Friday, November 9, 2012

Day 9 ~ Blood (#NDAMphotoaday)


This picture brought to you today by the smears of extra blood after Bean has tested her blood sugar.  These smears represent her having to test every time she wants/needs to eat, before activities like recess, before taking a spelling test, and any other time she isn't feeling quite 'right' to see if she needs to treat a low blood sugar with fast acting carbs like a juice box or treat a high blood sugar by giving herself more insulin.



On a side note about the spelling test BG check...it's in Bean's 504 plan that her blood sugar needs to be in range (80-180) for her to be able to take a test.  That way her brain is functioning at it's best and she's able to perform to the best of her abilities.  We give a little on the upper end of that because with breakfast spikes and after lunch numbers, there would be a small window of her day for tests to be taken, so we allow her to take tests in the very low 200s as well, if need be.
However, today, for her spelling test, she was at 284.  NOT an OK number for her to be taking a test.  Her brain is not getting the fuel it needs because the sugar is obviously hanging out in her blood.  Even after telling her teacher that she couldn't take the test, her teacher told her that she did have to and that her number was OK according to 'the plan.'  Try as she might, Bean could not convince her otherwise and took the test.
When she was telling me this after school, I turned the car around so we could 'fix it' because Bean felt like she was being ignored and wasn't telling the truth and was quite upset about it.  By her choosing, we went to talk with the teacher first and happened to run into the principal on the stairs on the way to the classroom.  I told him what we were there for, so he was aware of the situation.
We talked to her teacher, and she even questioned me being correct about what the 504 plan stated. (Um, really?!?)  She checked the copy she had in her room (don't know why she didn't do that when Bean was telling her she couldn't take the test) and apologized for her mistake.  She agreed that Bean could take the test over on Monday and Bean was happy with that outcome.  Bean was also very happy that we had taken the time to talk with her teacher about it and thanked me several times for doing it. (what else was I going to do?!?!)
On our way out of the school, I popped into the principal's office to let him know what had come of the conversation with the teacher.  I made it clear to him that my biggest problems were that the teacher didn't (a) believe Bean and (b) didn't take the 10 seconds to look at the 504 plan she had in her room to verify the information.
You see, Bean is your typical 8 year old who has had issues in the past with not always being truthful.  It's something we take very seriously, and have impressed upon her that honest is very important.  So, for her to feel that she was being perceived as not telling the truth about not being able to take the spelling test was quite hurtful.  And, there will be many times in the course of her education that she will have to go toe-to-toe with her teachers about D stuff (albeit respectfully, but still) and she has to feel that they will take her at her word when she tells them about a BG issue.

Just another day as a parent of a T1D kid...blood and all! :)


1 comment:

  1. I'm glad that you were able to get it all straightened out, but gosh, what a pain in the neck!

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