Kindergarten Screening

I can't believe how fast time goes!  Seems like Ellee was just born yesterday, and now she's ready to start full time school!  She's been in preschool for less than a year and a half, for just a couple hours 4 days a week.  Preschool has been very manageable with diabetes because she eats and gets a shot before school and snacks are kept to around 15 carbs or less.  The only thing they have to watch for is signs that she's low, which equates to watching to see if she doesn't feel good or isn't acting like her normal self.  This is the beginning of April and there has only been one or two instances of her getting low, so I have to commend Grandma and Mrs. M & Miss H for the great job of watching and controlling since I can't be there!

But now it's time for Ellee to start "big kid school"!  I'm excited about this, but with her medical condition, I am an absolute WRECK!  When we were at Children's Hospital (almost a year ago) all I could think about is "how are we going to handle full time school???"  Since I moved, I've been looking into different school districts and checking on their nursing staff and how they handle T1D children.  We found out that when Indian Lake built their new elementary school, they included a very nice nurses station and have a full time nurse.  At the time we were told that she has around 5 T1D kids!  This is great news because most rural schools only have a nurse that is part of the county and visits different school. 

Our big day was Tues, March 23rd at 5pm!  I can't tell you how nervous I was about if she knew what they needed her to know!  After being assured by some friends on facebook that she'd be okay, I felt much better going into it!  Once we got there, we signed her in and off she went with one of the high schoolers - not shy at all, but excited to see where these big kids were taking her!

The school nurse was talking with all the parents one on one, so when it was our turn, we headed over to her table!  As I went to sit down, she stood up to shake my hand and introduce herself.  I said my name and "we are going to get to know each other VERY well this year!".  She gave me an odd look and I said "Elizabeth has Type 1 Diabetes".  It use to choke me up every time I said that out loud.  I can't describe how hard it is to admit that you don't have a perfectly healthy child.  But I am over-coming that and am now able to say it with a steady voice and dry eyes.  Mrs. M smiled and immediately wanted to know more, pencil in hand and took lots of notes as we chatted!

As we wrapped up our conversation, she asked permission to tell the staff that they have another diabetic in the pre-school staff meeting and I immediately agreed that she can... and should!   Like I told her, I think that EVERYONE should be aware of the symptoms because I believe that catching it as early as possible may increase the length of the honeymoon phase! Since teachers are with kids for 6 hours a day, they are likely to see the warning signs.

We also talked with the principal of the school and was in agreement that before school starts there will be a meeting with him, the nurse and her teacher to go over an action plan for the year.  I can't even begin to express how much of a relief it is to know that they are so willing to work with us!  I hear of so many people who get nothing but grief from the school about their child's care and hope that we never have to deal with that!