Diabetic Recipes
Olivia handed out her information sheet to her teachers yesterday. I just typed up something short, informing them that she has diabetes and what to do if she's running high or low. I stressed that she can treat in class and that she only needs to go to the nurse if she's under 60.
I also stressed that she needs to be accompanied to said nurse. I found out at the end of the year last year that one of Olivia's teachers wouldn't let anyone go with her. Fortunately, Olivia's never passed out from a low, but that's not a chance I want to take. Olivia informed me of this towards the end of the year and I talked to the teacher and the nurse about it, but according to Olivia, it didn't do any good.
Olivia talked to me about the reactions her various teachers had to the sheet I wrote up. Most read it and asked her a few questions. One teacher told her he also has diabetes, so he completely understood. I'm not sure if it's type 1 or type 2 - he's on insulin sometimes and pills sometimes, so I'm thinking it's type 2. He seemed very happy to do whatever she needed to help her when she needs it. Nice to hear.
Her English teacher took the sheet and didn't even look at it. Olivia was nonplussed. We'll just wait and see what happens with that class.
O has an appointment at Joslin on Tuesday and I'm going to see if they have any handouts I can give to the teachers. Most of the stuff I have on my computer is for young kids, which I can adapt for Olivia, but if Joslin has something already made up, I'll use their stuff.
The start of the school year is always fraught with nerves for me. I never know how teachers are going to react or treat her - it's bad enough when your kid doesn't have any medical issues, but having to deal with a chronic illness on top of all the other drama of middle school just makes it all that much more of a headache.
As a student, I had mixed success with my teachers. Some were very understanding and some were awful and dense. Make sure Olivia is discussing what the reactions are with you and if a problem arises. With a 504 plan in place, her medications and treatments all have to be met. When I was in school, there were no safety nets and the bad teachers made it seem like they were doing me a favor. Of course, there was also no blood glucose testing or insulin pumps either. Management was an educated guess. As a teacher now, I spend the first day explaining Type 1 and how to treat an emergency. It's never created a problem yet but just in case.
i was diagnosed when i was twenty months old and had to rely on an adult to test my numbers until i was in about the third or fourth grade. my parents went and talked to my teacher before then and taught them everything they needed to know. they could test me and treat my lows and would call my parents or email them with every reading.
my parents also wanted me to have a person walk me down to the nurse's office however, one time I passed out on the way to the nurse's office and after that i had a place in all the classrooms to keep all my diabetes supplies.
my parents always made sure in elementary school that all my teachers, friends, friends parents and classmates could help me if i needed anything.
now I'm in high school and I just stash supplies in my locker and backpack. my school doesn't have full time nurse so I handle everything on my own and only tell my teachers if when and if they need to know. this works out great for me.
Karen, I have an odd question. Are you from American Fork, UT?