially detrimental for Charlie if we were to continue beyond first grade.  For now, however, it gives us a little peace of mind and it buys us time for Charlie to learn how to test himself, and bolus himself, etc. (READ MORE)

To say we hit it out of the park with Charlie's new health aide would be an understatement. I was totally wrong. She does have experience testing blood sugar and she has seen a pump. Turns out she has type 2 diabetes!  Go diabetes!

We hit a hole in one. We knocked the cover off the ball. We laid down a full house. Scored a touchdown. Sorry. Been watching too much coverage of the National Conventions. I can't stop with the sports analogies. But seriously, folks, we really slogged a dibbly dobbly (a little somethin' for the cricket lovers).

What perfect timing. The aide is calling us as I sit here writing this. Let's listen in ...

(hushed chanting while Susanne talks to the aide) "We're number 1! We're number 1! We're numb ..."

Wait what? Can we rewind that? (READ MORE)

Well, we did it. Charlie got through kindergarten pretty much unscathed. Last year at this time we were nervous wrecks about sending Charlie to school. The school had no experience with a child with diabetes as young as Charlie. They were noticeably nervous as well. We put a plan in place and basically just hoped for the best.

We couldn't be happier with how the school year went.

Susanne and I met yesterday with the principal, the new nurse, Charlie's teacher, Charlie's health aide (Mrs. D) and a representative of the school district to review how the year went and to revise our 504 plan to reflect the fact that EVERYTHING WILL CHANGE!!!!!!!!!!!!! next year. (READ MORE)

I guess I’m a little surprised that Charlie is OK with me coming into his class to talk about diabetes now for the third straight year. Now that he’s getting older, I would expect him to be embarrassed and cringe at the sight of me at the classroom door. But no.

It’s a bit of a mystery, but I think it boils down to the fact that Charlie thinks that having diabetes makes him mildly famous. With a coy smile, Charlie sprung up from the carpeted area, joining me in the front of the class like a magician’s assistant. He unhooked his blue pump from his waist to show his classmates, showing all sides of it proudly as if it was a completed Rubik’s Cube.

It went well, I think. There was no heckling from the second graders and no one threw fresh fruit at me. I was happy about that. Though it never fails. There’s always one kid. You know the kid.

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