Another Middle School "How do you guys do it" question..PE

[Michelle'sMom]

My dd walks from the middle school to the pool, which is nowhere close to 1/4 mile but it's long enough to add to the problem if she's already low-ish.

PE for her is every day for 40 minutes. They swim for a 6 week session. If she doesn't swim, she has to run the bleachers at the indoor pool....much worse on BGs than swimming would be, at least for her.

A snack before leaving the school, Gatorade during swimming, & sometimes a snack after.
Basals running at a lower rate for at least an hour & a half before.


We battled lows no matter what the activity last year. Swimming almost always makes her go low. This year, I'd be happy if she swam every day. lol Her numbers were that good.

[caspi]

My son is in middle school and a lot of times they go outside to the football field for PE. He carries his D bag (a drawstring sling bag) with him EVERYWHERE in school, with PE being no different. He has juice, tabs & meter with him at all times. During PE he leaves it on the sidelines. I would imagine you could do the same with your son.

Here is a pix of the bag he carries.... http://store.nike.com/us/en_us/?l=sh...07/pgid-319706

[MamaBear]

Originally Posted by Michelle'sMom

My dd walks from the middle school to the pool, which is nowhere close to 1/4 mile but it's long enough to add to the problem if she's already low-ish.

PE for her is every day for 40 minutes. They swim for a 6 week session. If she doesn't swim, she has to run the bleachers at the indoor pool....much worse on BGs than swimming would be, at least for her.

A snack before leaving the school, Gatorade during swimming, & sometimes a snack after.
Basals running at a lower rate for at least an hour & a half before.


We battled lows no matter what the activity last year. Swimming almost always makes her go low. This year, I'd be happy if she swam every day. lol Her numbers were that good.

When he was in PE for 5th grade EVERY activity no matter how small sent him low. Yesterday he went from 227 to 70 from just 20 minutes of walking the dog. Excercise drops him like a rock! This is what scares me so much with the walk and swim thing.


That is a good idea though (from other page I left the quote out..oops) to walk it over the weekend and see how long it takes.

Originally Posted by caspi

My son is in middle school and a lot of times they go outside to the football field for PE. He carries his D bag (a drawstring sling bag) with him EVERYWHERE in school, with PE being no different. He has juice, tabs & meter with him at all times. During PE he leaves it on the sidelines. I would imagine you could do the same with your son.

Here is a pix of the bag he carries.... http://store.nike.com/us/en_us/?l=sh...07/pgid-319706

He does have a bag just like this. I think if he remembered to take it that would be fine. My two worries with that are the heat, it would be around 115 during the days they would be swimming, and this is an outdoor pool. Not sure if they have tables to set stuff on. My other concern would be jerky kids. My daughter used to tell me that there was a group of kids in her PE class who got in trouble EVERY day for throwing other kid's stuff into the pool. Sigh am I over thinking this?

We went today to get his registration packet and list of electives. The new thing at the school is that PE is only required for one semester in 7th grade (so weird it was required for me from 7th grade through junior year of HS). They excuse a child from the required one semester of PE if they take a full year of band. HUH? Um ok. He said he'd rather take PE than band.

[KatieSue]

Maybe the PE teacher can be responsible for holding his bag? They do have backpacks with insulated sections, maybe that would help keep everything cool?

I know in High School marching band can count as a PE class.

[caspi]

Originally Posted by MamaBear

My other concern would be jerky kids. My daughter used to tell me that there was a group of kids in her PE class who got in trouble EVERY day for throwing other kid's stuff into the pool. Sigh am I over thinking this?

Well, as far as "jerky kids" are concerned, if anyone was to touch my son's bag, their ass would be in the principal's office for destruction of property. Period. I have no patience for stuff like this.

The heat I can't help you with. Here in Virginia, they are so over-protective that they would probably cancel school if it was that hot, lol.

[Michelle'sMom]

Originally Posted by caspi

Well, as far as "jerky kids" are concerned, if anyone was to touch my son's bag, their ass would be in the principal's office for destruction of property. Period. I have no patience for stuff like this.

Same here.


We haven't changed the 504 plan much since 5th grade, when we actually had to have something in there that said dd didn't have to carry her bag on the playground, during PE etc & that the adult in charge would be fully responsible for her bag/pump. Her bag (with pump & Dexcom inside) stay on the bleachers during swimming & even in the gym. When they go to the track in spring, it stays on the sidelines with the coach.

I don't think you're over thinking...just planning ahead.

[emm142]

I guess I'm not totally sure that I'd use diabetes as an excuse not to do something that you are able to do and would have to do if you didn't have D. Totally not being judgemental, since I've never been a parent with D. I'm literally just thinking about what I think I would do in the future if I had a child with T1.

Personally, I'd really want to guard against my child thinking that they can use diabetes to get out of doing something that they don't want to do, or against them thinking that diabetes stops them from doing something that they want to do. Swimming in a school setting is probably one of the safest times he will swim, with a teacher and all of his classmates around to notice if something goes wrong. I'd ask the teacher to carry his meter and glucose in some kind of small coolbox or lunch bag with an ice pack in, would that work?

As for going low with a 1/4 mile walk, 1/4 mile is REALLY not far. That's about a 4 minute walk. Unless he doesn't walk around at all, I would think he'd be okay for that. Of course, YDMV and if it doesn't work for you then it doesn't work for you.

Actually, the issue with being embarrassed about the infusion set seems like one of the most valid reasons for a child not to do swimming. However, I would think that it's usually possible to hide it, and if your child is on MDI then that isn't really relevant.

All just my humble opinion, and totally hypothetical.

[MomofSweetOne]

Originally Posted by emm142

I guess I'm not totally sure that I'd use diabetes as an excuse not to do something that you are able to do and would have to do if you didn't have D. Totally not being judgemental, since I've never been a parent with D. I'm literally just thinking about what I think I would do in the future if I had a child with T1.

Personally, I'd really want to guard against my child thinking that they can use diabetes to get out of doing something that they don't want to do, or against them thinking that diabetes stops them from doing something that they want to do. Swimming in a school setting is probably one of the safest times he will swim, with a teacher and all of his classmates around to notice if something goes wrong. I'd ask the teacher to carry his meter and glucose in some kind of small coolbox or lunch bag with an ice pack in, would that work?

As for going low with a 1/4 mile walk, 1/4 mile is REALLY not far. That's about a 4 minute walk. Unless he doesn't walk around at all, I would think he'd be okay for that. Of course, YDMV and if it doesn't work for you then it doesn't work for you.

Actually, the issue with being embarrassed about the infusion set seems like one of the most valid reasons for a child not to do swimming. However, I would think that it's usually possible to hide it, and if your child is on MDI then that isn't really relevant.

All just my humble opinion, and totally hypothetical.

Based on my experience in HS in a swimming class where the teacher would hand us a ball and then go into his office to read the newspaper for the rest of the class, I wouldn't necessarily consider a school a safe environment for a diabetic swimmer unless they are fully old enough and aware enough to realize that they need to be responsible on their own to do a BG check every 20 minutes or so. We're not facing a situation like this, so for me, as well, it's hypothetical, but when I take my daughter swimming (she's a fish) with her friends, she has no concept of time passing while she's in the pool. She's always amazed when I interrupt again for a BG check. At this point, I'm almost always the parent that takes the girls. She's gone once without me...and hit a 37 without feeling it. I'd told the mom to have her check at 30 minutes. Thank goodness I had...and that's when we began checking at 20 minutes instead. For now, having me there is still her comfort level.

In jr. high, we were also required to shower entirely naked in front of the teachers while they marked in their lesson books that we actually showered. We were so thankful to move up to HS where we no longer had to wear standardized uniforms and were trusted to shower. There's NO WAY a girl could have hide an infusion site in my class.

[MamaBear]

Originally Posted by MomofSweetOne

Based on my experience in HS in a swimming class where the teacher would hand us a ball and then go into his office to read the newspaper for the rest of the class, I wouldn't necessarily consider a school a safe environment for a diabetic swimmer unless they are fully old enough and aware enough to realize that they need to be responsible on their own to do a BG check every 20 minutes or so. We're not facing a situation like this, so for me, as well, it's hypothetical, but when I take my daughter swimming (she's a fish) with her friends, she has no concept of time passing while she's in the pool. She's always amazed when I interrupt again for a BG check. At this point, I'm almost always the parent that takes the girls. She's gone once without me...and hit a 37 without feeling it. I'd told the mom to have her check at 30 minutes. Thank goodness I had...and that's when we began checking at 20 minutes instead. For now, having me there is still her comfort level.

In jr. high, we were also required to shower entirely naked in front of the teachers while they marked in their lesson books that we actually showered. We were so thankful to move up to HS where we no longer had to wear standardized uniforms and were trusted to shower. There's NO WAY a girl could have hide an infusion site in my class.

And this is one of my concerns, how well IS the teacher watching? When my daughter would come home every day for weeks and weeks telling me that those same kids got in trouble for throwing other children's belongings (their dry clothes, towels, shoes) into the pool again, my first question every time was "where was the teacher when they were doing all of this?" Her answer every time was "I don't know." That doesn't fill me with much confidence.

[sven]

some bars have worked well for my son especially the ones with some protein and fat , say peanut based . my son is in ms and likes sports but tends to go low after all the sports , typically 20-30 after he drops very fast . he carries is test kit and puts in on the side and have sugar tabs in pocket but 10 gr of granola bar for every 20-30 min of sports seem to balance it out . Another is gator aid , mix it your self . remind he to check or compensate well after the activity . thanks and all the best /