Overnight Field Trip

My 5th grade son is in private school and is going on a two-day, one-night field trip 3 hours away. The school nurse is not going and the school firmly resists our attempts to train someone on glucagon. The field trip is taking place at a boarding school, that will actively be in session, and they have a nurse that we cannot communicate with. We've been told that she said, "If I'm available I can tend to him in the case of an emergency. You should also call 911". A male teacher, who is staying in the cabin with the boys, said he'll check the CGM at 1am and text us the number. During the day the teachers will keep an eye on the CGM. My son is pretty self sufficient during the day at school. The nurse is no longer involved in his day-to-day care. I'm fine with everything except for the "in case of emergency" scenario. The nurse, whom I will probably never speak to, may be tending to a students' sniffles while my son is in trouble. And without a firm commitment to our family that "we have your son taken care of", it looks like I'm going to spending two days and one night at a near-by motel. Any thoughts?
Thanks.

 

If I could afford to do that too, that's what I'd do

 

Amazing how inflexible the school is being. As for the school he is visiting, wow. What about other kids with medical needs? Oh we'll give epi pen if we can take a minute from kissing our kids boo boos?



i guess if you can swing it, I'd go and stay nearby.

 

The nurse sounds like a real treat. I might be tempted to remind her that if she does not want to risk her nursing license she may want to treat your son's medical condition a little more seriously.

And why can't you communicate with the nurse? She said that "You should also call 911". How would you know there was a need to call 911 if she didn't communicate with you?

You said you are worried about the "in case of emergency" scenario. I would HOPE that if something were to happen and she was alerted to it by one of the teachers, she would stop tending to the kid with the sniffles and deal with your son. Maybe try having another conversation with her and let her know your concerns?

 

The nurse works full-time at the school my son is visiting. She is not our regular nurse. Our school is not making communicating with her easy. Everything is being done via messenger pigeon it seems. If she were our regular nurse then I could mediate a bit better. When she said "call 911", she was referring to the teachers on site (if my son were to be unresponsive), not me.

The situation makes me uncomfortable enough that I need to be nearby in case of an emergency. The nurse's cavalier attitude was the tipping point.

 

He has a cgm - I'd arm the bunk mate teacher with tabs, juice and glucose gel. Drop basal rates a bit, give the kid a cell phone and just stay in touch. It's hard, but he has great tools and unless he has a history of seizures or if the days are to spent doing hours and hours of sports, I'd just pack a ton of snacks and let him go.

Good luck!

 

I agree with Sarah. I would talk with the teacher and educate and train him if he is willing. This sounds like the gymnastics camp, a popular one, who told me that "other kids with diabetes don't check their blood sugar at night." I was inquiring about their medical staff to see if I'd be able to send her there.

 

I agree with the dropping the basal. Since it's a short trip there's no harm in letting him run a bit higher. Set up a separate basal plan for those few days and send him with all he needs to treat lows. I'd also ask the male teacher on the QT if he'd be willing to "watch" how a glucagon is adminsistered in the event that he was ever around someone who may need it

In the end, you have to do what makes you and your son feel most comfortable.

 

My son is a year younger than yours, but at this point, I'd go on the trip, no doubt about it.

 

My son is 15, and if I don't go, he doesn't go. We've tried trips alone in the past, and he forgets to take care of things, like calibrating, and then not testing in the middle of the night, and he tests at 50 in the morning because he made several bad choices. That's with a phone to text me, Shugatrak, and a cgm. It depends on the kid. I saw a mom post on facebook a few weeks ago that her 6th grader went to DC for a week without her just fine, taking care of all diabetes stuff. It's kid dependent.

 

I'd just call the other schools nurse directly - things could be getting lost in the game of telephone.

 

does your kiddo have accommodations at school now? If so I would force the issue until you received an adequate answers to your questions.

 

I've been thinking about this ... I think maybe 10 is younger than I imagined. I mean, it can be done, and many, many parents of kids with type 1 have done this, even at 10. If you put aside the unlikely and just imagine how he is and how he manages and if you can devise a reliable communications plan, is it possible for him to go given the support you have?

It's just that it's so, so important for our kids to do what their friends do and sitting in a local motel room for 48 hours would put you closer, but it wouldn't put you in control.

Hope you find a workable solution.

 

Just go on the trip. They probably can use a volunteer. This way you get to see him do cool things, and you also double as the portable safety net. Before T1D, with all my kids, my wife and I would volunteer for all kinds of things and were simply present. helping. Not hovering. Helping. The kids always said it gave them confidence knowing that we were somewhere relatively close.

 

My personal example of what we do.

My 12 year old attended sixth grade camp recently. It's 3 days, 2 nights, lots of hiking and playing. The school did not send the district nurse, which I can actually understand. As a woman, she would not be in his cabin even if she were a chaperone. And, the chaperones couldn't be asked to accept responsibility, which I'm also okay with. If a friend's dad was assigned, I'm sure he would have offered and it would have been workable, but I wouldn't force diabetes management on someone just because he offered to chaperone, you know? the camp had a nurse on duty but they would not do night time care. We knew this trip would happen so we have it in his 504 that we have dibs on chaperone spots. My husband attended camp, stayed in the cabin, went on hikes, etc. When my daughter goes in 2 years, I'm going. My 12 year old absolutely could not manage his own care - carb counting meals, remembering to bolus, waking up to CGM alarms, determining temp basals for hikes, etc. I think my 10 year old could...but I wouldn't want her to. This is a fun event for young kids and I'd rather they just be able to focus on the camp and the fun and let someone else be the pancreas. They travel again in the 8th grade and we plan to do the same thing then. If they go somewhere later, when they are 16 or 17, we'll re-evaluate and figure out how they want to handle it...but for now, it's our rules or they don't go.

My vote is that someone attends. No worries about the nurse or the care of the night-time because you'll be doing it exactly like you want And this is from a woman who absolutely hates camping and hiking and is already dreading DD's sixth grade camp!!

 

Putting it in this perspective makes absolutely perfect sense. I now remember that the nurses at our school would have to wake up a male chaperone to accompany them into the boys cabin in order to do what was needed.

 

I have a question, did you go for free?

 

If this were an option, it would be a no brainer. I'd go in a skinny minute. The school is not allowing parents on the grounds, unless my son needs help. It is teachers and kids only. No chaperones.

It will be a VERY active trip. They will actively check CGM (and text us if we want). He will call for meals. We know the carbs. A male teacher will check him at 10pm, text a CGM reading at 1am. The CGM sensor now in place was put in 48 hours ago and it's a good one. Readings are spot on. He leaves tomorrow. He will have juices etc nearby. The resident nurse (1.5 miles away) has said she will respond in the case of an emergency. My role if I go? I will sit in my motel room less than a mile away and wait for "the call" if anything horrible happens. That's it. We are already viewed as fussbudgets. I push back any more and my fear is they "suggest" he not go on the trip.

My motel room is booked, I just need to decide whether to go or not.

 

I wish. No parents allowed. Period.

 

My dd goes to public school in a district that fully understands that Diabetes care is a 24hr job, and that it is their duty to provide an environment that my child feels comfortable and safe so that she is given the same opportunity as all other students to learn. ( an environment that I feel that she is comfortable and safe)

I would never be able to accept what you are describing as the situation, never. I guess I just can never wrap my head around this subject when it comes up here.