Newly dx for 5 yr old

[ann-lolly]

My daughter was just diagnosed on dec. 21st. She is still in the honeymoon period and we worry about the lows way more than the highs. She is only 5 yrs. old and her main problem is going to school. She never wants to go. She is in pre-school and I have been going with her and the teachers let me stay the whole time. Any suggestions to get her to go alone?? Also, what does a low feel like?// She has a hard time telling me but I wonder if she feels different and just is more comfortalbe at home., Thanks Ann

[cydnimom]

Hi Ann,

Sorry to hear about your dear daughter. My son was diagnosed Sept 30/05 and he is now 5.75 yrs. He was diagnosed a month after kindergarten started and he was very keen on going and still is. I know he was apprehensive at first, I spent the whole week there after he was diagnosed. He is in afternoon class and spends the morning at a day home. I was very fortunate that my day home provider was a nurse 20 years ago and has no problem with what is required. I think Ryan became less apprehensive once he knew that everyone knew what to do in an emergency. He saw me train the day home lady and he saw me at school. We did a presentation in his class to explain things in 5 yr old terms and what his classmates can do to help him if need be. He also knew that I met with his teacher and the principal and he knows there is an emergency snack box in the office as well as the classroom. He also carries his meter and glucose tabs with him at all times in a waste pack.

With respect to feeling lows the way you can try and get her to recognize them is when she is actually low. Ask her how she is feeling and what she feels. You need to get her to associate what she is feeling with the low. I quiz my son - do you feel tired? does your stomach hurt? do you feel weak? do you feel shaky? do you feel dizzy? do you feel like throwing up? do your lips feel tingly? Most times he tells me he is very tired and weak. Sometimes shaky. Once she associates the feelings she will probably feel more confident and so will you.

Lows overnight are my biggest fear. I still check him most nights at 2:30 a.m.

If you have anymore questions or need ideas feel free to email me.

[ann-lolly]

Thanks for the info. Is your son still in the honeymoom stages? How much insulin do you give him?? Melissa only get 1/2 unit of Humolog for breakfast and dinner and 3 units of NPH in the morning---and we still have lows. I still check her at 3am and she does not even get insulin at bedtime. Can your son tell you when he is low?? Melissa has been telling me her legs are shaky sometimes and sometimes she tells me she has a headache but when I check her , she is extreemly low---30's and 40's. Does you son know how to use his meter to check his own sugar?? Sorry for all the questions but it looks like you are a couple months ahead of me in the newly diagnosed stage and maybe I just need to give it a little time. Anyway, thanks for your help.

[AmberO]

My daughter says she gets hungry, shaky, feeling weak. But I can tell when she is low she gets a "deer in the headlights" look to her eyes. They get dialated and just look bigger. Her skin also gets cold and clammy.

I'm not a huge fan of NPH. It has a really high peak for a longer lasting insulin. Not sure if they have Protophane in the states but it's longer lasting and Lantus doesn't peak or has a small one. A friend told me that her son did peak on Lantus, but it doesn't seem to for my daughter.

When my daughter was first diagnosed she was on diluted Humalog. I would talk to your Endo again about these lows. Especially when you are trying to intergrate her into school. Are the teachers trained at all in Diabetes care? We had the option of calling our Nurse Educator to the school to run a training session. Even if you don't feel like you can leave her, they can at least know a little about her care. :)

[ann-lolly]

Thanks for the input. Our home nurse is coming out tonight---we got 3 visits from our insurance. i will check with her as to the lantus. Our nurse practitioner mentioned it at our last visit but I did not know anything about it. My daughter still goes to pre-school and it is a private one and very small. They do not have a nurse in the school but I did educate the teachers. Next year when she goes to public school, they have a nurse at the school and from what the school tells me they have other diabetic children and are aware of how to handle anything. being new tothis, I was interested in hearing about other meds. and how people react or like them. i have been reading about the lantis on this website and maybe we will see if it is worth trying. Thanks Again. Ann

[cydnimom]

My ds is on the last legs of his honeymoon. We had the flu shot this year in November and that did a number on him and I think shortened his honeymoon period. He's also been sick a lot for some reason (probably because a boy at the day home has been constantly sick) and all these viruses have done a number on him causing insulin resistance and in turn making his pancreas work harder than it should have to (my theory anyway). When we were last at the clinic they indicated that he was also at the end based on his insulin doses and his weight. He takes 2.5 H/5.5N in the morning and 2.5H and 2.5N at bed. He is 55 lbs and 50" tall (yes, he's the biggest in his class, but proportionately so). His total carbs per day 40 bf, 20 snack, 55 lunch, 20 snack, 70 supper, 20 snack.

Although N is horrible for the peak, which in our case is supper and 2:30 a.m. we chose this regime because it was the easiest to start with with my ds in school (so we could avoid lunch shot). I'm now looking at changing it because it doesn't give the best control or is harder to control just because you have to eat at certain times. Ryan is reluctant because it means at least 4 needles instead of 2, but I'm trying to convince him that the Lantus doesn't sting like the N. I would also have to train the day home provider.

I myself am on Lantus and H and it has made a big difference in control and freedom to eat when I want to. I wouldn't go back. The other option is a pump, but Ryan is not interested at this time.

If you want ideas on what to present to your dd's new school I'm sure a lot of parents have a lot of ideas.

[wendyc]

Hi,
Welcome to the club. My daughter Abby is 4.5 and was diagnosed this past June. She currently is on Lantus/Novolog (multiple daily injections). These are working very well, but we are still in the honeymoon. Abby goes to all day pre-school 2 days a week, and since they do not have a nurse, I go in to give her her lunchtime shot. The school is more than willing to handle this (they were trained), but the endo and myself prefer that I go in to check-in, as we are worried about lows. She still can't tell when she is low, but we are finding that she will get really hungry, tired, cranky or thirsty. Most times, the teachers pick up on it, but not always. A little upsetting, but we know things will get better once she can distinguish symptoms. We will begin pumping on Feb. 6. In the beginning, Abby did want to go to school, but did not want me to leave. So, what I would do is go in for circle time, and then go out into the hall. If she started to get upset, I'd go back in. The next time, I told her I needed to go next door to help one of the teachers, each time making my time away from her a little longer. At the end of the 2nd week, I told her that we needed to get back into a routine, such as her going to school and my going to the grocery etc. I stressed that everyone knew how to help her and that if she needed me the teachers would call. She was a little upset, but soon got over it. One thing that helped was her bringing her "Rufus" bear from JDRF to share with her friends. We are also fortunate in that her twin sister is with her all the time. I hope this helps, and that you get over this hurdle. Everything will eventually fall into place.

[ann-lolly]

Thanks so much for the help. My daughter also has a twin brother and they are in different schools this year but next year they will be in the same school and I am hoping the same class. I think that will help alot also. right now, I am just working on getting her to school and will start leaving when that is not an issue. Hopefully soon. Anyway, thanks, it is great to hear all the other people out there and how you handle these things.

[pookas]

My son, Hunter is 5 yrs old and just dx'd this past November. We're still learning and dealing. He's on Lantus/Novalog. He has a teacher's aide w/ him all day because I didn't feel comfortable having him run around outside for recess when the teacher is across the field and he goes to his special classes at the end of the day [art, spanish, gym, etc.] We are currently looking to hire a full-time personal nurse to be w/ him at school all day to take care of everything, but the school nurse does his lunchtime stuff for now. I was at the school everyday for the first 1-1/2 months at lunchtime to make sure things went well. We're also in the process of setting up a 504 plan for him. The guidence counselor told me today it was all typed up and just needed to be signed. I'm very lucky that Hunter loves to go to school and his teacher and I are very close. We even call each other at home to discuss things sometimes. Hunters day is: Morning: breakfast, Lantus, Novalog. 10am: 15 g. snack. lunchtime: novalog. 2pm snack. Dinner: novalog. Bedtime: 15-30 g. snack depending on his BS. I also do a 2am check every night. I'm just afraid that the one night I don't do it, he will be low. Also, HUnter doesn't know what a low feels like yet. I have found that 2 times that he was low during the day, he got hot and started taking off clothes. So far that's my only clue. Three weeks ago, I checked him for lunch and he was at 43. I asked him if he felt ok and he said yes. I asked if anything felt funny. He said no. So, he has to be watched very closely for now until he knows the feeling.

Linda-[NEPA]-Mom to:
Hunter, 5 yrs, dx'd 11/14/05 type I
Colby, 6 yrs, migraines

[zimbie45]

Hi ann
ok my daughter was dx 1 year ago, she is 5 years old now. She is really good at telling me when she is low because of how we managed things from them begining. We relized its a learning experiance for her as much as for us. so every time we did a finger poke we asked her how she felt ( we would giver her examples, but that doesnt work). At first she didnt get what we where talking about, but what we did after the finger poke is tell her she was low or high adn talked about what that ment and told her to remember the way her body felt right then since she was low ( or high). 1 year later she can wake up in the middle of the night and tell me whats going on, also during the day. It helped us to realize that a 4/5 year old wont feel what a typical person does, and even if they did.. they wont describe it to you the same way... get her to tell you guys how she is feeling.. WE play a game with it now and CHarlize gets a kick out of it.. I know where she should be just based off experiance adn her attitudes, and she just knows.. we will both guess right befor her poke and 90% she correct.

Charlize goes to preschool too. but only for 3 days a week and for 3 hour at a time. Her teacher and i sat down and i had typed out all the information on highs and lows and carbs. Ms sara does 1 finger poke whiles she has charlize and she gives her snack too. Charlize gets what the kids get for snack as long as her # allow it, other wise ms sara has a stash of stuff for charlzie of quick sugars, and low carbs stuff.. we also give ms sara the kool aid jammer 10's for her to drink since they other kids get regular juice. (kool aid jammer 10's only have 2 carbs in them and they are a juice box, yeah).

if you ever have any questions, please email me. I have tons of ideas that can help make things easier

good luck

Chandra
zimbie45@hotmail.com
mom of charlize dx 1/4/05 5 years old
sean 2 years old non diabetic

[zimbie45]

ann

also there are some great books for little kids, like "even little kids get diabetes" and taking diabetes to school" i can get you a complete list, but charlize preschool teacher read them to the kids adn the kids are just great about the whole thing an even pertective of charlize.. they say things to her like
" its ok charlize your just high right now" lol

let me know if you want the list ( of if any one else does)

Chandra
zimbie45@hotmail.com
charlzie 5 year old dd dx 1/4/05
sean ds non diabetic 2 years old