Riding the Beast
Today was a roller coaster kind of day. We buckled ourselves in and started the upward climb...Leah and I stayed home this morning as I didn't want her to start out with a full day of school. Plus, we needed to run through her morning routine, which now takes about 20-30 minutes longer than before. The extra time includes a blood check, 2 insulin injections (her slow release one for the day, and her mealtime one), and making sure the lunch and snacks are right. Our morning was pretty relaxing and stress-free.
We continued climbing...after lunch and our second injection at home, we headed over to school. We met with our school nurse, who was wonderful! (In fact we have had wonderful nurses through this whole process!) The school policies are VERY accommodating for diabetics, which was comforting to know. We found out that Leah is one of 13 kids in the district (K-12) with Type 1 diabetes. (For you numbers people, that averages out to one/grade, and there are roughly 200-250 kids per grade.) And speaking of numbers, I'm starting to become a bit superstitious about the number 13. Leah found out she had diabetes on Friday, the 13th of September, 2013, and now we learn she's the 13th kid with the disease in her district. Coincidence?? Hmmm...I'll let you be the judge.
Leah went to class (yes, the roller coaster was still climbing up) for the last two hours of her day (English & Band). Her friends were very happy to see her back in school, and commented on how much better she looked. She was still all smiles when I picked up the girls at the end of the day. We headed home for a couple hours of homework and rest before Marching Band practice at 6:00.
At that point we started looking down that really big hill...and then we plummeted. Leah was worried about a writing assignment. Although she is a decent writer, she often gets a block before she starts writing, and that makes her anxious, which causes her to block even more. So the tears started coming, and once they started, the floodgates were opened. She had herself a really good cry, and made statements like, "I just want to eat everything!" "I don't want to do anything!" And then she asked the hardest question, "Why did this have to happen to me?" We cried, hugged and talked, and eventually calmed down.
The roller coaster had a few small ups after that, like the little jokes in the car on the way to band practice, talking to Grandma & Grandpa on the phone when she got home, the big smile when we asked if band was easier this week than last week, and the nice low 186 blood glucose reading she got after her increased activity today. Although she's still avoiding the essay she has to write, and complaining that she's hungry, I think the ride has ended for today and we've hit that level, slow spot at the end.