Saturday, July 30, 2011

3 more days...

3 more days of ... the apartment
3 more days of .... "What can we do today mom?"  Me:  "Go ride your scooter in the parking lot."
3 more days of .... "did Andrew lock himself in the bathroom again?"

I will never miss this place, ever!

On August 2nd we will close on our house here in Ohio, race back to GA to meet the movers, then race back to Ohio to finally move in.

Then the fun begins.  Normally I would just sign my kids up in their new schools, buy supplies and wait for the first day.  This year will be a bit different.  First I need to meet with the school that Abby will be attending, find out if they have a full time nurse and if not who fills in that spot.  Then I need to discuss her "504 plan" , a plan that covers the disabled.  That's right disabled is what they call it.  Before diabetes I had never heard of a 504 plan .  It is civil rights law that protects her so that her school accommodates her accordingly for her diabetes since she requires several Blood Glucose tests during the day, insulin shots, access to sugar snacks to treat a low BG and to never be left alone (even to walk to the nurse or office).  I've heard many horror stories of schools just ignoring 504 plans even though they are legally obligated to follow a reasonable 504 plan.  I suppose the word "reasonable" is what they use as their excuse to ignore it, claiming the requests are "unreasonable."  We were so fortunate to have a wonderful experience at our school in GA.  They wrote up a 504 plan and had it ready when Abby first returned to school after her diagnosis.  The nurse and all teachers were very aware of her needs and were very willing and helpful.  They would bring in a substitute nurse when Abby went on field trips. 

Then we will have our first appt with our new Endocrinologist at Cincinnati Children's.  Apparently this will be a 4 hour appt.  See that's another thing I never knew that came with this diagnosis.  A visit to the doctor every 3 months where you will see a nurse and diabetic educator, nutritionist, social worker or the doctor.  Every visit involves height and weight check, blood pressure and a blood test called an A1C test.  At diagnosis Abby's a1c was 15.2%, which converts to an average Blood Glucose of 390 for the prior 2 to 3 months, her BG at dx was 440.  Ideally she needs to be below 7% and 8 weeks after diagnosis her a1c was 8.2%....much improved.

Finally, before she starts school we will need to create a diabetes set of supplies for school....extra meter, syringes, insulin, glucagon shot, alcohol swabs, test strips and low blood sugar kits for the nurses office and all the classrooms she will be in during the day.

Oh yeah, and I suppose we will need to get some "traditional" school supplies, you know, the 3 dozen pencils that have been requested, as well as some markers, paper and folders!

So, I suppose I will relax these next 3 days, because the following 3 weeks are going to be crazy busy.

2 comments:

  1. Yay on the new house :)
    I hope that even with the craziness, the next 3 weeks go as smoothly as possible :)

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  2. Bring on the crazy for sure!! Congrats on the house. Hopefully your closing went well today and you are on your way to making your new house your new home :) I know a D Mama VERY involved in your new school district (I'm sure she's got them whipped into shape over there!)...let me know if you want me to hook you up with her!

    And I know the next couple of weeks will be crazy, but when you get settled (kind of)let me know, we'd love to have you all over!

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