Sydney's First Day of School

     Sydney's first day of school was probably quicker than most. She was diagnosed on Friday and returned to school on Wednesday. This was due to multiple reasons. First she did not have to stay in the hospital long because we were lucky and found what was wrong prior to her being in DKA (Diabetic Ketoacidosis). Second I am a kindergarten teacher and work in her school and since she was in kindergarten I was three doors down from where she would be, and we are lucky to have a school nurse in our building at all times. And lastly because we wanted to get back to a normal routine as soon as possible. 

     So we get up and get ready, her daddy gets her checked, dosed for breakfast and she eats. I take all of her supplies, doctor orders, and snacks to the car. I know it's going to be a long day. We drop sister off at daycare and head to school. Once I see the nurse has arrived, we head down to give Sydney's supplies and doctors orders, and discuss her day(when will she need to be checked, etc). Our school nurse has had diabetics before, but it had been awhile since she had anyone on shots. Most of the kids were on pumps or older and gave themselves shots, she just checked blood sugar and dosage to verify. I told the nurse I would be there when Sydney would be checked to help get her started. 

     Next, we stopped by her classroom and dropped off her snacks. I gave the teacher the sheets on what to look for if she was hypoglycemic (low blood sugar) or hyperglycemic (high blood sugar). I had used the same sheets when I had a diabetic years ago and it helps you try to keep an eye on what could be happening since the child may or may not be able to tell you. We were told in the hospital that she might be able to say she feels funny but you would have to check and ask her to explain what she feels to help make her aware of the symptoms. I gave the teacher instructions on when she was suppose to have snack, once in the morning and once at the classes regular snack time in the afternoon. Told her she needed to go to the nurse prior to lunch to get checked and get her insulin shot, and that anytime she felt funny she needed to go get her sugar checked and had to have someone walk with her in case she passed out or something happened on the way to the nurse. Thankfully her teacher's classroom is the closest class to the nurse. At the hospital, Sydney had received a book about Coco one of Mickey Mouse's friends who is diabetic and returns to school. It tells about what Sydney has to do in a very kid friendly way. So Sydney had asked that I read it to the class. So to start the day, I read it, then talked a little about it. They listened very attentively and were extremely curious. After all that, I slowly walked out and returned to my classroom and left my newly diagnosed baby three doors down from me. 

     Once in my classroom, I also read them the book about Coco. I thought it was important for them to understand more about what Sydney was going through and to explain why Mrs. Shelton had to go to the nurse the first few days and why Sydney would sometimes need to come to our classroom and be checked. From my experience with my previous diagnosed student, I felt it was important for her class to know because they could sometimes help see when she wasn't feeling right and point it out to the teacher. And I felt it was good for the students to know that just because Sydney has to check her blood sugar and take insulin shots, she isn't any different from them. 

     So the first day, my assistant watched my class anytime Sydney was to go to the nurse. We had to teach the nurse how to use the Novalog pen to give Sydney's injections.