Fieldtrip Fun

In our 504 Plan, it's stated "A parent will attend EVERY fieldtrip with Kacey". At first the school bucked me on this. Why do you have to attend? We can send the nurse with her. She should be okay for the few hours she is away. NOPE! I WILL attend and I WILL care for her while she is on the trip. Sometimes they would tell me that if I was going then I could just be a chaperone or I had to ride the bus. No problem! I will go under those conditions. BUT....one place I will NOT chaperone is an amusement park. I made the mistake of doing that last year and because I was a chaperone I had to ride the bus and because I had to ride the bus then when Kacey's blood sugars went wonky that meant we had to sit somewhere and we couldn't just go home. It made a long day for her. As I thought about the whole "chaperone" thing, it made me think a little more about actually taking on that position. What if something happened to Kacey and I was a chaperone? I am responsible for an entire group of children that I now had to find someone else to care for. Is that safe? Not at a theme park! Our school lets these kids (6th, 7th and 8th grade) go off on their own and reposrt back to a chaperone at a certain time and location. Each "group" has a cell phone and they are to call if they will be late. The "group" then splits and these kids must be in pairs but I'm not crazy about this idea! Anything can happen! So I chose not to chaperone and I explained that Kacey would ride to the theme park with me in my vehicle and we would mingle with her groups of friends and when she was ready to leave then we would leave and that way if something happend to her blood sugars then I was solely responsible for just her and I could tend to her without added worry. Seems perfect, right? And then THIS happened within ONE HOUR of being in the park.....

 





 

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?! Check with meter revealed....

 

Yep! I'd say she was LOW! Crap! I had my backpack full of snacks and our cups to get filled with drink. As I reached into my backpack, panic set in! I had glucose tabs with me but NO quick sticks and NO juice boxes. OMGGGGGGG! Really?!?! GLUCOSE TABS?!?! Since Kacey got her braces, she can no longer chomp down on glucose tabs. What the heck do I do? We had just gotten off the Tea Cups (kinda like a scrambler but inside a tea cup that spins) and we are sitting on a bench and she says, "I feel like jello!" My eyes scan the little kiosks and I spot a Dippin Dots stand with a cooler of PowerAde. "Kacey, I know you HATE the taste of PowerAde but right now you have no choice but to chug it and I promise we will follow it with something yummy." So, with the blood sugar of 58 and falling, I help her stand and walk her over to the kiosk. "Can I please have a blue PowerAde? Her blood sugar is low. Here is $5!" The young girl hands me the bottle and I turn to tend to Kacey. She's standing there just looking at me as I urge Kacey to chug the whole bottle. As I turn to look at her she says "Do you have a seasons pass?" LOL! Poor girl! She was waiting to ring me up to save me 10%. Geesh...$3.50 for a PowerAde is highway robbery anyway! We sit and wait for her to come up as she nibbles the goldfish that I gave her. "Mommy, my tummy feels too sick now to eat something yummy." ***sigh***  My heart breaks for her as her friends are off having fun and not having a care in the world and here she sits with a stupid low. She can't be a normal kid. Diabetes is always there. AND.....to think.....what if I wasn't on the fieldtrip? What if she was off in one of those pairs of kids? Who would care for her? How would the other child run for help? Just another validation as to WHY I go on every single fieldtrip and I don't hand over the responsiblilty to anyone else to keep my child alive. She is my child, she is my responsibility and I will gladly go on every fieldtrip.

For those that don't understand WHY I need to go....this should clear it up! Imagine your child being on a theme park ride, getting off and collapsing from a illness. Diabetes doesn't sleep. Diabetes doesn't always play nice. THIS is why we need a cure and THIS is why we advocate. When your healthy child is off having fun and riding those roller coasters, we are sitting on a bench treating a blood sugar and trying to keep Kacey safe enough to even ride those rides.

Yeah.....Diabetes....YOU SUCK!