So today I went low at school. I suddenly didn’t feel good and thought I was gonna pass out. I went to tell my teacher and she asks me what my range is! I’m both the only diabetic at this school and I’ve told them several times what my range is and they all have my 504 plan. I mean this is Te environment I have to grow up in and they can’t even educate them on diabetes?!
Can you just keep your "gear" on you? I took my meter and a little bag of jelly beans (I generally roll w/ 2, just in case...) to a meeting at work as I'd worked out this AM, had been running a shade low and we were eating pizza afterwards. I didn't want to have to get up and go get my stuff and just would have tested or eaten if anything had come up? It turned out uneventfully but I'd think that it'd be better for everyone if you had a meter and could just test or snack as needed, or PRN as the doctor would say?
Agreed. Why is it her business what your "range" is. Not that she'd understand it if she heard the number. It's not useful to say, "Kelsey can leave class if she is below 70" because some people can't function at 85 and some are fine at 55. And, bottom line is, AR is right and you should just be able to treat it as needed, whether you leave the class to do so or do it quietly in class.
I teach Community College and haven't taught live since my diagnosis. There is no food allowed in the classrooms. I intend to briefly explain to my students on the first day that I am Type 1 and will do my best to not go low (test before class) but it happens, and I will either eat a couple glucose tabs and go on or call a short break.
Unfortunately we cannot control what other people do. I do sympathise with your plight though. There are times when we require outside help and you think in a school situation you'd be able to rely on your teachers. Sadly that is not always the case. If they know what they're supposed to do, and still don't do it, I'd suggest getting your parent(s) involved.
Why is there no food allowed in classrooms for medical purposes? I am always hoping that someone will try to "bust" me so I can engage in the "it's not food , it's medicine" argument with them but I haven't had the opportunity just yet...
I'm sure it's just a general policy so students don't come in munching chips and drinking sodas, getting crumbs and spills all over and driving the Instructor nuts. I'm sure if I tested it the "medical purposes" would stick, but since I just use glucose tabs it probably isn't even necessary.
I think I told on here my story of getting busted for drinking coffee on BART (nothing to do with diabetes). I think I made the BART police sheepish by suggesting they should spend their time chasing muggers and rapists.
Boy, Kelsey, that is so frustrating! How is your teacher? Can you ask to talk with her privately and let her know how unsupportive her response was, and maybe do a little education?
Hope you're feeling better!
Ok, I agree that "what is your range" is an idiotic question, as if "going out of your range" is like "stepping on hot lava" in the hot lava game or something? If I weren't zonked out of my gourd, I might try to explain to someone who asked me that but it would take like a week? "well, usually I'm aiming for between 85-95 but it's not always quite there, 75 is ok if it's before lunch, maybe 30, even 45 minutes, depending on what it's doing but, if you'd asked for help, she ought to help first and ask questions later?
Kelsey !st sooo symipize with u. 2 let me say this OK? ppl really don't know what it's like being a diabetic and having the feeling ur gonna pass out if their "normal" I went to a very small school (as I think I've told u b/f) and I was the only diabetic there so I know how u feel. Like everyone else is saying be sure to have an outside person know what to do if ur "out of range" Stupid statement but apperantly this teacher don't know what he or she is talking about. Nuff said there. Tell them that they can go online and find out all kinds of info now and if they can't afford that that there are books out there now that will help he or she understand the D it's no where near like it was when I was in school in the 70's and it was a deep dark secreat now ppl talk about it and don't have any shame in it! YOU GO GIRKL!!!!
What is your range?
Probably the OP isn't old enough to recognize this (may have not even been born yet?) but reminds me of "What's the frequency Kenneth?".
That was after I drifted way from REM so I'm too old! I watched the video though and like the tremelo/ strobe effect. I did that for like 15 years, c. 1986-2005 maybe? I haven't really run the strobes that much since we moved back to Chicago in 2008.
I was thinking too that if the teachers didn't get "a talk" from you, but got a "memo" or, more likely an email, it said "Kelsey's range must be 80-150 and if it's not, please send her to the nurse..."? Schools or organizations have weird stuff in them and the teacher may have been going to the email or her recollection of it or a post-it note she wrote saying "range 80-150..." and sort of freaking out herself?
It's still a bizarre question that I haven't heard in 28ish years of diabetes, except from doctors. Who, these days, don't even ask, it's in the pump data?
HI Kelsey. My daughter is in the 8th grade and she texts the school nurse when she is low and needs help so the nurse comes to her in the classroom or the teacher will call the nurse to come down. Her 504 plan states that if she is low she is not to walk to the nurse , the nurse has to come to her. All her teachers know she is Type 1 . Her 504 plan also says she can text nurse at anytime to report in her Blood Glucose so she doesnt have to go to nurse and miss class. Your right they dont know how to help.
That's great, jojo. Though I agree that it's good for all the teachers to know a kid is Type 1, I'm cynical enough to think that knowing it without at least a modicum of knowing what that means can be worse than not knowing at all. Misconceptions, misguided actions and (even unintended) discrimination are some of the possible negative consequences I can think of!
Totally agree ,Zoe
My husband's a university professor & allows food & not just for diabetic students. His graduate courses are 3 hours long in the evening. Many students bring food to class. Many more bring drinks. Only thing he doesn't permit is cell phones ringing & texting.
Frustrating & annoying! Asking your range is absurd, especially if they have no clue what to do or what it means. I've had lows where I wouldn't have been able to answer a question coherently. Good suggestion to give your teachers a short, informative letter.
Hi all, I am a teacher as well. I teach operators who run the nuclear reactor at a nuclear power plant. So I teach in a purely adult enviornment. Before every group of students I have never taught I tell them that I am diabetic. One of my signs of going low is that I just ramble on with no coherent thought. I tell the students to raise their hand and suggest we take a breat and I check myself. I try to test not only before class but during breaks and no one here bats an eye. We do have operators that are diabetic and they have restrictions on their license to account for it. No one get's "yelled" at because they have to walk out of the classroom.
Since I work in an adult enviornment we do allow snacks and drinks in the classrooms. The only place that is not allowed is in the plant training simulator.
Most of the people have seen me hauled out of a classroom by the EMTs so they are aware of what can happen. It is a shame that Kelsey cannot get the same considerations.
See, I'm too old for REM too. I knew about it from Dan Rather.
Just like I learned about Cipro from Tom Brokaw :-)
When I was really young I got to see Huntley and Brinkley doing the news on TV in glorious black and white. It wasn't until I was like 7 or 8 years old that we got a color TV :-) (by which point I think it was Walter Cronkite that we watched.)
This is a terrible situation, and some teachers it seems couldn't care less about remembering some helpful, live-saving information to help their students.
I can understand maybe not remembering your range--they probably have lots of numbers to remember. The problem seems to be that you asked for help, and instead of offering assistance they asked a stupid question.
Maybe, if you feel comfortable with it, you could have something taped to the wall by all your teachers' desks with the bullet points. I like the idea of being able to text or e-mail the teacher or nurse too. My understanding, though (if high school is anything like it was when I was there...I only graduated 5 years ago), that teachers and administrators tend to dislike cell phones. I think I've read somewhere that some people keep index cards in their meter case to signal the teacher.
Sorry that this happened though. Crappy situation...