Whew!

HUGE SIGH OF RELIEF!



It is OVER!

And I have to say I am SO thankful I brought along Wendy (Mrs.CandyHearts), otherwise the group of 7 other people MIGHT have overwhelmed me!

We had our meeting in The Superhero's classroom, so we had the great pleasure of sitting in the tiny, yellow, pre-school sized chairs. I was not exactly sure who all would be in attendance. We ended up with quite a crowd making up the team of 504 Evaluators.

We had...

1) School Assistant Principal (she facilitated the meeting)
2) The Preschool program health coordinator (I think that was her title)
3) The Superhero's Teacher #1
4) The Superhero's Teacher #2
5) Awesome Nurse S.
6) Awesome Nurse S.'s Assistant
7) School District Nursing Coordinator (DNC) (if you read one of my last posts, you know she was also my grade school nurse, WEIRD, in a good way)

8) Wendy (WOO HOO!)
9) Me


All there to come up with and finalize the plan for The Superhero.

At first it seemed as though the Assistant Principal was going to try to avoid the 504. She kept asking me questions about whether or not I REALLY thought The Superhero's Diabetes would affect him in preschool.

I continued to tell her that YES it will! High and low blood sugars affect the way he acts and in turn the way he participates in the class.

So YES a 504 Plan is completely NECESSARY and not just a "Health Plan".

When we handed her a copy of the 504 I wrote (copied from Wendy mostly), and she almost seemed defensive at first. She said we "as a team" would write the 504, IF he qualified.

Well, he qualified (DUH!), and on the plan she had she ended up writing "see attached plan". The District Nurse Coordinator(DNC) kept saying "This is a really well written plan."

I was happy that the DNC was a GREAT advocate for The Superhero and Diabetes. She made sure the school knew they need to have people besides Awesome Nurse S. and her assistant trained to care for The Superhero, just in case they are both not there.

Everyone went along with everything in my plan. And now we get to enjoy the rest of our first year of pre-school without the wonder of "if there will be a 504". It is done.

Thank you to EVERYONE for comments, FB messages, and emails supporting me and helping me get through all of this.

Again, whew! Sigh of relief!

School Update Day 3, Part 2

Ahhh, we are home! The day went MUCH better than the first 2 days this week.

The nurse called me once to double check the "high" message on Dexie. No biggie.

I called her to check in after his pre-recess BG check and snack. He was 150ish, ate his snack, and was bolused for 1/2 of the carbs.
After recess he was again 150ish! Woo Hoo!

I did -40% temp basal today, instead of -30% like yesterday. I wanted to bump him up a little more, and it appears it worked well. I think I will only do it for 1 1/2 hours instead of 2 hours though, that could be why he was a little high when I picked him up too.

THEN he ate snack with the class. He ate part of the cereal that was offered and drank ALL of his milk. The nurse came and bolused for the snack, but missed the carb count on the milk. I will be emailing her to verify the correct carbs for 1 carton of milk soon.

He was pretty high when I got there, 290's with double arrows UP. Finger check at home showed 347 with 1 arrow up. :-(
I bolused for that and for the ENORMOUS amount of carbs he ate (PB&J, and grapes=122 grams carbs--we have to double the actual amount of carbs in a PB&J sandwich for him, not sure why, but it works)

I got this message from his meter (never seen before!)...

Adjusted the amount of insulin he can receive in 2 hours up to 4 units. Crazy to think how much he is growing like a weed right now!


And on the 504/Health Plan note...I sent my email confirming the meeting for a 504 on Friday to the nurse, teachers, principal, and District 504 person. I received an email back from the principal! I take that as a positive sign. He was just saying "Thanks, See you Friday." I made sure to include that I would be bringing The Superhero's advocate with me.

I also stopped by Awesome Nurse S.'s office on my way to pick up The Superhero. I needed to drop off his extra bottle of insulin since I have been forgetting all week. While I was there she introduced me to the District Nursing Coordinator (DNC). She was there to develop The Superhero's Health Plan with the nurse. We will see what they come up with. BUT, the DNC looked SO familiar to me. So I asked her if she used to work at the High School I went to, she said no, but that she had worked at K. Elementary School! That is the school I went to from 3rd-8th grade! I totally remember her! Such a small world!

Then we talked about The Superhero a little bit and his diagnosis, etc. I watched the 2 other D kids in the school come in and check their BG before lunch. They were both older girls (I guess around 4th grade or above). They did it ALL on their own. I was impressed.

So, overall, I am SUPER happy with how today went. My little boy is still alive, even with HIGH numbers now, I think it went well. More adjustments for tomorrow, but definitely getting better each day.

Now hoping the tomorrow continues to go well, and the "meeting" on Friday is ok too!

School Update Day 3, Part 1

Well, I dropped The Superhero off at pre-school this morning.

We went in and talked to the Awesome Nurse S., and yes, that is now officially her name. She is going to go and check The Superhero before recess, give him a snack, come back and check him after recess and wait with him until he finishes his snack with the class.

What can I say, she is seeming more and more Awesome as the week goes on. I feel like she truly does get it and wants to help me feel ok leaving him there.

Then we walked over to The Superhero's class and I took him in.

I explained to the teacher that his Diego backpack MUST go with him whenever they leave the room. I made sure she knew that meant to the bathroom and to recess, since she has not been as on top of this as she needs to be.

She then asked me if I was staying, and I told her I was not. I let her know that Awesome Nurse S. would be in to check him before recess and after recess. If they had any concerns in between, to call Awesome Nurse S. and she would take care of him, and call me as needed.

She seemed a little worried about this. But I checked The Superhero and he was a nice 172 at the time. I knew Dexie would be beeping soon, since his high setting is 180 and his breakfast was still bringing him up some. I let his teacher know if it beeped, they could clear away the "high BG" message.

And I left.

I left my baby in the care of his teachers. I hate that I have to think about Diabetes ruining his school day and having to leave him to someone else who is supposed to keep him ALIVE until I get there. Leaving today, was much harder than I thought it would be. I cried a little in the car, and then more after I dropped The Princess off at her daycare.

It will be ok. It will be ok.


Also, I got a note from the teacher letting me know the "Health Plan" meeting is scheduled for this Friday. Note it did not say 504 Plan. Hmmm...Do they think I am going to forget that they have to follow the LAW.

Per The Superhero's Advocate (Mrs.CandyHearts), I will send another email to the school as I did the other day letting them know I got the notice and that The Superhero's Advocate and I will see them Friday for the 504 Meeting.

We will see how it goes. I am NOT backing down. And I am BEYOND thankful to have someone to help me through this. I seriously don't know if I could do it on my own. My first thought was to just pull him out of the school and try again next year when he is older, but I know that is not the best thing for him. He wants to go to school. He wants to use scissors. He really wants to paint. And at the end of all of this, he WILL get to do those things!

As of a few minutes ago, I already heard from the nurse. She called my cell phone. Good thing I took it to the bathroom with me! Sorry Awesome Nurse S. Yes, I answered your phone call while I was in the bathroom, but it is better than missing the call entirely.

She wanted to let me know that Dexie beeped when The Superhero was above 180 and the teacher was not sure how to clear the message. So she was calling me to confirm what needed to be done. I am totally fine with the call. I would much rather them call me tons than not at all if they are having any concerns or questions.

I will post another update about his day once school is out.