Brennan was diagnosed on October 21st. with diabetes. We have kept him home from school to get the pattern down and for him to get use to the finger pricks and shots. He went back to school on Monday. Since he is only in kindergarten this has been a huge adjustment to the teacher and to me. We finally have a plan for him. The nurse comes down to his classroom at 5 different times to test. Then she comes down before lunch and gives him his shot.He only goes to the nurses office for serious things like symptoms of hyper and hypoglycemia. He has been doing pretty good so far. There were a couple times where he threw a fit when it was time to get tested which in turn disrupted the class and then the teacher was horrified. This hasn't happened since Tuesday so I hope we are in the clear. The nurse texts me all through out the day to let me know how Brennan is doing. The nurse told me that when Griffin goes down to the nurse before lunch to have help making sure he boluses correctly, he asks about how Brennan is doing everyday. I'm so lucky to have two boys who love each other so much. However, the real test will be today when all 3 of my kids have their Halloween parties at school and I have to bounce around to 3 different classes. I'm already cringing at the high number of carbs both boys are going to consume today. I'm thankful we have Night Scout for Griffin and can hopefully get it for Brennan in the next couple months. It will really come in handy tonight when we go trick or treating. Thank you everyone for the caring messages regarding Brennan's diagnosis. I'm so glad to be part of this community.
Ps: If you want to know their costumes. Cambree is Elsa from Frozen, Griffin is a Ninja,and Brennan is the Hulk.
Halloween, other holidays, and special events are tough to manage - at any age! Just test more frequently and try to ration out his candy to a few pieces per day. If he complains, remind him that he'll still have some candy left over when all his friends have already eaten all theirs! Are you able to lower the penetration dial on his lancet device any further to minimize the discomfort? T1D is so rough on kids of all ages, because they just want to fit in and not be seen as different. Once he's 7 or 8 he'll be able to start managing some of these things on his own, particularly BG testing. And kids are sponges for new information and learn pumps and other technology really quickly. I assume lots of people have suggested sending him to a diabetes camp next summer. I wish my parents had done that when I was diagnosed 31 years ago, so I never got to experience that camaraderie.
His brother Griffin who is 8 has been to diabetes camp 2 years in a row. We are definitely gonna put him on a pump and CGM as soon as we can. His brother is on the Omnipod and Dexcom. We have his penetration dial to the lowest one. We are definitely gonna ration the candy that's what we have been doing with our other son for 4 years. Thanks for the tips :)
I see strength and resilience in all of you in this story. I am especially proud of big brother griffin with him as a role model I am sure brennan will follow suit. you are also lucky for the wonderful support of the school nurse. ninja and hulk are good characters for them to assume for Halloween. do you see the analogy, for griffin as ninja the great protector and responsible for his own destiny and strength and the hulk for brennan strength and confidence! it appears you are an amazing family and mom, I am sure it is heart breaking to see your littlest one deal with D but you are modeling resilience and acceptance that will go far with helping your whole family cope. hope Halloween went well, interestingly a lot of parents say their kids run low with all the activity. moderation with the left overs is another good life lesson, blessings to you, amy
The costume analogy is so cool I didn’t even think of that. Thank you Amy for all of your kind comments on all my discussions and blog posts it means a lot.
