Your Child's Rights in School

Although we have never had an issue, I came across this article on the web tonight. I thought it contained some good information concerning your rights and the laws dealing with diabetes in school. http://clinical.diabetesjournals.org/cgi/content/full/20/2/91

Rapid Blood Sugar Changes Cause Feelings of Going Low

For those of you with newly diagnosed children, you may see this at some point. When my daughter's blood sugar levels change rapidly, she feels either "shakey" or "like she's going to get sick" Many times when we check her levels, her numbers are fine. But a follow up check in 20-30 minutes might reveal a large drop or rise in her number. This is something to keep in mind when your child is active or following meals when insulin starts to drop your child's blood sugar level.

Christmas morning problems

I just randomly thought about this and with the holiday season coming up. I thought I'd share a past experience in hopes that you can avoid an awful situation. A few years back we had to give my daughter a Glucagon injection because her blood sugar levels dropped to the point where she was unresponsive. When my daughter gets really excited her blood sugar tends to drop rapidly. Apparently, on Christmas Eve, after we had all gone to bed, she woke up feeling low. But instaed of waking us she just stayed in her room. When we asked why, she told us that she was afraid that Santa would catch her up and not leave any presents. That broke my heart. Not to mention the life threatening situation we luckily avoided. So now every year we talk to her and explain that Santa knows that she has diabetes and if she feels bad, he wants her to get up. I hope after reading this if you have small children, you talk with them.

Lantus Burns when new or cold

My daughter tells me that Lantus injections can be painful at times. When the insulin is new or if its stored in the fridge. Not much you can do about being new but we used to always draw up her shot and then let it warm up to room temperature before injecting. Now that we switched over to the pen, we don't store in the fridge. It seems to be much better.

Think Twice before serving up sugary Halloween candy

This year, my wife decided to not give out candy. The first year ever...Instead, we are handing out mini microwave popcorn . She found ACT II Popcorn mini bags which I think are a great idea. They are decorated with a Halloween theme and contain 23 carbs per 5.5 popped cups. Everyone likes popcorn but I bet the kids will still be a little disappointed. Hopefully we won't get egged.....

Lantus Pen

We just recently switched from Lantus given by needle injection to the Solostar pen. Its great! If anyone is still using the old "needles", you should ask about switching over. The funny thing with us is that our childs doctor never even mentioned this option. It's really wierd considering we already use a Novalog pen. One great advantage is that they both use the same screw on needle tips. We were told however that you have to use BD brand. We have been very happy so far.

Tracking Log Sheet

Hello-Over the years, my wife and I have developed a tracking sheet we use to record our child's blood sugar levels. It also contains a spot to put in correction factors, insulin dosages, and comments. It prints out on regular 8.5 x 11 and is in Microsoft Excel format. We hang in on the refrigerator. If you would like a copy, let me know and I'll email to you. There is no charge for this. I just want to share this tool. I don't think I can save attachments so I put a picture of it below. The tracking sheet has space for blood sugar levels, day, time, carb intake, notes, blood sugar correction factors and multiple insulin dosages. The doctors really like having a detailed log like this to look at.