Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Middle School Visit

Last night was "Elective Night" at Kacey's new middle school. We all gathered in the auditorium....3 elementary school's students all feeding into one middle school. The jazz band put on a wonderful performance for us. After hearing a spill from the PTA president and then a small introduction of the school principal, we were able to walk around to 7 different elective classrooms, listen to the teachers tell us about their class and then explore the classroom to see if it interested Kacey.

Elective classes are:
Band
Chorus
Introduction to Foreign Language
Teen Living (like what we called Home Economics...cooking & sewing)
Keyboarding (required class that recieves 1/2 of a high school credit)
Technology
Art Foundations

Every single one of the teachers that teach those classes are teachers that were there when Kayleigh was there and 6 out of the 7 taught her! She never took band so she didn't have that teacher. Compared to those kids there, Kayleigh still "looks" like a middle schooler because she's so small!

After walking around to all of the classes, Kacey knew for sure she wanted to take band. The teacher is so outgoing and you can tell she truely loves her job! I think she and Kacey will mesh VERY well. And since band requires some staying after school and traveling, I don't feel like diabetes is going to be a huge issue for her. I was amazed at how comfortable and welcome I felt in her class and Kacey was just through the roof when she found out that the first 2 weeks of school is spent playing ALL of the instruments and then deciding which one she wants to play. They start from the basics...reading music and listening to sound pitches...and then move forward. Kacey has waited 3 longgggg years for this time to come. She's very into music and her goal is to get good enough that she can join in the Youth band at church. Very cool, huh? :) Right now, they're only choosing one elective but they're hoping the scheduling for next year allows for them to choose 2 again. Also, they mentioned gym being a requirement again. So we're not sure what we will be faced with if that happens. We will cross that bridge when we get to it and if she's required to do gym then we'll just have to make some pump changes and pray for the best! It will all work out!

So all in all, Kacey is very excited about middle school. MUCH more excited than I thought she'd be. We're hoping that a new school, new friends and new atmosphere will help her blossom even more than she has already. She's had a rough road the last few years and I think we're finally turning a corner!

Tomorrow is D-Report Card Day....BLECH! I'm pretty sure her A1c hasn't budged. She's still pinging all over the place...from low 40's to high 300's. It's nasty! She's been having regular afternoon lows again and I've adjusted basals but she's still bottoming out between 3pm-5pm. And when she drops, it's the sprawl-out-on-the-floor-and-scream-I'm sooooooo low-kind of drops. She cries. She lays there in a paralyzed state. She yells that she can't hold her cup. She sucks down 2 cups of juice at a time to try and bring her up. she flat out REFUSES glucose tabs now. She argues back with me when I tell her she HAS to drink. She whines and lays there like she's dying. It's HORRIBLE to watch! And then I sit there trying to figure out....is this REAL? is she REALLY feeling like shes on her death bed? is she REALLY feeling this bad? is she REALLY feeling like her arms are so heavy she can't hold her cup or sit up? I DON'T KNOW! I don't know what a freaking LOW feels like!!! It kills me!!! I read about the toll that a low has on the body and I just can't seem to "feel" what that feels like. So, I believe her. I believe that she feels like crap. I believe that she feels like she can't sit up. I believe that she feels the need to argue. Any adult T1's that can reassure me that she's not playing this up? Do you REALLY feel like laying sprawled out on the floor and screaming?

Today is my parent meeting for Culinary today. We're discussing the upcoming trip to Kansas and trying to figure out how much we have to fundraise. It's going to be a BIG one! The kids are going to continue their Tuesday practice. I'm getting excited and my fundraising brain is in full force!!!!

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Sometimes when I have lows I feel exactly like that. It is so hard to force yourself to move or do anything, even if it is to go get juice so you can recover.

Sandy said...

I learned over the years that if I start yelling at my husband during a low, even if it is to help him, he will yell back and get angry. So I stay calm and calmly shove food and drink into his mouth and then he stays calm. It's hard. I used to just stand there crying in front of him looking at him when he refused to eat or drink. But I think as long as you stay calm, it will help her to remain calm. As far as feeling like she can't move, I think that is normal too.

Shannon@ The New Normal Life said...

While I dont have much to offer this time I just wanted to say I love ya!! Im excited to hear your fundrasing ideas!!

Valerie said...

I think the lows can vary...sometimes you feel them hard and sometimes not very much at all. I can't say I know what it's like to be a kid with a low, but I have felt like "death" while low. It can feel like it takes so much effort to get some juice or test your blood sugar. Sometimes I just sit there in a sort of slumped state while waiting to come back up. And I have called my mom crying before, but mostly from frustration.

the author said...

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Jennifer

Unknown said...

WOW...middle school???? REALLY?!?!?!?

Ready or not...HERE SHE COMES!