The days have been flying by. Our oldest is in her sophomore year of high
school and our sweet ‘baby’ is enjoying her last year of middle school as an 8th
grader. With the usual flurry of
activity to launch both of them into the new school year, we have had review
meetings for 504s, Safe at School and Squirrel
Safety. Yes, I did make that one
last one up, but it surely feels like squirrel safety in the sense that we
spend approximately one full day on planning routes to safe areas within the
school for extra glucose, creating low glucose boxes equipped with enough
sugary foods to satisfy an entire village and hiding them so that the said
village, does not eat everything should they come across it.
It’s an emotionally draining endeavor. I’m not sure how to describe thinking about
the worst possible situation, having a reenactment and then, moving along to
something light-hearted like a discussion of the Americans with Disabilities
law for accommodations.
And yet, all of us with children that live with T1D do this
every year.
The irony is not lost on my girlfriends. They understand that while they giggle at
marketing messages which showcase parents happily pushing grocery carts of
school supplies, I start to wince.
The
reminder isn’t joyful that school is about to begin, but more along the dreaded
thought process of:
Did I get my Diabetes
Medical Management Plan signed?
Will the school meet to
review our 504 plan before my girls start?
How will my child wait
until the afternoon to eat when breakfast was 8 hours earlier?
Who will share this information
with the bus driver?
What is a three-day
field trip? Are you kidding me?! Overnight with T1D!!!
The list of worries is long and deep. Ten years later and I still lose sleep over
the anxiety of sending both of my girls every year. I know that should there be something that
they need, there is a reality that despite our efforts in training staff, they
may need to handle it completely on their own.
This isn’t just a case of Mama Birdy feeling unable to let
baby fly either. Within our school
system, though fully trained, we have approximately 50ish teachers and staff
that are faced with hundreds of children that all may or may not need something
RIGHT NOW.
In balancing the need for my teens to blend (which they need
to do) along with the necessity to be remembered (never sure until there is an
emergency) is the reality that none of our plans are foolproof as T1D is this disease
that tends to be elusive, never.doing.the.same.thing.twice kind of rule-breaker.
If I am not sure what is to happen, how can I expect our
teachers and staff to be fully prepared?
The only way that we have managed thus far is to ensure that
the girls take the lead in their own care and that we create a safety net to
support them. Tools like the Dexcom G5
and a cell phone have helped so much.
Still, the anxiety is palpable. It’s not just my own either. The girls feel shades of worry from their own
previous experiences.
School isn’t home and so teachers and staff need to be
taught to understand the need for classroom eating, bathroom breaks and even
those cell phone beeps that alert to lows.
Teachers and staff need to be able to share that information
with their aides and substitutes because once they are gone and a stranger
takes over, the classroom often becomes a wild west hang-out, and the
substitute is left to the only defense that they have - suspension write-ups
for violations like those cell phone beeps.
Even worse, often bathroom breaks and eating are denied.
Yet all of this can be worked through and solved.
We can share, teach and work through any issue with
communication and grace. Our girls are
learning to speak up, to advocate and to be responsible. The skills that they learn will take them
through the course of their lives; to the unforgiving professor in college, to
the misinformed colleague or manager at work and through every social situation
imaginable.
While starting school is never easy (for any one of us), we
choose to focus on the outcome. It’s one
more learning opportunity before they start their next chapter.
One thing that I am sure is safe to assume:
We are going to need a nuttier squirrel safety plan.
Yes, I know that's bad but I couldn't help myself. Happy Back-to-school!