Things Said While Low

Low caught on camera last week during school.
This is the health room. A buddy walked with Riley
from chapel. Eating goldfish, after fast acting carb.

Riley:  Can I have that knife?
Me:      No
Riley:   Like...forever?
Me:      huh?
Riley:   Well I'm gonna have it. When you are dying, you're gonna call me to you and say "Riley I   want you to have this knife."
Me:      This Cutco paring knife..you want to inherit this?
Riley:   Yes

                             AND

Riley:   Mom, let's go out on the prowl!
Me:      Huh?
Riley:   Isn't that what you say? You know go out shopping and stuff? I wanna buy some stuff.

AEP Meeting

We got called into a meeting for an Adapted Education Plan at Riley's school. I'm not sure why March 7th was the date for this since he was diagnosed almost 1 1/2 years ago. The only thing that stood out during this meeting with all of Riley's teachers sitting in classroom desks in a circle that included the student support teacher, Riley, my spouse and I, was that he was eligible for accomodations but not modifications. Wait...What?? Modifications mean modifications to his grades. I want that! Can I sign him up for that?

I'm pleased with accomodations.

• Student is permitted to keep all diabetes supplies with him and test during class if he feels low.
• Student is permitted to eat if necessary.
• Student is permitted to carry and drink from a water bottle and have access to the restroom.
• Studnet will be permitted to make up quizzes and tests when missed for diabetes related issues.
• Teachers will be familiar with Emergency Plan to deal with lows in the classroom
• Teachers will have Smarties in their classrooms.

But I really want grade modifications.

• Student sometimes is lousy test taker - increase by one letter grade.
• Student not so proficient Spanish I - increase by two letter grades.
• Student forgets to bring study materials home for big History test - give passing grade of any letter.
• Teachers find student so interesting, witty and pleasant - give A+ whenever possible.

Left Field

 Endo appointment went well. We didn't actually meet with the doctor. Their new schedule plan is to alternately meet with the doctor one month then the Nurse Educator the following appointment in four months. And the Diabetic Nutrition Specialist at each visit. Ho- hum meeting with nutrition nurse. Sharpened a few ratios, suggested more protein in the diet and we were sent back to the waiting room for the next meeting with the CDE.

I was excited when my favorite nurse came and sat to check in on us. Our scheduled CDE was with a new patient so did we have any questions for f.n.? The DNS covered everything....except she generally asks about Riley's interest in the pump each time we meet and he categorically says no before she finishes her sentence. I suggested f.n. go through the same motions with him. He replied as expected. F.n. asked, "Why not?" Riley described some ridiculoulsy bloody fear that the pump's needle would get accidentally torn out of it's spot and rip his skin apart half way across his body and be totally disgusting. F.n explained with the help of a set of twins that were sitting in the waiting room with us wearing their
pumps, that there is no needle attached to the pump. It may get pulled out, but it wouldn't hurt too bad.

Favorite Nurse-taking advantage so quickly that
I'm surprised I was able to get this picture

The twins were funny. "Yeah we wrestle, yeah we get hurt, but not from our pumps."

Brilliant f.n. (favorite nurse) asked Riley if he would let her  attach an infusion set. Riley looked at me and said, "For the new xbox game." I said .... yes! I had just said no fourteen times before f.n. arrived.



Attached to nothing but courage

We were whisked into an exam room, f.n. grabbed a couple supplies and before he could object...wisk, bam, boom.

He was very proud of himself, as was I.  Such a closed mind opened in a split second. It was right out of left field. I rather like it there.

Camouflage

Not actual bag...stand in that
doesn't make me cry

Another child at our school has been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. That brings the total to 5. There are only 300 and some students.

I stopped by my daughter's lunch table to say hello and see how the newly diagnosed kid was doing. I had to say something. I saw the camouflage bag. I asked him how he was. "Good, my mom just stopped by to check on me. I'm fine," he said.

The camouflage bag. Something caught in the back of my throat. I couldn't finish my sentence.  I just wanted to know how the transition to school was going. There was no stopping the quickly forming tears. I couldn't speak.

Endo Appointment Looming

Throwing caution to the wind right before Endo appt

Not to be a band-waggoner. But, I do not want to go this quarterly appointment. I used to look forward to these appointments. During the honeymoon phase, the topics were light coffee table conversation that felt more like a light applause for catching on so well.

Now it's all "that a1c is sure coming up" and "you have to have tried to inject in your belly once a week by the next appointment" and "do you know that Nutella is all sugar?"

It is making everything stressful.

Me: The numbers have to look good for the doctor, Tim.  We have to get the carb:insulin ratio right, right now!
Tim:  I know they were high when Riley was sick, but they're better now, right?
ME:  NO, no they're not. Did you see that 464 the other night?

Me: Riley, what's up with the 464 the other night?
Riley: Um..I dunno. I didnt want to tell you because I know you'd freak out.

Where does he get this from. ..me..freak out?!

Then, last night 130 at 9 pm before bed and 59 around 10 pm. That's just stupid.

Plus, I may have said some things that sounded like other people (Tim) need to pay closer attention while I'm working so much these days right before the quarterly Endo appt.

Cold Caught

138 Fri breakfast
255 Fri lunch
301 Fri dinner
343 Fri bedtime

211 Sat breakfast
397 Sat lunch
262 Sat dinner
260 Sat bedtime

222 Sun breakfast
247 Sun lunch
248 Sun dinner
232 Sun evening check
266 Sun bedtime

240 Mon breakfast
202 Mon morning check
306 Mon lunch
  84 Mon afternoon check

Riley got sick over the weekend. You can see where it started on the schedule above. Right between breakfast and lunch on Friday morning. Sore throat, croupy cough, no fever though.

Then he got better. Sometime Monday afternoon. Or maybe we finally got the insulin carb ratio right to cover the insulin need during his cold.

Difficult to dose now. At dinner we kept the same higher dose, thinking we got it right as shown above. But after two hours, lots of loud carrying-on (symptom of low for Riley) - he was 71. Ate 10 CHO homemade protein bar, tested 70 bg. Ate Belvita 36 CHO and chocolate almond milk 13 CHO, at bedtime he was 180. This morning 240. So...still fighting cold or need to up Lantus??? Then send him to school and hope for the best, ughhh.

Wrap Up

This week included:

• Mid Term Exams for Riley (Bible, Math, History & English)
• Eye doctor appointment for Riley
• Girls group meeting for Reid and I (American Heritage Girls)
• Dental appointments for Riley and Reid
• Business travel out of town for Tim
• 9:00 pm indoor soccer game on Saturday night

Highlights:

Studying for exams with Riley is like .... something I can't describe. I never want to do it again. But here I sit taking a break from Spanish and science quizzing/study assistance. And, oh yeah, 10th grade and beyond. I'm sure he will do it on his own then. Or maybe have a girlfriend, who really cares about grades and wants to help him study. This is a true possibility, right?  A girlfriend and a girlfriend who like to study.

I meant to take an actual picture, but didn't

Next eye-opening event - diabetic retinopathy exam.
Riley needed to have an eye exam because his frames had broken  for the 13th time and it was time to get bigger ones anyway. Since it was less than a year since his last eye exam, I was told the eye doctor would code this exam as a diabetic check-up and it would be paid by our insurance. It was old hat. We've done this a few times now and I had nothing to worry about until I saw the the doctor purse her eyebrows as she was looking through the equipment pictured on the left. She did it for both eyes. I suddenly felt sick. My stomach turned. In my head, I was screaming, "Wait this is just routine stuff...nothing's wrong here!" Then she finished, everything looks great. Very normal.

Indoor soccer at 9 pm. Very exciting. I'm excited for Riley to have the opportunity to become a better player. Improve his game for the fall season at school. Diabetically speaking, it's very strange. This was the second week of games on Saturday night, last week was at 8:30 pm. We knew what to do. Riley tested before we left the house to see if his bg was below 150 in which case he would eat a snack. It was 233. Perfect number to start a soccer game, I guess. The players each play about 5-7 minutes then come out and sit awhile, then head back in. I would think that the excitement of the game and the total minutes of play time would drop his blood sugar by at least 50, right? When he got home and tested, it was 280. What?!? Now what do we do? Correct and then have it plummet overnight when his body realizes the exercise/excitment or not correct at all?  We just dosed for Lantus (night time insulin). This morning his bg was 113.  That is definitely comment-worthy. I let his bg remain that high with only Lantus to correct which works over a 20 - 24 hour period.